April 3

April 3 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 272 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 33 – Generally agreed-upon date for the historical crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity.
• 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
• 1077 – The first Parliament of Friuli is created.
• 1559 – The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars.
• 1834 – The generals in the Greek War of Independence stand trial for treason.
• 1860 – The first successful United States Pony Express run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California begins.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
• 1882 – American Old West: Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford.
• 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his engine design.
• 1888 – The first of 11 unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs.
• 1895 – Trial of the libel case instigated by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
• 1922 – Joseph Stalin becomes the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
• 1929 – RMS Queen Mary is ordered from John Brown & Company Shipbuilding and Engineering by Cunard Line.
• 1933 – First flight over Mount Everest, a British expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston
• 1936 – Bruno Richard Hauptmann is executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the baby son of pilot Charles Lindbergh.
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
• 1946 – Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.
• 1948 – President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
• 1948 – In Jeju, South Korea, a civil-war-like period of violence and human rights abuses begins, known as the Jeju massacre.
• 1955 – The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges.
• 1956 – Hudsonville-Standale Tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado.
• 1961 – The Leadbeater's Possum is rediscovered in Australia after 72 years.
• 1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech.
• 1969 – Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to "Vietnamize" the war effort.
• 1973 – Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first handheld mobile phone call to Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs, though it took ten years for the DynaTAC 8000X to become the first such phone to be commercially released.
• 1974 – The Super Outbreak occurs, the second biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history (after the April 25-28, 2011 tornado outbreak). The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.
• 1975 – Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.
• 1981 – The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
• 1996 – Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his cabin in Montana, United States.
• 1996 – A United States Air Force airplane carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown crashes in Croatia, killing all 35 on board.
• 1997 – The Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.
• 2000 – United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
• 2004 – Islamic terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves.
• 2007 – Conventional-Train World Speed Record: a French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets an official new world speed record.
• 2008 – ATA Airlines, once one of the 10 largest U.S. passenger airlines and largest charter airline, files for bankruptcy for the second time in 5 years and ceases all operations.
• 2008 – Texas law enforcement cordons off the FLDS's YFZ Ranch. Eventually 533 women and children will be removed and taken into state custody.

Births

• 1151 – Igor Svyatoslavich, Kievan Rus' prince (d. 1202)
• 1366 – Henry IV of England (d. 1413)
• 1529 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1581)
• 1593 – George Herbert, English poet and orator (d. 1633)
• 1639 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (d. 1682)
• 1643 – Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1690)
• 1682 – Valentin Rathgeber, German composer, organist and choirmaster (d. 1750)
• 1683 – Mark Catesby, English naturalist (d. 1749)
• 1693 – George Edwards, English naturalist (d. 1773)
• 1715 – William Watson, English physician and scientist (d. 1787)
