1694 – Ferdinand van Apshoven the Younger, Flemish painter, buried at 64
1747 – Francesco Solimena, Italian painter, dies at 89
1792 – George Pocock, British admiral who commanded British naval forces in the East Indies, dies at 86
1987 – Hans Gál, Austrian-British composer (Die heilige Ente (The Sacred Duck)), dies at 97
1993 – Alexander Mnouchkine, French movie producer (Professional), dies at 83
1996 – (Roosevelt) “Booba” Barnes, American blues guitarist, dies at 59
2014 – Tommy Lynn Sells, American serial killer, executed for murder at 49
2014 – Virginie Korte-van Hemel, Dutch Catholic People’s Party (KVP) politician (Council of State, 1992-99; Secretary of Justice, 1982-89), dies at 84
2017 – Kishori Amonkar, Indian classical Hindustani singer, dies at 84
2023 – Rena Koumioti, Greek laiko and entechno singer, dies due to complications of dementia at 81
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 3rd April 2026
1882 – Wood block alarm invented, when alarm rang, it dropped 20 wood blocks
1913 – British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst is sentenced to 3 years in jail for incitement to place an explosive in a building at Walton
1927 – Interstate Commerce Commission transfers Ohio to Eastern time zone
1929 – Persia agrees to the Litvinov Protocol
1930 – Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins, 4-3 for a 2-0 series sweep and their 3rd Championship
1957 – Soviet Union conducts atmospheric nuclear test
1984 – Soviet Soyuz T-11 launches carrying three cosmonauts, including the first Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma
2020 – London’s Nightingale hospital opened by Prince Charles (remotely) after nine days with 4,000 beds to treat COVID-19 patients at the ExCeL Centre
Today in History for 3rd April 2026
Historical Events
1956 – German war criminals Hinrichsen, Ruhl, Siebens and Viebahn freed
1960 – 7.0 earthquake felt in Havre, Belgium
1964 – The Beatles hold top 6 spots on the record chart in Sydney, Australia
1989 – New York Mets win their 11th consecutive home opener 8-4 over the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium
2016 – ANA Inspiration Women’s Golf, Mission Hills CC: Lydia Ko of New Zealand wins by 1 from Charley Hull and Chun In-gee for her second major title
Famous Birthdays
1922 – Ted Ashley [Theodore Assofsky], American talent agent and chairman of Warner Brothers (1969-80), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)
1941 – Joel Krosnick, American cellist and member of the Juilliard String Quartet (1974-2016), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 2025)
1941 – Carl Boenish, American father of BASE jumping, born in New Castle, Pennsylvania (d. 1984)
1944 – Barry Pritchard, British rock guitarist (Fortunes – “You’ve Got Your Troubles”; “Here It Comes Again”; “This Golden Ring”), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1999)
1960 – Marie Denise Pelletier, Canadian pop singer (Entre la tête et le cœur), born in Montréal, Québec
Famous Deaths
1876 – Henriette Davidis, German cookery writer (Practical Cookbook), dies at 75
1993 – Pinky Lee, American children’s show host (Pinky Lee Show), dies of a heart attack at 85
2002 – Fad Gadget [Francis Tovey], English singer and musician, dies of a heart attack at 45
2007 – Marion Eames, Welsh novelist, dies at 86
2015 – Sarah Brady, American gun-control activist, dies at 73
Famous Deaths for 2nd April 2026
1272 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1209)
1416 – Ferdinand I the Righteous, King of Aragon and Sicily, dies at 52
1507 – Francis of Paola, Italian founder of the Order of the Minims (b. 1416)
1914 – Paul von Heyse, German writer (Nobel Prize for Literature 1910), dies at 84
1953 – Jean Epstein, French director (Vive la Vie), dies at 56
1974 – Douglass Dumbrille, Canadian actor (Mr Deed Goes to Town), dies at 84
1994 – Richard Davies, actor (Pvt Buckaroo), dies of a heart attack at 79
