Important Events From This day in History – 3 April

Today in History

• 1996 The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is arrested

  Between 1978 and 1995, the anarchist-inspired mathematician detonated 16 letter bombs, killing three people and injuring 23 others.

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

  Martin Cooper of Motorola called Joel Engel of Bell Labs. Later, he told the BBC, his first words were, “Joel, I’m calling you from a real cellular phone.” A portable, handheld phone.”

• 1948 Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall Plan

  $12.4 billion was set aside to aid in the rebuilding of European economies following World War II and to prevent communists from seizing power.

• 1940 Soviet troops massacre about 22,000 Polish nationals

  The Katyn massacre is widely regarded as the worst prisoner-of-war massacre in history. Joseph Stalin signed the order to execute all captive members of the Polish Officer Corps.

• 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 regarded as a watershed moment in automobile development.