• 1764 – John Abernethy, English surgeon (d. 1831)
• 1769 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian statesman and diplomat (d. 1835)
• 1770 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (d. 1843)
• 1783 – Washington Irving, American author (d. 1859)
• 1806 – Ivan Kireevsky, Russian critic and philosopher (d. 1856)
• 1807 – Jane Digby, English aristocrat and adventuress (d. 1881)
• 1814 – Lorenzo Snow, American religious leader, 5th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1901)
• 1821 – T. Pelham Dale, English clergyman (d. 1892)
• 1822 – Edward Everett Hale, American writer (d. 1909)
• 1823 – William Magear "Boss" Tweed, American political boss (d. 1878)
• 1823 – George Horatio Derby, American humorist (d. 1861)
• 1842 – Ulric Dahlgren, American Union Army colonel (d. 1864)
• 1858 – Jake Gaudaur Snr., Canadian rower/sculler (d. 1937)
• 1876 – Tomáš Baťa, Czech entrepreneur (d. 1932)
• 1876 – Margaret Anglin, Canadian Broadway actress (d. 1958)
• 1880 – Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher (d. 1903)
• 1881 – Alcide De Gasperi, Italian statesman and politician, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1954)
• 1882 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian Roman Catholic Archbishop (d. 1952)
• 1885 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-American director (d. 1981)
• 1885 – Bud Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 1954)
• 1885 – Marie-Victorin, Canadian De LaSalle Christian Brother, botanist and writer (d. 1944)
• 1887 – Ōtori Tanigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 24th Yokozuna (d. 1956)
• 1887 – Nishizō Tsukahara, Japanese naval commander (d. 1966)
• 1889 – Grigoraş Dinicu, Romanian composer and violinist (d. 1949)
• 1893 – Leslie Howard, English actor (d. 1943)
• 1893 – Princess Maud of Fife (d. 1945)
• 1895 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (d. 1968)
• 1895 – Zez Confrey, American composer and pianist (d. 1971)
• 1897 – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek army officer (d. 1989)
• 1898 – George Jessel, American comedian (d. 1981)
• 1898 – Henry Luce, American publisher (d. 1967)
• 1899 – David Jack, English footballer (d. 1958)
• 1900 – Albert Walsh, Canadian commissioner and chief justice, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1958)
• 1904 – Sally Rand, American burlesque dancer (d. 1979)
• 1904 – Russel Wright, American industrial designer (d. 1976)
• 1905 – Robert Frederick Sink, American army officer (d. 1965)
• 1907 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Nanette Bordeaux, Canadian actress (d. 1956)
• 1911 – Stanisława Walasiewicz, Polish athlete (d. 1980)
• 1912 – Gregoris Lambrakis, Greek politician, physician and athlete (d. 1963)
• 1913 – Per Borten, Norwegian politician, Prime Minister of Norway (d. 2005)
• 1914 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
• 1914 – Sam Manekshaw, Indian soldier and Field Marshal. (d. 2008)
• 1915 – Piet de Jong, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• 1915 – İhsan Doğramacı, Turkish physician and academic (d. 2010)
• 1916 – Herb Caen, American columnist (d. 1997)
• 1916 – Louis Guglielmi, Catalan musician (d. 1991)
• 1918 – Louis Applebaum, Canadian composer, conductor and administrator (d. 2000)
• 1920 – John Demjanjuk, Ukrainian-American auto worker, alleged Nazi (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Stan Freeman, American composer and lyricist (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Yoshibayama Junnosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 43rd Yokozuna (d. 1977)
• 1921 – Robert Karvelas, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Darío Moreno, Turkish singer and songwriter (d. 1968)
• 1921 – Jan Sterling, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Doris Day, American actress, singer and animal rights activist
• 1924 – Marlon Brando, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Peter Hawkins, English actor (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Tony Benn, British politician
• 1926 – Timothy Bateson, British actor (d. 2009)
• 1926 – Alex Grammas, American baseball coach
• 1926 – Gus Grissom, American astronaut (d. 1967)
• 1928 – Don Gibson, American musician and songwriter (d. 2003)