1995 – Leo LeBlanc, American country musician and pianist who was legally blind, dies of cancer at 55
2001 – Jennifer Syme, American actress (b. 1972)
2020 – Carl Tacy, American college basketball coach (Wake Forest University 1972-85; 222-149 record), dies at 87
Historical Events for 2nd April 2026
1767 – King Charles III of Spain gives orders to expel the Jesuits from the Spanish Empire
1866 – US President Andrew Johnson ends civil war in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
1912 – Sun Yet Sen forms Guomindang Party in China
1930 – Ras Tafari Makonnen is proclaimed Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1939 – 6th US Masters Tournament: Ralph Guldahl wins his only Masters title with a tournament record 279 (−9), 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Sam Snead
1983 – New York Islanders right wing Mike Bossy scores in a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins to become the first player in NHL history to score 60 goals in 3 consecutive seasons
2012 – 74th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Kentucky defeats Kansas, 67-59; Wildcats guard Doron Lamb, 22 points
2019 – 70 villages evacuated in Khuzesta province, Iran, after at least 45 killed in flooding after unprecedented rainfall
Today in History for 2nd April 2026
Historical Events
1767 – King Charles III of Spain gives orders to expel the Jesuits from the Spanish Empire
1804 – Forty merchantmen are wrecked when a convoy led by HMS Apollo runs aground off the coast of Portugal
1872 – US engineer George Brayton patents an internal combustion engine (Brayton Cycle)
1902 – Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated by a terrorist in the Marie Palace, St Petersburg
1977 – Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” album goes to No. 1 and stays atop the charts for 31 weeks
Famous Birthdays
1798 – August Heinrich Hoffmann, German writer, born in Fallersleben, Electorate of Brunswick -Lüneburg (d. 1874)
1840 – Émile Zola, French novelist and critic (J’accuse – I Accuse), born in Paris, France (d. 1902)
1927 – Carmen Basilio, American boxer (World Welterweight title 1955-56; Middleweight title 1957-58), born in Canastota, New York (d. 2012)
1940 – Mike Hailwood, British motorcycle road racer (World C’ships: 250cc – 1961, 1966, 1967; 350cc – 1966, 1967; 500cc –1962-65; 76 Grand Prix wins), born in Great Milton, England (d. 1981)
1993 – Keshorn Walcott ORTT, Trinidadian athlete (Olympic gold javelin 2012, bronze 2016), born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Famous Deaths
1803 – Hieronymus van Alphen, Dutch poet of children’s poems (Proeve van kleine gedigen voor Kinder), dies at 56
1944 – Mikuláš Moyzes, Slovak composer (The Orphans), dies at 71
2002 – Henry Slesar, American writer and playwright (The Edge of Night), dies at 74
2013 – Milo O’Shea, Irish character actor (Barbarella, Staircase and Mass Appeal, Romeo and Juliet), dies at 86
2014 – Urs Widmer, Swiss writer, dies at 75
Famous Deaths for 1st April 2026
1904 – Guy Wetmore Carryl, American humorist and poet (Fables for the Frivolous, When the Great Gray Ships Come In), dies at 31
1936 – Mikhail Vladimirovich Ivanov-Boretsky, composer, dies at 61
1951 – Clement D’Hooghe, Belgian composer, dies at 51
1968 – Lev Landau, Russian physicist (1962 Nobel Prize for Physics for superfluidity theory), dies from injuries from an earlier car accident at 60
1974 – Alfred Ernest Whitehead, English-Canadian composer, dies at 86
1976 – Freddie Lennon, father of John Lennon (Beatles), dies at 63
2004 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (Diary of Mad Housewife), dies at 58
2011 – Lou Gorman, American baseball executive (general manager Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox), dies at 82
2013 – Nicolae Martinescu, Romanian Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold 100kg 1972), dies at 73
2025 – Star VII, Alaskan reindeer and a mascot of Anchorage, Alaska, euthanized after probably being poisoned at 8
