April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 272 days remaining.
Events 1860 - The first successful Pony Express run from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California is started (completed on April 13). 1865 - American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the break-away Confederate States of America. 1882 - Old West outlaw Jesse James is shot in the back and killed by Robert Ford for a $5,000 reward. 1936 - Richard Bruno Hauptmann is executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, the baby son of Anne and world-famous pilot Charles Lindbergh. 1942 - World War II: Japanese forces begin an all-out assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula. Bataan fell on April 9 and the Bataan Death March began. 1946 - Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed outside Manila in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March. 1948 - President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries. 1953 - TV Guide debuts. 1968 - Simon and Garfunkel release the critically acclaimed album Bookends. 1968 - Martin Luther King Jr delivers his "mountaintop" speech. 1974 - The Super Outbreak occured. 148 tornadoes affected 13 states in 26 hours. It was the biggest tornado outbreak in the planet's recorded history. 1975 - Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title. 1986 - IBM unveils the PC Convertible, the first laptop computer. 1996 - Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin. 1996 - An Air Force air transport carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown crashes in Croatia, killing all 35 on-board. 2000 - Microsoft antitrust case: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors. Births 1693 - George Edwards, naturalist († 1773) 1783 - Washington Irving, author († 1859) 1822 - Edward Everett Hale, writer, († 1909) 1823 - William Marcy Tweed, political boss († 1878) 1885 - Allan Dwan, film director († 1981) 1893 - Leslie Howard, actor (+ 1943) 1898 - George Jessel, comedian († 1981) 1903 - Peter Huchel, lyricist and author of radio plays († 1981) 1904 - Sally Rand, dancer († 1979) 1907 - Iron Eyes Cody, actor († 1999) 1916 - Herb Caen, newspaper columnist († 1997) 1924 - Doris Day, actress 1924 - Marlon Brando, actor 1925 - Tony Benn, British politician 1926 - Gus Grissom, astronaut († 1967) 1930 - Helmut Kohl, politician, German Bundeskanzler from 1982 to 1998 1934 - Jane Goodall, zoologist 1942 - Marsha Mason, actress 1942 - Wayne Newton, singer 1944 - Tony Orlando, musician 1949 - Richard Thompson, musician, songwriter 1956 - Ray Combs, game show host, comedian († 1996) 1958 - Alec Baldwin, actor 1959 - David Hyde Pierce, actor 1961 - Eddie Murphy, actor and comedian 1968 - Sebastian Bach, musician ("Skid Row") 1986 - Amanda Bynes, teen actress and show host Deaths 1868 - Franz Berwald, composer 1882 - Jesse James, outlaw 1897 - Johannes Brahms, composer 1901 - Richard D'Oyly Carte, impresario 1932 - Wilhelm Ostwald, chemist 1936 - Bruno Hauptmann, convicted of killing Charles Lindbergh Jr. 1950 - Kurt Weill, composer 1986 - Richard Manuel, musician ("The Band") 1988 - Milt Caniff, cartoonist 1990 - Sarah Vaughn, singer 1991 - Graham Greene, writer 1993 - Pinky Lee, children's television host Holidays and observances See Also: April 2 - April 4 - March 3 - May 3 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
April 2 - April 4 - March 3 - May 3 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December