• 1928 – Kevin Hagen, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Jennifer Paterson, English chef and actress (d. 1999)
• 1929 – Lee Leonard, American television personality
• 1929 – Poul Schlüter, Danish politician
• 1930 – Lawton Chiles, American politician (d. 1998)
• 1930 – Helmut Kohl, German politician and statesman Chancellor of Germany
• 1930 – Wally Moon, American baseball player
• 1933 – Bob Dornan, American politician
• 1934 – Jane Goodall, English zoologist
• 1936 – Scott LaFaro, American jazz bass player (d. 1961)
• 1936 – Jimmy McGriff, American jazz organist (d. 2008)
• 1936 – Harold Vick, American jazz saxophonist and flautist (d. 1987)
• 1938 – Jeff Barry, American singer, songwriter, and record producer
• 1939 – François de Roubaix, French composer (d. 1975)
• 1939 – Paul Craig Roberts, American economist
• 1941 – Jan Berry, American musician (Jan and Dean) (d. 2004)
• 1941 – Carl Boenish, American BASE jumper and cinematographer (d. 1984)
• 1941 – Eric Braeden, German actor
• 1941 – Philippé Wynne, American musician (The Spinners) (d. 1984)
• 1942 – Marsha Mason, American actress
• 1942 – Wayne Newton, American singer and actor
• 1942 – Marek Perepeczko, Polish actor (d. 2005)
• 1942 – Billy Joe Royal, American singer
• 1943 – Mario Lavista, Mexican composer
• 1943 – Jonathan Lynn, British actor and writer
• 1943 – Richard Manuel, Canadian musician and songwriter (The Band and The Revols) (d. 1986)
• 1943 – Doreen Tracey, English singer and actress
• 1944 – Tony Orlando, American singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
• 1945 – Doon Arbus, American writer and journalist
• 1945 – Bernie Parent, Canadian hockey player
• 1945 – Catherine Spaak, French actress
• 1946 – Dee Murray, English bass player (Procol Harum, The Mirage, and Spencer Davis Group) (d. 1992)
• 1946 – Marisa Paredes, Spanish actress
• 1946 – Hanna Suchocka, Polish politician, 5th Prime Minister of Poland
• 1946 – John Virgo, English snooker player
• 1948 – Arlette Cousture, Canadian writer
• 1948 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexican economist and politician, President of Mexico
• 1948 – Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Dutch Politician and General Secretary of NATO
• 1949 – Lyle Alzado, American football player (d. 1992)
• 1949 – Anthony Grayling, British philosopher
• 1949 – Richard Thompson, English singer, songwriter, and guitarist (Fairport Convention and French Frith Kaiser Thompson)
• 1950 – Sally Thomsett, English actress
• 1951 – Danny Padilla, American bodybuilder
• 1951 – Mel Schacher, American musician (Question Mark and the Mysterians and Grand Funk Railroad)
• 1951 – Mitch Woods, American pianist and singer
• 1952 – Mike Moore, American politician and attorney
• 1953 – Sandra Boynton, American greeting-card designer, illustrator, and author
• 1953 – Wakanohana Kanji II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 56th Yokozuna
• 1953 – Craig Taubman, American singer, songwriter, and music producer
• 1954 – Elisabetta Brusa, Italian composer
• 1954 – K. Krishnasamy, Indian politician and physician
• 1955 – Hariharan, Indian singer (Colonial Cousins)
• 1955 – John Mooney, American singer and guitarist
• 1956 – Miguel Bosé, Spanish musician and actor
• 1956 – Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian (d. 1996)
• 1956 – Boris Miljkovic, Serbian director
• 1956 – Tessa Souter, English-Trinidadian singer-songwriter
• 1957 – Julia Hills, British actress
• 1957 – Michalis Rakintzis, Greek singer
• 1958 – Alec Baldwin, American actor
• 1958 – Jaya Prada, Indian actress
• 1959 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor
• 1960 – Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Dutch singer, songwriter, musician, and producer (Ayreon, Star One, Ambeon, and Guilt Machine)
• 1960 – Marie Denise Pelletier, Canadian singer
• 1961 – Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian
• 1962 – Mike Ness, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist (Social Distortion)
• 1962 – Jennifer Rubin, American actress
• 1962 – Brenda Ann Spencer, American convicted murderer
• 1963 – Criss Oliva, American guitarist and songwriter (Savatage) (d. 1993)
• 1963 – Tsuyoshi Sekito, Japanese composer
• 1964 – Bjarne Riis, Danish cyclist
• 1964 – Andy Robinson, English rugby player
• 1965 – Nazia Hassan, Pakistani singer (d. 2000)
