Tuesday, April 2, 1878

Six elderly men burgled a safe-deposit facility in Hatton Garden, London, and stole items worth up to an estimated £14 million.

Gunmen attacked Garissa University College in Kenya, killing 148 people and wounding 79 others.

A gunman shot at people inside Oikos University, a Korean Christian college in Oakland, California, leaving seven people dead and three injured.

Second Intifada: Palestinian militants sought refuge from advancing Israeli forces in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, beginning a month-long siege.

Bosnian War: At least 48 civilians were massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

John Gotti, the head of the Gambino crime family of New York City, was convicted of racketeering, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, and tax evasion.

Argentine special forces invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking the Falklands War against the United Kingdom.

Spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a military research facility near the city of Sverdlovsk, causing at least 68 deaths.

2001: A Space Odyssey, the epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the first national census of the country.

Creatures of Impulse, by W. S. Gilbert (pictured), premiered at the Court Theatre in London.

American Civil War: On the third attempt, Union forces captured Petersburg, Virginia, although Confederate officials and most of their remaining troops were able to escape.