This day in history

[April 02, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Saturday, April 2, the 92nd day of 2011. There are 273 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On April 2, 1811, James Monroe became the seventh U.S. Secretary of State.

On this date:

In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in present-day Florida.

In 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.

In 1860, the first Italian Parliament met at Turin.

In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va., because of advancing Union forces.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy." (Congress declared war four days later.)

In 1932, aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and John F. Condon went to a cemetery in The Bronx, N.Y., where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man in exchange for Lindbergh's kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)

In 1956, the soap operas "As the World Turns" and "The Edge of Night" premiered on CBS television.

In 1974, French President Georges Pompidou died in Paris.

In 1982, several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain. (Britain seized the islands back the following June.)

In 1986, four American passengers were killed when a bomb exploded aboard a TWA jetliner en route from Rome to Athens, Greece.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush demanded that China promptly return a U.S. spy plane and its crew members. (The plane had made an emergency landing in China after colliding with a Chinese fighter.) Duke won its third national men's basketball championship with an 82-72 victory over Arizona.

Five years ago: Journalist Jill Carroll arrived in Boston, tearfully embracing her parents and twin sister after 82 days as a hostage in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a surprise trip to Iraq to urge its leaders to form a unified government. Tornadoes killed 23 people in Tennessee and four others in the South and Midwest.

One year ago: President Barack Obama, visiting a factory in Charlotte, N.C., hailed a new government report showing the most jobs created in nearly three years, saying, "We are beginning to turn the corner." Gunmen seeking to pass themselves off as U.S. and Iraqi soldiers raided a Sunni village outside Baghdad, killing at least 24 people in an execution-style attack. Ohio State junior swingman Evan Turner was the runaway choice as The Associated Press' college basketball player of the year; Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (BAY'-hym) was the AP's college basketball coach of the year.

Today's birthdays: Actress Rita Gam is 83. Actress Sharon Acker is 76. Singer Leon Russell is 69. Jazz musician Larry Coryell is 68. Actress Linda Hunt is 66. Singer Emmylou Harris is 64. Social critic and author Camille Paglia is 64. Actor Ron Palillo is 62. Actress Pamela Reed is 62. Rock musician Dave Robinson (The Cars) is 58. Country singer Buddy Jewell is 50. Actor Christopher Meloni is 50. Singer Keren Woodward (Bananarama) is 50. Country singer Billy Dean is 49. Actor Clark Gregg is 49. Actress Jana Marie Hupp is 47. Rock musician Greg Camp is 44. Rock musician Tony Fredianelli (Third Eye Blind) is 42. Actress Roselyn Sanchez is 38. Country singer Jill King is 36. Actor Adam Rodriguez is 36. Actor Jeremy Garrett is 35. Rock musician Jesse Carmichael (Maroon 5) is 32. Actress Bethany Joy Lenz is 30. Singer Lee Dewyze (TV: "American Idol") is 25. Actor Jesse Plemons is 23. Singer Aaron Kelly (TV: "American Idol") is 18.

Thought for today: "Never think you've seen the last of anything." -- Eudora Welty, American author (1909-2001)

[Associated Press]

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