• 1965 – Julie Anne Haddock, American actress
• 1966 – Mina Tominaga, Japanese voice actress
• 1966 – John de Vries, Australian race car driver
• 1966 – Michael Mittermeier, German comedian
• 1967 – Pervis Ellison, American basketball player
• 1967 – Brent Gilchrist, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Mark Skaife, Australian race car driver
• 1968 – Sebastian Bach, Canadian singer and songwriter (Skid Row, Winter Rose, and Damnocracy)
• 1968 – Charlotte Coleman, English actress (d. 2001)
• 1968 – Jamie Hewlett, English illustrator
• 1969 – Rodney Hampton, American football player
• 1969 – Lance Storm, Canadian wrestler
• 1971 – Picabo Street, American alpine ski racer
• 1972 – Leigh-Allyn Baker, American actress
• 1972 – Jennie Garth, American actress
• 1972 – Kenny Logan, Scottish rugby player
• 1972 – Catherine McCormack, British actress
• 1972 – Sandrine Testud, French tennis player
• 1973 – Jamie Bamber, English actor
• 1973 – Matthew Ferguson, Canadian actor
• 1974 – Drew Shirley, American musician (Switchfoot and All Together Separate)
• 1974 – Lee Williams, Welsh actor and model
• 1975 – Shawn Bates, American ice hockey player
• 1975 – Michael Olowokandi, Nigerian basketball player
• 1975 – Aries Spears, American comedian and actor
• 1975 – Yoshinobu Takahashi, Japanese baseball player
• 1975 – Koji Uehara, Japanese baseball player
• 1976 – Will Mellor, English actor
• 1977 – Hussein Fatal, American rapper (Outlawz)
• 1977 – Véronique De Kock, Belgian model, Miss Belgium 1995
• 1977 – Birgit Minichmayr, Austrian actress
• 1977 – Chael Sonnen, American mixed martial artist
• 1978 – Matthew Goode, English actor
• 1978 – Tommy Haas, German tennis player
• 1978 – John Smit, South African rugby player
• 1979 – Grégoire, French singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Leandro Vieira, Brazilian footballer
• 1979 – Simon Black, Australian Rules footballer
• 1981 – Aaron Bertram, American trumpet player (Suburban Legends)
• 1981 – Matthew Nash, Australian footballer
• 1981 – Heath Ramsay, Australian swimmer
• 1981 – DeShawn Stevenson, American basketball player
• 1982 – Jared Allen, American football player
• 1982 – Jesse Csincsak, American snowboarder
• 1982 – Fler, German rapper
• 1982 – Iain Fyfe, Australian footballer
• 1982 – Kasumi Nakane, Japanese model
• 1982 – Cobie Smulders, Canadian actress
• 1983 – Errol Barnett, English reporter
• 1983 – Ben Foster, English footballer
• 1983 – Stephen Weiss, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Jonathan Blondel, Belgian footballer
• 1984 – Maxi López, Argentine footballer
• 1985 – Jari-Matti Latvala, Finnish race car driver
• 1985 – Leona Lewis, English singer
• 1986 – Amanda Bynes, American actress
• 1986 – Jerry Messing, American actor
• 1986 – Coleen Rooney, British television presenter and columnist
• 1986 – Sergio Sánchez, Spanish footballer
• 1987 – Jay Bruce, American baseball player
• 1987 – Jason Kipnis, American baseball player
• 1987 – Park Jung Min, Korean singer and actor (SS501)
• 1987 – Julie Sokolow, American singer and songwriter
• 1987 – Benjamin Stone, British actor
• 1987 – Sal Zizzo, American soccer player
• 1988 – Peter Hartley, English footballer
• 1988 – Tim Krul, Dutch footballer
• 1989 – Israel Folau, Australian rules footballer
• 1989 – Thomas Kurz, German footballer
• 1989 – Thisara Perera, Sri Lankan cricket player
• 1990 – Karim Ansarifard, Iranian footballer
• 1990 – Sotiris Ninis, Greek footballer
• 1991 – Hayley Kiyoko, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1996 – Jackson Bond, American actor
• 2001 – Sophie Delezio, Australian medical figure

Deaths

• 963 – William III, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 915)
• 1287 – Pope Honorius IV (b. c. 1210)
• 1350 – Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1295)
• 1606 – Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devon (b. 1563)
• 1680 – Shivaji, Indian sovereign, founder of the Maratha Empire (b. 1630)
• 1682 – Bartolomé Estéban Murillo, Spanish painter (b. 1618)
• 1691 – Jean Petitot, French-Swiss painter (b. 1608)
• 1695 – Melchior d'Hondecoeter, Dutch painter (b. c. 1636)
• 1717 – Jacques Ozanam, French mathematician (b. 1640)
• 1728 – James Anderson, Scottish lawyer (b. 1662)
• 1792 – George Pocock, British admiral (b. 1706)
