Today is Tuesday, April 2nd, the 92nd day of the year. There are 273 days until the end of the year.
On this day:
In 1792, Congress authorized the first United States mint be located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 1889, Charles Hall patented aluminum.
In 1902, the Electric Theater opened in Los Angeles. It was the first full-time movie theater in the U.S.
In 1987, jazz legend Buddy Rich died at the age of 69.
In 1992, John Gotti was convicted of murder and racketeering.
In 1998, Rob Pilatus -- one-half of the lip-syncing duo Milli Vanilli -- was found dead in a hotel room in Frankfort, Germany. He was 32. Pilatus' death was blamed on a lethal mix of alcohol and pills.
In 2005, following several long illnesses, Pope John Paul the Second died in his Vatican City apartments at the age of 84. Born Karol Wojtyla [[ KAH-roll voy-TIH-wah ]] in 1920 Poland, he was elected Pope on October 16th, 1978, becoming the youngest Pope in more than a century and the first non-Italian Pope in more than 450 years.
In 2009, disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich [[ bla-GOYA-vich ]] was indicted by a federal grand jury. He was charged with 16 felony counts for allegedly trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama following his presidential election victory.
In 2016, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. pledged that he will donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation when he dies. The foundation works with Boston University in researching the traumatic brain disease known as CTE.
In 2018, Astronomers said they spotted the most distant star ever observed that is nine-billion light-years from Earth. The star is nicknamed Icarus.