Portal:United States/On this day/April 2

On this day for the United States

April 2:

Events

• 1792 - The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
• 1863 - Richmond Bread Riot: Food shortages incite hundreds of angry women to riot in Richmond, Virginia and demand the Confederate government to release emergency supplies.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Siege of Petersburg broken - Union troops capture the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, forcing Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet flee the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
• 1900 - The Foraker Act passes through Congress, giving Puerto Ricans limited self-rule.
• 1902 - "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California.
• 1917 - World War I: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
• 1917 - The first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, Jeannette Rankin, takes her seat as a representative from Montana.
• 1972 - Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist in the early 1950s during the Red Scare.
• 1973 - Launch of LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
• 1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act in an effort to help the U.S. economy rebound.
• 1992 - In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
• 2005 - James Stewart Jr. becomes first African American to win a major motorsports event.
• 2006 - Over 60 tornadoes breakout, hardest hit is Tennessee with 29 people killed.