• 1804 – Jędrzej Kitowicz, Polish priest
• 1827 – Ernst Chladni, German physicist (b. 1756)
• 1838 – François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician (b. 1780)
• 1849 – Juliusz Słowacki, Polish poet (b. 1809)
• 1868 – Franz Berwald, Swedish composer and surgeon (b. 1796)
• 1882 – Jesse James, American outlaw (b. 1847)
• 1897 – Johannes Brahms, German composer (b. 1833)
• 1901 – Richard D'Oyly Carte, British talent agent, impresario, composer and hotelier (b. 1844)
• 1930 – Emma Albani, Canadian soprano (b. 1847)
• 1936 – Bruno Hauptmann, German murderer of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (b. 1899)
• 1941 – Pál Teleki, Hungarian politician, Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1879)
• 1941 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (b. 1877)
• 1943 – Conrad Veidt, German actor (b. 1893)
• 1950 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian, author, and journalist, founder of Black History Month (b. 1875)
• 1950 – Kurt Weill, German composer (b. 1900)
• 1952 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish politician, first female minister (b. 1866)
• 1962 – Manolis Kalomiris, Greek composer (b. 1883)
• 1965 – Ernst Kirchweger, Austrian communist and resistance fighter (b. 1898)
• 1971 – Joseph Valachi, American gangster (b. 1904)
• 1972 – Ferde Grofé, American composer (b. 1882)
• 1975 – Mary Ure, Scottish actress (b. 1933)
• 1976 – Claude-Henri Grignon, Canadian novelist, journalist and politician (b. 1894)
• 1978 – Ray Noble, English bandleader and composer (b. 1903)
• 1981 – Juan Trippe, Airline entrepreneur and pioneer, founder of Pan Am (b. 1899)
• 1982 – Warren Oates, American actor (b. 1928)
• 1986 – Peter Pears, English tenor (b. 1910)
• 1987 – Tom Sestak, American football player (b. 1936)
• 1988 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (b. 1907)
• 1990 – Sarah Vaughan, American singer (b. 1924)
• 1991 – Charles Goren, American bridge player, writer, and columnist (b. 1901)
• 1991 – Graham Greene, English writer (b. 1904)
• 1993 – Pinky Lee, American television host (b. 1907)
• 1994 – Frank Wells, American businessman (b. 1932)
• 1995 – Alfred J. Billes, Canadian businessman, co-founder of Canadian Tire (b. 1902)
• 1996 – Ron Brown, American politician, Secretary of Commerce (b. 1941)
• 1996 – Carl Stokes, American politician, 51st mayor of Cleveland, Ohio(b. 1927)
• 1998 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (b. 1900)
• 1999 – Lionel Bart, English composer (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Geoffrey Walsh, Canadian military officer, Chief of the General Staff (b. 1909)
• 2000 – Terence McKenna, American writer and philosopher (b. 1946)
• 2002 – Fad Gadget, English singer and musician (b. 1956)
• 2003 – Michael Kelly, American journalist (b. 1957)
• 2004 – Gabriella Ferri, Italian singer (b. 1942)
• 2005 – Tony Croatto, Italian singer, guitarist, and composer (Los TNT and Haciendo Punto en Otro Son) (b. 1940)
• 2005 – Jef Eygel, Belgian basketball player (b. 1933)
• 2005 – François Gérin, Canadian politician (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Royce Lint, American baseball player (b.1921)
• 2007 – Marion Eames, Welsh novelist (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Eddie Robinson, American football coach (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Nina Wang, Asia's richest woman (b. 1937)
• 2008 – Hrvoje Ćustić, Croatian football player (b. 1983)
• 2012 – Mingote, Spanish cartoonist, writer, and journalist (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Arduino Bertoldo, Italian Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Richard Descoings, French civil servant (b. 1958)
• 2012 – Efraím Basílio Krevey, Ukrainian bishop (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Govind Narain, Indian civil servant (b. 1917)
• 2012 – Xenia Stad-de Jong, Dutch athlete (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Chief Jay Strongbow, American wrestler (b. 1928)
• 2012 – José María Zárraga, Spanish footballer (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Agape, Chionia, and Irene
  • Mary of Egypt (Roman Catholic)
  • Richard of Chichester
  • April 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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