TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, APRIL 2, the 93rd day of 2020. There are 273 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, because of advancing Union forces.
In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon and his expedition landed in present-day Florida. (Some historians say the landing actually occurred the next day, on April 3.)
In 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.
In 1912, the just-completed RMS Titanic left Belfast to begin its sea trials eight days before the start of its illfated maiden voyage.
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, “The world must be made safe for democracy.” (Congress declared war four days later.)
In 1956, the soap operas “As the World Turns” and “The Edge of Night” premiered on CBS-TV.
In 1958, the term “beatnik” was coined by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen to refer to members of the pre-hippie counterculture; the term was inspired by the “Beat Generation” and by the Soviet launch of its second Sputnik spacecraft.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed into law a windfall profits tax on the oil industry. (The tax was repealed in 1988.)
In 1982, several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain. (Britain seized the islands back the following June.)
In 1986, four American passengers, including an 8-month-old girl, her mother and grandmother, were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a TWA jetliner en route from Rome to Athens, Greece.
In 2003, during the Iraq War, American forces fought their way to within sight of the Baghdad skyline.
In 2005, Pope John Paul II died in his Vatican apartment at age 84.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Sharon Acker is 85. Actress Dame Penelope Keith is 80. Actress Linda Hunt is 75. Singer Emmylou Harris, actor Sam Anderson, and social critic and author Camille Paglia are 73. Country singer Buddy Jewell, actor Christopher Meloni and singer Keren Woodward (Bananarama) are 59. Country singer Billy Dean and actor Clark Gregg are 58. Rock musician Greg Camp is 53. Rock musician Tony Fredianelli (Third Eye Blind) is 51. Actress Roselyn Sanchez is 47. Actor Jeremy Garrett is 44. Actor Michael Fassbender is 43. Actress Jaime Ray Newman is 42. Rock musician Jesse Carmichael (Maroon 5) is 41. Actress Briga Heelan (TV: “Great News”) is 33. Actor Jesse Plemons is 32. Singer Aaron Kelly (TV: “American Idol”) is 27.