# April 2

**April 2** is the 92nd day of the year in the [Gregorian calendar](https://www.edgepedia.org/gregorian-calendar), with 273 days remaining after it in a non-leap year such as 2026; in 2026 the date falls on a Thursday.<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup> Its record as a chronicle date runs from [Juan Ponce de León](https://www.edgepedia.org/juan-ponce-de-leon)'s claim of Florida for Spain in 1513 to a shipwreck announcement made in 2026 on the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Copenhagen, and its defining modern event is Argentina's seizure of the [Falkland Islands](https://www.edgepedia.org/falkland-islands) on April 2, 1982, which opened the Falklands War and is commemorated in Argentina as a public holiday.

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position in the year | 92nd day of the Gregorian year, with 273 days remaining in a non-leap year such as 2026; a Thursday in 2026<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup> |
| Islamic calendar (2026) | April 2, 2026 corresponds to 14 Shawwal 1447 AH<sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup> |
| Defining modern event | Several thousand Argentine troops seized the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982; the UN Security Council demanded withdrawal the same day; the resulting Falklands War was won by the U.K.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/april/2)</sup> |
| Argentine holiday | The Day of the Veterans (Día del Veterano), tied to the Malvinas war, is a public holiday in Argentina on April 2<sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup> |
| Florida, 1513 | Juan Ponce de León claimed Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach it<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup> |
| U.S. Mint, 1792 | The Coinage Act established the United States Mint and authorized the $10 Eagle, $5 Half-Eagle, $2.50 Quarter-Eagle, and the silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and half-dime<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup> |
| Battle of Copenhagen, 1801 | British naval forces under Nelson defeated the Danish navy during the Napoleonic Wars<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup> |
| 2026 coincidences | April 2, 2026 is both Maundy Thursday and the first full day of Passover<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup> |

## April 2 in the calendar

April 2 is the 92nd day of the Gregorian year, with 273 days remaining until the end of a non-leap year such as 2026, and it falls on a Thursday in 2026.<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup> In the [Islamic calendar](https://www.edgepedia.org/islamic-calendar), April 2, 2026 corresponds to 14 Shawwal 1447 AH.<sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup>

Movable feasts interact with the fixed date only in certain years. [Maundy Thursday](https://www.edgepedia.org/maundy-thursday), the Thursday before Easter, moves against the fixed calendar and lands on April 2 only when Easter falls in the right place; 2026 is one of those years, and April 2, 2026 is also the first full day of Passover.<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup>

## Major historical events

**Florida, 1513.** The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León claimed Florida for Spain on April 2, 1513, as the first known European to reach it.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/todayinhistory/20260401/thursday-april-2-2026)</sup>

**Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 1559.** England and France signed the first Treaty of Le Cateau-Cambrésis on April 2, 1559.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup>

**The United States Mint, 1792.** The Coinage Act passed on April 2, 1792 established the [United States Mint](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-mint) and authorized the $10 Eagle, $5 Half-Eagle, and $2.50 Quarter-Eagle gold coins, together with the silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and half-dime.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/todayinhistory/20260401/thursday-april-2-2026)</sup>

**Vienna, 1800.** [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://www.edgepedia.org/ludwig-van-beethoven) led the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna on April 2, 1800.<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup>

**Copenhagen, 1801.** At the Battle of Copenhagen, fought on April 2, 1801 during the [Napoleonic Wars](https://www.edgepedia.org/napoleonic-wars), Nelson and the British fleet attacked and defeated the Danish navy as it formed a protective blockade outside the harbor; thousands were killed and wounded in the hours-long clash, which is considered one of Nelson's "great battles".<sup>[6](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/02/archaeologists-discover-wreck-danish-warship-sunk-admiral-nelson)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup>

