April 3rd in History

1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.

1559 - The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis treaty is signed, ending the Italian Wars.

1834 - The generals in the Greek War of Independence stand trial for treason.

1865 - American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.

1882 - American Old West: Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford.

1922 - Joseph Stalin becomes the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1933 - First flight over Mount Everest, a British expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston

1942 - World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.

1948 - President Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan, authorizing $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.

1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech.

1969 - Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to "Vietnamize" the war effort.

1997 - The Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas.

2004 - Islamic terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves.

Famous Birthdays

1366 - Henry IV of England

1643 - Charles V, Duke of Lorraine

1814 - Lorenzo Snow, 5th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1881 - Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister of Italy

1893 - Princess Maud of Fife

1915 - Piet de Jong, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

1928 - Emmett Johns, formerly a catholic priest, founder of the organization Le Bon Dieu Dans La Rue (Dans La Rue)

1934 - Jane Goodall, primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace

1944 - Tony Orlando, singer

1951 - Mitch Woods, pianist and singer

1972 - Leigh-Allyn Baker, actress

1978 - John Smit, rugby player

1986 - Amanda Bynes, actress

1990 - Madison Brengle, tennis player