On April 2, 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida.
In 1792, Congress authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.
In 1834, French sculptor Frederic Bartholdi, designer of the Statue of Liberty, was born in Colmar, Alsace.
In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
In 1872, Samuel F.B. Morse, 81, developer of the electric telegraph, died.
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, saying, ”The world must be made safe for democracy.”
In 1932, Charles Lindbergh turned over $50,000 to an unidentified man in a New York cemetery as ransom for his kidnaped infant son Charles Jr., who later was found murdered.
In 1956, the soap opera, ”As the World Turns,” premiered on CBS-TV.
In 1974, French President Georges Pompidou died in Paris at age 62.
In 1982, Argentina seized the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic from Britain.