**Petersburg and Richmond, 1865.** At approximately 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 2, 1865, [Ulysses S. Grant](https://www.edgepedia.org/ulysses-s-grant)'s army attacked the Confederate lines at [Petersburg, Virginia](https://www.edgepedia.org/petersburg-virginia), and by mid-afternoon Confederate troops had begun evacuating the town. The Union victory ensured the fall of Richmond, the Confederate capital, located twenty-five miles north. Confederate President Jefferson Davis received the news while attending services at St. Paul's Church in Richmond and abandoned the capital late that night by train for [Danville, Virginia](https://www.edgepedia.org/danville-virginia); Richmond burned as fires set by fleeing Confederates and looters raged out of control, and Davis was captured by Union soldiers on May 10, 1865.<sup>[7](https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/april-02/)</sup>

**1917.** President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany on April 2, 1917.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.historynet.com/today-in-history/April-02/?tdih_share=twitter)</sup> The same day, Jeannette Pickering Rankin was sworn in and began her term as the first woman member of the U.S. House of Representatives.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.historynet.com/today-in-history/April-02/?tdih_share=twitter)</sup>

**1930.** Ras Tafari Makonnen was proclaimed Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).<sup>[5](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/todayinhistory/20260401/thursday-april-2-2026)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup>

**Media, engineering, and politics, 1902 to 1991.** The Electric Theatre, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opened in Los Angeles on April 2, 1902.<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup> The LexisNexis computerized legal research service launched on April 2, 1973,<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup> and Toronto's 1,815-foot [CN Tower](https://www.edgepedia.org/cn-tower) was completed on April 2, 1975.<sup>[9](https://www.almanac.com/calendar/date/2026-04-02)</sup> On April 2, 1991, Rita Johnston became the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeded William Vander Zalm as Premier of British Columbia.<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup>

**2020 and 2023.** On April 2, 2020, a record 6.6 million Americans filed claims for unemployment in the prior week according to the U.S. Department of Labor, 10 million over the prior two weeks.<sup>[5](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/todayinhistory/20260401/thursday-april-2-2026)</sup> Finland's parliamentary election of April 2, 2023 gave the center-right [National Coalition Party](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-coalition-party) led by [Petteri Orpo](https://www.edgepedia.org/petteri-orpo) a slender advantage over Prime Minister Sanna Marin's center-left Social Democrats, without a clear majority.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup>

Almanac columns also record smaller entries for the date, including a bread riot in [Richmond, Virginia](https://www.edgepedia.org/richmond-virginia) (1863), a 7.9 earthquake that triggered a tsunami in Hawaii (1868), and a 2015 world-record purr of 67.8 decibels by a British rescue cat named Merlin.<sup>[9](https://www.almanac.com/calendar/date/2026-04-02)</sup>

## The Falklands War begins: April 2, 1982

**The landings.** On April 2, 1982, several thousand Argentine troops invaded and seized the Falkland Islands from the United Kingdom.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup> The occupation escalated a long-standing conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the archipelago in the South Atlantic and triggered the Falklands War, which was won by the U.K.<sup>[4](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/april/2)</sup> The same day, the UN Security Council demanded that Argentina withdraw from the islands.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup>

**Commemoration.** Argentina commemorates the invasion under the archipelago's Argentine name, Malvinas, as Malvinas Day,<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup> and observes the Day of the Veterans (Día del Veterano), tied to the Malvinas war, as a public holiday on April 2.<sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup> British-language sources record the same event as the invasion of the Falkland Islands.<sup>[8](https://www.historynet.com/today-in-history/April-02/?tdih_share=twitter)</sup>

## Births and deaths

**Born on April 2.** The date's births include Giacomo Casanova (1725, Italian explorer and author), Hans Christian Andersen (1805, Danish author and poet, also described as a novelist, short story writer, and poet, died 1875), Émile Zola (1840, French author and critic), Max Ernst (1891, German painter, sculptor, and poet), and Marvin Gaye (1939, American singer-songwriter),<sup>[4](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/april/2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://www.almanac.com/calendar/date/2026-04-02)</sup> as well as Sir Alec Guinness (1914) and Emmylou Harris (1947).<sup>[9](https://www.almanac.com/calendar/date/2026-04-02)</sup>

