| 2 April 742 | Frankish Kingdom [births and deaths] | Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus), King of the Franks 768–814 and Frankish emperor 800–14, who united much of Western Europe under his rule, born (–814). |
| 2 April 1285 | Papal States, Italy [administration] | Jacopo Savelli is elected Pope Honorius IV. |
| 2–3 April 1559 | Spain, France, England, Scotland, Savoy, Holy Roman Empire, Italy [treaties] | England and Spain sign the peace treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis with France. Calais is to remain French for eight years, and then revert to England (or France will be liable to pay half a million crowns), provided that England makes no aggression on Scotland, France's protectorate. France restores Savoy (except Saluzzo) to its duke, the governor of the Netherlands, Emmanuel Philibert, and confirms King Philip II of Spain as ruler of Franche-Comté; the Lorraine bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun remain French. |
| 2 April 1657 | Holy Roman Empire [administration] | The death of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III inaugurates an interregnum in the Holy Roman Empire. |
| 2 April 1801 | UK, Denmark [wars] | British vice admiral Horatio Nelson is victorious against the Danish fleet in the Battle of Copenhagen, fought in retaliation for Danish actions against Britain in closing the River Elbe. |
| 2 April 1805 | Denmark [births and deaths] | Hans Christian Andersen, Danish storyteller, born in Odense, Denmark (–1875). |
| 2 April 1840 | France [births and deaths] | Emile Zola, French novelist and critic who founds the Naturalist movement, born in Paris, France (–1902). |
| 2 April 1872 | USA [births and deaths] | Samuel Finley Breese Morse, US painter and inventor of Morse Code, dies in New York City (80). |
| 2 April 1917 | USA [World War I (1914–18)] | The US president Woodrow Wilson calls a special session of the US Congress to debate a declaration of war against Germany, telling Congress ‘The world must be made safe for democracy’. The Senate votes 82–6 to declare war on Germany and the House of Representatives votes 373–50 in favour. |
| 2 April 1921 | Armenia, Russia [political events] | A Bolshevik government is established in the republic of Armenia. |
| 2 April 1982 | Argentina, UK [Falklands War (1982)] | Argentina invades and occupies the British-held Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. Britain breaks diplomatic relations with Argentina. |
| 2–8 April 2005 | Vatican [Catholicism] | At the end of a 27-year reign, the Polish- born Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) dies in the Vatican. Six days later, his funeral attracts 2 million mourners as well as heads of state from all around the world. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, becomes the first primate of the Protestant Church of England ever to attend a papal funeral. |
