Holidays Calendar for April 2, 2020
Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas War, typically referred to as Malvinas Day, is a public holiday in Argentina. It is observed annually on April 2.
On the 13th day of the month of Farvardin, Iranians celebrate a festival known as Sizdah Be-dar, also referred to as Nature Day. It is a public holiday in Iran that falls on April 2 in the Gregorian calendar.
Hùng Kings Commemoration Day is a Vietnamese public holiday celebrated annually on the 10th day of the 3rd month of the Vietnamese calendar. The government established it as an official holiday in 2007.
Rama Navami (also spelled Rama Nawami) is an annual Hindu festival that is observed on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra. It celebrates the birth of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu.
International Children's Book Day is an annual event organized by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). It is observed on April 2 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen, a prominent Danish writer best known for his fairy tales.
International Fact-Checking Day is observed annually on April 2. It was created to raise awareness of the importance of fact-checking and highlight the contribution of professional fact-checkers to protecting the general public from misinformation.
Dog Handler Day, sometimes erroneously translated as Cynologist Day, is a professional holiday celebrated in Ukraine on April 2. It honors people who train and work with working dogs in police units, search and rescue operations, border guard units, etc.
National Ferret Day is observed annually on April 2 to raise awareness and dispel myths about a lively and intelligent animal that is often misunderstood, as well as to educate potential pet ferret owners about taking proper care of these cute creatures.
Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day is an annual holiday celebrated in the Russian Federation and Republic of Belarus on April 2. It commemorates the creation of the Commonwealth of Belarus and Russia in 1996 and the Union of Belarus and Russia in 1997.
Thai Heritage Conservation Day is an annual observance in Thailand held on April 2. It has been celebrated since 1985.
National Children’s Book Day is observed in Thailand every year on April 2, coinciding with International Children’s Book Day. It was established in 2005 to promote love of reading and encourage the development of national children’s literature.
There are several types of official flag flying days in Denmark: national holidays, religious holidays, birthdays in the royal family, and military flag flying days. The Battle of Copenhagen Day, observed on April 2 very year, is a military flag flying day.
The Battle of Näfels Day (Näfelser Fahrt — “Näfels Ride”) is celebrated in the Swiss canton of Glarus on the first Thursday of April. It is a public holiday in the canton.
Peanut butter and jelly are a match made in heaven, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, often referred to as simply PB&J, is an iconic American dish. Celebrate National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day on April 2 in honor of the best breakfast and lunch sandwich ever.
Burrito is one of the most popular dishes in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine, so it is not surprising that people celebrate National Burrito Day, which occurs on the first Thursday of April every year.
World Autism Awareness Day is a global awareness day observed annually on April 2. It was established by the UN General Assembly in 2007, and the first observance took place in 2008.
Festivals on April 2, 2020
- Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival in Vancouver, Canada
- Museums and the Web in Los Angeles, USA
- International Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon, USA
- UK Asian Film Festival in London, United Kingdom
- National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, USA
- Trans-Siberian Art Festival in Novosibirsk, Russia
- Vilnius International Film Festival “Kino Pavasaris” in Vilnius, Lithuania
- CPH:DOX Film Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark
- World Amigurumi Exhibition in New York, USA
This Day in History
- 2021 Noah Green, a 25-year-old black nationalist, killed Capitol Police officer William Evans and wounded a second officer after he deliberately rammed his car into a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol.
- 2012 Seven people were killed and three injured by a 43-year-old One L. Goh, a former student of the university, in a mas shooting at Oikos University in Oakland, California.
- 2005 Died: Pope John Paul II. He was the pope of the Catholic Church from 1978 till his death, making him the second longest-serving pope in modern history. John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since 1523.
- 2004 Islamic terrorists attempted to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid. The attack was thwarted.
- 1995 Died: Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate for the discovery and description of magnetohydrodynamics waves.
- 1995 Died: Harvey Penick, American golfer and coach. He coached many Hall of Fame players, such as Tom Kite, Mickey Wright, Ben Crenshaw, Betsy Rawls and Kathy Whitworth.
- 1989 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrived in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in attempt to mend strained relations.
- 1988 Born: Jesse Plemons, American actor known for his roles as Landry Clarke on Friday Night Lights, Ed Blumquist on Fargo, and Robert Daly in the Black Mirror episode "USS Callister".
- 1985 Born: Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater, choreographer, and coach, a two-time World Champion, a two-time Grand Prix Champion and a nine-time Swiss national champion.
- 1977 Born: Michael Fassbender, Irish-German actor, best-known for roles as Magneto in the X-Men franchise and as slave owner Edwin Epps in 12 Years a Slave.
- 1975 Born: Pedro Pascal, Chilean and American actor known for his roles as Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones, Javier Peña on Narcos, the title character on The Mandalorian, and Joe Miller on The Last of Us.
- 1975 Thousands of civilian refugees fled from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
- 1975 The construction of the CN Tower was completed in Toronto, Canada. The tower reached 1,815.4 ft (533.33 m) high, thus becoming the tallest free-standing structure in the world.
- 1974 Died: Georges Pompidou, French politician. He was the Prime Minister of France from 1962 till 1968, thus becoming the Prime Minister who held the longest tenure in this position. He became the President of France in 1969 and held this position till his death.
- 1972 Charlie Chaplin returned to the USA for the fist time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
- 1966 Died: C. S. Forester, English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic Wars.
- 1962 Born: Clark Gregg, American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is probably best know for playing Agent Phil Coulson in films and television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- 1933 Died: Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer, widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He invented and popularized the leg glance shot.
- 1928 Died: Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate for exact determinations of the atomic weights of numerous chemical elements.
- 1917 United States president Woodrow Wilson asked the U.S Congress to declare war on Germany.
- 1914 Died: Paul Heyse, German author, Nobel Prize laureate "as a tribute to the consummate artistry, permeated with idealism, which he has demonstrated during his long productive career as a lyric poet, dramatist, novelist and writer of world-renowned short stories".
- 1914 Born: Alec Guinness, English actor, best remembered as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. Among his other notable works are Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Prisoner, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Tunes of Glory.
- 1911 The first national census was conducted in Australia by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- 1891 Born: Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet. He was a prolific artist who pioneered the movements of Dada and Surrealism.
- 1880 Ludwig van Beethoven led the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
- 1875 Born: Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founder of Chrysler, an American automobile manufacturer, nowadays owned by the Italian automaker Fiat.
- 1872 Died: Samuel Morse, American painter and inventor, best remembered as the inventor of the Morse code.
- 1851 Rama IV was crowned King of Thailand. He is regarded as one of the most revered monarchs of the country.
- 1840 Born: Émile Zola, French author and critic, the most well-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism. He became an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism.
- 1814 Born: Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor of weaving machines. He invented a machine to manufacture piping cord, looms capable of weaving two-ply ingrain carpets and coach lace.
- 1805 Born: Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author and poet, best remembered for his fairy tales The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, The Nightingale, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's New Clothes, and others.
- 1725 Born: Giacomo Casanova, Italian explorer and author. His autobiography Histoire de ma vie ("Story of My Life") is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of the European social life in the 18th century.
- 1647 Born: Maria Sibylla Merian, German-Dutch botanist, known for numerous contributions to the field of entomology. Merian's portrait was printed on the 500 Deutsche Mark note before Germany converted to the euro.
- 1640 Died: Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet. He was most prominent Latin poet of the 17th century and a renowned theoretician of poetics.