2 April 1959

Six elderly men burgled a safe-deposit facility in Hatton Garden, London, and stole items worth up to an estimated £14 million.

Second Intifada: Palestinian militants sought refuge from advancing Israeli forces in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, beginning a month-long siege.

Bosnian War: At least 48 civilians were massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

John Gotti, the head of the Gambino crime family of New York City, was convicted of racketeering, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, and tax evasion.

Argentine special forces invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking the Falklands War against the United Kingdom.

Spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a military research facility near the city of Sverdlovsk, causing at least 68 deaths.

2001: A Space Odyssey, the epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the first national census of the country.

Creatures of Impulse, by W. S. Gilbert (pictured), premiered at the Court Theatre in London.

American Civil War: On the third attempt, Union forces captured Petersburg, Virginia, although Confederate officials and most of their remaining troops were able to escape.

The first modern Italian Parliament is opened in Turin, following the annexation of Central Italy into the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León sighted land in North America, naming the area La Florida.

Liberation Day tariffs: U.S. President Donald Trump announces sweeping worldwide tariffs.

Viertola school shooting: A 12-year-old pupil is killed and two others injured by a shooter of the same age in Vantaa, Finland.

At least 49 people are killed in a train derailment in Taiwan after a truck accidentally rolls onto the track.

A Capitol Police officer is killed and another injured when an attacker rams his car into a barricade outside the United States Capitol.

COVID-19 pandemic: The total number of confirmed cases reach one million.

Four men steal items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area in what has been called the "largest burglary in English legal history."

A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured.

UTair Flight 120 crashes after takeoff from Roshchino International Airport in Tyumen, Russia, killing 33 and injuring 10.

India wins the Cricket World Cup for the second time in history under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.

Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.

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.

Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, into which armed Palestinians had retreated.