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On this day in history - April 3

What Happened On This Day – April 3

  • 1996 The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is arrested

    The mathematician who was driven by anarchist ideas sent out 16 letter bombs between 1978 and 1995, killing 3 people and injuring 23.

  • 1973 The first public mobile telephone call is placed on a Manhattan sidewalk

    Motorola's Martin Cooper called Joel Engel of Bell Labs. He later told the BBC that his first words were “Joel, I'm calling you from a 'real' cellular telephone. A portable handheld telephone.”

  • 1948 Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan

    $12.4 billion was allocated to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II and prevent communists from seizing control.

  • 1940 Soviet troops murder about 22,000 Polish nationals

    The Katyn massacre is considered the worst massacre of prisoners of war in history. The order to execute all captive members of the Polish Officer Corps was signed by Joseph Stalin.

  • 1885 Gottlieb Daimler patents his engine design

    The German engineer's so-called “grandfather clock engine” was lighter than previous four-stroke engines and is considered a milestone for the invention of the automobile.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
April 3

  • 1961 Eddie Murphy

    American actor, director, screenwriter

  • 1958 Francesca Woodman

    American photographer

  • 1958 Alec Baldwin

    American actor, producer

  • 1930 Helmut Kohl

    German politician, Chancellor of Germany

  • 1924 Marlon Brando

    American actor

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
April 3

  • 1991 Graham Greene

    English author, playwright, critic

  • 1990 Sarah Vaughan

    American singer

  • 1950 Kurt Weill

    German/American composer

  • 1897 Johannes Brahms

    German pianist, composer

  • 1882 Jesse James

    American criminal, murderer