2nd April: Today In History

Today is Sunday, April 2, the 92nd day of 2017. There are 273 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

Events:

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.)

1792: Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.

1800:  Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21, in Vienna.

1865:  Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, because of advancing Union forces.

1932: Aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and John F. Condon went to a cemetery in The Bronx, New York, where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man in exchange for Lindbergh’s kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)

1942: Glenn Miller and his Orchestra recorded “American Patrol” at the RCA Victor studios in Hollywood.

1956:  The soap operas “As the World Turns” and “The Edge of Night” premiered on CBS-TV.

1968:  The science-fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, had its world premiere in Washington, D.C.

1974:  French President Georges Pompidou, 62, died in Paris.

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.)

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.

1992:  Mob boss John Gotti was convicted in New York of murder and racketeering; he was later sentenced to life, and died in prison.

2005:  Pope John Paul II died in his Vatican apartment at age 84.

Birthdays:

Actress Sharon Acker is 82.

Actress Penelope Keith is 77.

Actress Linda Hunt is 72.

Singer Emmylou Harris is 70.

Actor Sam Anderson is 70.

Social critic and author Camille Paglia is 70.

Actress Pamela Reed is 68.

Rock musician Dave Robinson (The Cars) is 64.

Country singer Buddy Jewell is 56.

Actor Christopher Meloni is 56.

Singer Keren Woodward (Bananarama) is 56.