On This Day: April 2nd

American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia.

American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.

French Revolutionary Wars: In the Battle of Copenhagen a British Royal Navy squadron defeats a hastily assembled, smaller, mostly-volunteer Dano-Norwegian Navy at high cost, forcing Denmark out of the Second League of Armed Neutrality.

Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.

The Coinage Act is passed by Congress, establishing the United States Mint.

Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on the west coast of India.

J. S. Bach's cantata Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6, is first performed in Leipzig on Easter Monday.

Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Johns River.

Election of Pope Honorius IV following the death of Pope Martin IV.

Seljuq sultan Muhammad I Tapar begins the siege of Shahdiz, a fortress of the Nizari Ismailis.