Historical Events for 1st April 2026
792 – Maya city of Piedras Negras celebrates military triumph over nearby settlement of Pomona (as depicted in Stela 12 Piedras Negras)
1778 – New Orleans businessman Oliver Pollock creates the “$” symbol
1866 – US Congress rejects presidential veto giving all equal rights in US
1867 – Singapore, Penang and Malacca become British crown colonies
1888 – Students from Rotterdam, Netherlands establish a cricket club called Rotterdamsche Cricket and Football Club Sparta which evolves into Sparta Rotterdam
1910 – Romanian geographer Dumitru Dan completes a 62,137-mile (100,000-kilometer) walk
2000 – American boxer Chris Byrd wins WBO Heavyweight title after Ukrainian champion Vitali Klitschko retires with a shoulder injury at the end of the 9th round in Berlin, Germany
2012 – 32nd Golden Raspberry Awards: Jack and Jill wins
Today in History for 1st April 2026
Historical Events
1064 – The body of the first bishop of Tournai, Saint Eleutherius of Tournai, is translated (moved)
1924 – The Royal Canadian Air Force officially forms
1973 – Despite a final round, 5-3 loss to Montreal, Boston Bruins center Phil Esposito wins his third consecutive NHL scoring title with 130 points from 55 goals and 75 assists in the 78-game season
1995 – Carlson Wagonlit Travel Agency begins charging a $15 service fee
1999 – Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown wins his 900th pro game with an 88-84 win over Miami Heat; Brown record: 671-547 NBA, 229-107 ABA, combined 900-654
Famous Birthdays
1858 – Arnold Aletrino, Dutch physician, criminologist, and author (From Life), born in Amsterdam (d. 1916)
1947 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball point guard (NBA All-Star 1974, 76, 77; Chicago Bulls) and broadcaster (Comcast SportsNet), born in East Liverpool, Ohio (d. 2009)
1952 – Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher and founder of the Institute of Research and Innovation (2006), born in Villebon-sur-Yvette, France (d. 2020)
1974 – Richard Christy, American heavy metal drummer (Charred Walls of the Damned), and radio personality (The Howard Stern Show), born in Fort Scott, Kansas, U.S.
1987 – Ding Junhui, Chinese snooker player (Masters 2011; Shanghai Masters 2013, 16; UK C’ships 2005, 09, 19), born in Yixing, Jiangsu, China
Famous Deaths
1799 – Narciso Casanovas, composer, dies at 52
1901 – François-Marie Raoult, French physicist and chemist (Law of Raoult), dies at 70
1987 – Henri Cochet, French tennis player (French Open 1926, 28, 30, 32; Wimbledon 1927, 29; US Open 1928), dies at 85
1990 – Russell Vis, American Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold freestyle lightweight 1924), dies at 89
2020 – Adam Schlesinger, American rock musician (Fountains Of Wayne) and songwriter (That Thing You Do), dies of COVID-19 complications at 52
Famous Deaths for 31st March 2026
1631 – John Donne, Metaphysical poet, dies (birth date unknown)
1917 – Emil Adolf von Behring, German physician, won the first Nobel Prize for Physics (1901) for his serum to cure diphtheria, dies at 63
1934 – Franz Ehrle, German Jesuit and Vatican librarian (modernised the Vatican Library), dies at 88
1945 – Maurice Rose, American army officer (WWI; WWII), highest-ranking American killed by enemy fire in Europe, dies at 45
1957 – Gene Lockhart, American actor (Going My Way), dies at 65
1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American MLB baseball pitcher (St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, and 4 other teams), dies at 83
1995 – Carl Story, American bluegrass musician (Rambling Mountaineers), dies at 78
1996 – Dante Giacosa, Italian engineer and automobile designer (Fiat), dies at 91
1997 – Friedrich Hund, German physicist who worked on atoms and molecules (Hund’s Law), dies at 101
2023 – John Brockington, American football running back (First-team All-Pro 1971, 73; Pro Bowl 1971, 72, 73; Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs), dies at 74