Calendar date · April

What happened on April 2

On April 2, 1107: Seljuq sultan Muhammad I Tapar begins the siege of Shahdiz, a fortress of the Nizari Ismailis.

Events

41

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Aries

Featured moment · 1107

Seljuq sultan Muhammad I Tapar begins the siege of Shahdiz, a fortress of the Nizari Ismailis.

The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a high medieval, Turko-Persian empire established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. 9 million square kilometres from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to the Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and it spanned the time period 1037–1308, though Seljuk rule beyond the Anatolian peninsula ended in 1194.

People

Born on April 2

Brenda Fruhvirtová 2007– Czech tennis player (born 2007)
Adrián Liso 2005– Spanish footballer
Diana Shnaider 2004– Russian tennis player (born 2004)
Emma Myers 2002– American actress (born 2002)
Rodrigo Riquelme 2000– Spanish footballer
Josip Stanišić 2000– Croatian footballer (born 2000)
Dillon Bassett 1997– American racing driver
Abdelhak Nouri 1997– Dutch footballer (born 1997)
Austin Riley 1997– American baseball player (born 1997)
Show 9 more — notable births on April 2
Zach Bryan 1996– American country singer-songwriter (born 1996)
André Onana 1996– Cameroonian footballer (born 1996)
Zack Steffen 1995– American soccer player (born 1995)
Pascal Siakam 1994– Cameroonian basketball player (born 1994)
Keshorn Walcott 1993– Trinidadian javelin thrower
Bruno Zuculini 1993– Argentine footballer (born 1993)
Quavo 1991– American rapper (born 1991)
Yevgeniya Kanayeva 1990– Russian rhythmic gymnast (born 1990)
Miralem Pjanić 1990– Bosnian footballer (born 1990)

People

Died on April 2

Khamtai Siphandone President of Laos (1924–2025; served 1998–2006)
Jerry Abbott American songwriter and record producer (1942–2024)
John Barth American writer (1930–2024)
Maryse Condé French Guadeloupean author (1934–2024)
Christopher Durang American playwright (1949–2024)
Larry Lucchino American lawyer and baseball executive (1945–2024)
John Sinclair American poet and activist (1941–2024)
Juan Vicente Pérez Venezuelan supercentenarian (1909–2024)
Estelle Harris American actress (1928–2022)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on April 2
Simon Bainbridge British composer (1952–2021)
Alma Delia Fuentes Mexican actress (1937–2017)
Gallieno Ferri Italian comic book artist (1929–2016)
Robert Abajyan Armenian soldier (1996–2016)
Manoel de Oliveira Portuguese film director, screenwriter and racing driver (1908–2015)
Robert H. Schuller American television evangelist (1926–2015)
Steve Stevaert Belgian politician (1954–2015)
Urs Widmer Swiss novelist, playwright (1938–2014)
Fred French comics artist

Timeline

Every April 2 on record

  1. 1107 Seljuq sultan Muhammad I Tapar begins the siege of Shahdiz, a fortress of the Nizari Ismailis.

    Turco-Persianate empire (1037–1194)

    The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a high medieval, Turko-Persian empire established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. 9 million square kilometres from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to the Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and it spanned the time period 1037–1308, though Seljuk rule beyond the Anatolian peninsula ended in 1194.

  2. 1285 Election of Pope Honorius IV following the death of Pope Martin IV.

    Head of the Catholic Church from 1285 to 1287

    Pope Honorius IV was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 April 1285 to his death on 3 April 1287. His election followed the death of Pope Martin IV and was notable for its speed; he was chosen unanimously on the first ballot. Honorius IV's papacy occurred during a tumultuous period marked by political strife and conflict in Sicily, where he sought to navigate complex relationships with various rulers while maintaining papal authority.

  3. 1513 Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Johns River.

    Spanish explorer and conquistador (1474–1521)

    Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and conquistador known for leading the first European expeditions to Puerto Rico in 1508 and Florida in 1513. He was born in Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain, in 1474. Though little is known about his family, he was of noble birth and served in the Spanish military from a young age.

  4. 1725 J. S. Bach's cantata Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6, is first performed in Leipzig on Easter Monday.

    German composer (1685–1750)

    Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor.

  5. 1755 Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on the west coast of India.

    Senior officer rank of the Royal Navy

    Commodore (Cdre) is a rank of the Royal Navy above captain and below rear admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to brigadier in the British Army and the Royal Marines and to air commodore in the Royal Air Force.

  6. 1792 The Coinage Act is passed by Congress, establishing the United States Mint.
  7. 1800 Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
  8. 1801 French Revolutionary Wars: In the Battle of Copenhagen a British Royal Navy squadron defeats a hastily assembled, smaller, mostly-volunteer Dano-Norwegian Navy at high cost, forcing Denmark out of the Second League of Armed Neutrality.
  9. 1863 American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.
  10. 1865 American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia.
  11. 1885 Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine.
  12. 1911 The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country's first national census.
  13. 1912 The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.
  14. 1917 American entry into World War I: President Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
  15. 1921 The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established.
Show 15 earlier entries from April 2
  1. 1930 After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
  2. 1969 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 crashes into the Polica mountain near Zawoja, Poland, killing 53.
  3. 1975 Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
  4. 1976 Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
  5. 1979 A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock.
  6. 1980 United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
  7. 1982 Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
  8. 1986 Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door", announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987.
  9. 1989 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
  10. 1991 Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm (who had resigned) as Premier of British Columbia.
  11. 1992 In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
  12. 1992 Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  13. 2002 Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
  14. 2004 Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid; the attack is thwarted.
  15. 2006 Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.

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