**Died on April 2.** Deaths recorded for the date include Samuel Morse, inventor (1872); Bennie Moten, jazz pioneer (1935, in Kansas City, Missouri); C. S. Forester, author (1966); Pope John Paul II (2005); and Jane Henson, co-creator of The Muppets (2013).<sup>[9](https://www.almanac.com/calendar/date/2026-04-02)</sup> The Portuguese director and screenwriter Manoel de Oliveira died on April 2, 2015.<sup>[4](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/april/2)</sup>

## Holidays and observances

**Fixed observances.** The KALW almanac for April 2, 2026 lists World Autism Awareness Day, International Fact-Checking Day, International Children's Book Day, and Malvinas Day in Argentina, alongside United States themed days: National Burrito Day, National Ferret Day, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, and Reconciliation Day.<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup> In 2026, Iran observes Nature Day as a public holiday on April 2,<sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup> and Belarus observes the Union Day of Belarus and Russia on the date.<sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup>

**Movable observances in 2026.** On April 2, 2026, Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, is the Thursday before Easter, on which Christians recall Jesus' final Passover meal and the washing of the disciples' feet; the name "Maundy" is a shortened form of mandatum, Latin for "command".<sup>[9](https://www.almanac.com/calendar/date/2026-04-02)</sup> Maundy Thursday is a public holiday in 17 countries, a half-day holiday starting noon in Andorra, and a regional holiday in parts of Germany.<sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup> The same date in 2026 is the first full day of Passover, a public holiday in Israel.<sup>[2](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)</sup>

## What has changed since 2023

Finland's parliamentary election of April 2, 2023 gave the center-right National Coalition Party led by Petteri Orpo a slender advantage over Prime Minister Sanna Marin's center-left Social Democrats, without a clear majority.<sup>[3](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)</sup> In 2026, Denmark's Viking Ship Museum announced on April 2, exactly 225 years after the Battle of Copenhagen, the discovery of the wreck of the Danish warship Dannebroge in Copenhagen harbor; divers excavating the wreck work at a depth of 15 meters (49 ft) in thick sediment with almost zero visibility, racing to complete the dig before the site becomes a construction site in a new housing district.<sup>[6](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/02/archaeologists-discover-wreck-danish-warship-sunk-admiral-nelson)</sup> The 2026 calendar also aligns April 2 with Maundy Thursday and the first full day of Passover.<sup>[1](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)</sup> Newspaper almanac columns continue to carry the date's record: the Korea Times published its "Today in History" column for Thursday, April 2, 2026 on April 1, 2026.<sup>[5](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/todayinhistory/20260401/thursday-april-2-2026)</sup>

## References

1. [KALW Almanac, Thursday April 2, 2026, KALW public radio](https://www.kalw.org/show/the-kalw-morning-almanac/2026-04-02/kalw-almanac-thursday-april-2-2026)
2. [April 2, 2026, Date Details & Holidays, TrueCalendar](https://truecalendar.com/2026/04/02)
3. [Historical Events on April 2, On This Day](https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/2)
4. [On This Day: What Happened on April 2, timeanddate.com](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/april/2)
5. [Thursday, April 2, 2026, Today in History, The Korea Times](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/todayinhistory/20260401/thursday-april-2-2026)
6. [Archaeologists discover wreck of Danish warship sunk by Nelson 225 years ago, The Guardian (2026)](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/02/archaeologists-discover-wreck-danish-warship-sunk-admiral-nelson)
7. [Today in History, April 2, Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/april-02/)
8. [Today in History, April 2, HistoryNet](https://www.historynet.com/today-in-history/April-02/?tdih_share=twitter)
9. [Daily Calendar for Thursday, April 2, 2026, The Old Farmer's Almanac](https://www.almanac.com/calendar/date/2026-04-02)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › General historical chronologies › Month and day chronicle pages › April to June*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license