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Today in History: April 2

1453 Turkish forces under Sultan Mehmed II begin the siege of Constantinople (Istanbul), which falls May 29

1792 The United States authorizes the minting of the $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle & 2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins as well as the silver dollar, dollar, quarter, dime & half-dime.

1865 Confederate President Jefferson Davis flees Richmond, Virginia as Grant breaks Lee's line at Petersburg.

1914 The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announces plans to divide the country into 12 districts.

1931 Virne "Jackie" Mitchell becomes the first woman to play for an all-male pro baseball team. In an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, she strikes out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

1932 Charles Lindbergh pays over $50,000 ransom for his kidnapped son.

1982 Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands.

2006 Over 60 tornadoes break out, hardest hit is Tennessee with 29 people killed.

2019 Canada is warming at twice the speed of the rest of the world, according to a federal report, increasing 2.3% in northern Canada

2020 Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro downplays the COVID-19 pandemic saying "its not all its being made out to be"

2020 Number of COVID-19 cases worldwide passes 1 million, with 1,002,159 cases and 51,485 deaths reported, according to Johns Hopkins University

2023 Lake Tulare, once the largest body of water west of the Mississippi, re-emerges after a series of storms in California's Central Valley to cover 160 square miles


Born on April 2

0742 Charlemagne, first Holy Roman Emperor.

1725 Giovanni Casanova, Italian adventurer.

1875 Walter P. Chrysler, founder of Chrysler Automobile Company.

1948 Emmylou Harris, American singer.


Joke of the Day
Dad: I heard that you got punished for saying the F-word in class. That wasn’t fun, was it?

Son: No, it was frick.