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UPI Almanac for Thursday, April 2, 2020

On April 2, 2005, Pope John Paul II, head of the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter century, died at his Vatican apartment.

By United Press International
Bishop Robert Hermann celebrates a mass in honor of the late Pope John Paul II at the Cathedral Bascillica in St. Louis on April 3, 2005. The pontiff died April 2, 2005. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
1 of 3 | Bishop Robert Hermann celebrates a mass in honor of the late Pope John Paul II at the Cathedral Bascillica in St. Louis on April 3, 2005. The pontiff died April 2, 2005. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

Today is Thursday, April 2, the 93rd day of 2020 with 273 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn. Evening stars are Uranus and Venus.

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Charlemagne, founder of the Holy Roman Empire, in 742; Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova in 1725; Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen in 1805; French novelist Emile Zola in 1840; automaker Walter Chrysler in 1875; surrealist artist Max Ernst in 1891; baseball Hall of Fame member Luke Appling in 1907; actor Buddy Ebsen in 1908; actor Alec Guinness in 1914; Australian auto racer Jack Brabham in 1926; singer/songwriter Marvin Gaye in 1939; radio personality Dr. Demento, born Barret Hansen, in 1941 (age 79); singer/songwriter Leon Russell in 1942; actor Linda Hunt in 1945 (age 75); literary/cultural critic Camille Paglia in 1947 (age 73); country singer Emmylou Harris in 1947 (age 73); actor Pamela Reed in 1949 (age 71); actor Christopher Meloni in 1961 (age 59); actor Clark Gregg in 1962 (age 58); actor Adam Rodriguez in 1975 (age 45); actor Michael Fassbender in 1977 (age 43); rapper Quavo Marshall in 1991 (age 29).

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On this date in history:

In 1513, Ponce De Leon of Spain landed at what is now St. Augustine, Fla., to search for the Fountain of Youth.

In 1792, Congress passed legislation authorizing the U.S. Mint to coin money, all to be inscribed with the Latin words "E Pluribus Unum," a motto meaning "Out of Many, One."

In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy Hayes, brought the annual Easter Egg Roll to the White House. Prior to that, it had been held on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany.

In 1932, aviator Charles Lindbergh left $50,000 in a New York City cemetery for the return of his kidnapped son. The child was later found dead. Bruno Hauptmann subsequently was convicted of kidnapping and murder, and was executed.

In 1975, South Vietnamese military and civilians began evacuating Quang Ngai province from the city of Qui Nhon as the North Vietnamese began its march toward Saigon. The North captured the capital city later in the month.

In 1982, Argentine troops stormed the Falkland Islands in South America, overwhelming the small British marine unit stationed there.

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In 1992, a New York jury convicted mob boss John Gotti in five killings, racketeering and other charges. Gotti died in prison in 2002.

In 2005, Pope John Paul II, head of the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter century, died at his Vatican apartment. The 84-year-old pontiff had urinary and bacterial infections that led to organ failure.

In 2007 the University of Florida repeated as NCAA Division I basketball champion, becoming the first school to win both the national collegiate major basketball and football titles the same calendar year.

In 2012, One Goh, a 38-year-old former nursing student in Oakland, Calif., opened fire on the Oikos University campus, killing seven people and injuring three others, authorities said. He was captured a short time later.

In 2014, a soldier shot and killed three service members, injured 16 others, then killed himself at Fort Hood, Texas, 4 1/2 years after 13 people died in a shooting spree at the same base.

In 2015, al-Shabab militants conducted an "operation against the infidels," killing 148 people at Garissa University College in Kenya.

In 2019, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned following weeks of mass protests over his decision to run for a fifth term.

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A thought for the day: "The worst prison would be a closed heart." -- Pope John Paul II

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