Jody Victor : What happened today, 10,20,30, 50 years ago? Here's a look back at April 2nd.
1792 - The U.S. congress authorized the first U.S. mint. Which mint was first? The one in Philadelphia, PA.
1872 - G.B. Brayton of Boston, MA received a patent for the gas-powered street car.
1889 - Charles Hall patented aluminum on this day.
1896 - Madison Square Garden in New York City hosted the season premiere of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. The circus featured a Duryea horseless carriage.
1902 - The first motion picture theater opened in Los Angeles. The Electric Theatre charged a dime to see an hour's entertainment, including the films, The Capture of the Biddle Brothers and New York in a Blizzard.
1942 - Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded American Patrol for Victor Records. The jitterbug tune became one of Miller's most requested hits.
1947 - The Big Story was first heard on NBC radio. It stayed on the air for eight years.
1954 - Carl 'Bobo' Olson defeated Kid Gavilan to retain the world middle weight boxing title.
1956 - Two very successful daytime dramas premiered. The Edge of Night and As the World Turns were seen for the first time on CBS-TV.
1963 - Best Foot Forward opened in New York City. Liza Minelli was the lead actress in this off-Broadway revival of the show which enjoyed a run of 224 performances.
1969 - The Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association signed Lew Alcindor for a reported $1,400,000 five-year contract. Alcindor soon changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabar and his team to the Los Angeles Lakers.
1972 - Actor Burt Reynolds appeared nude in Cosmopolitan magazine. This issue of Cosmo became an instant collector's item and an additional 700,000 copies had to be printed.
1978 - J.R. Ewing and the clan arrived at Southfork, when Dallas was seen for the first time on CBS-TV. The show became an enormously popular hit and was the talk of many people around the water cooler each Monday morning.
1984 - John Thompson became the first black coach to lead his team to the NCAA college basketball championship. Georgetown's Hoyas defeated Houston 84-75 in Seattle for the win. Thompson's team in 1982 had finished second to North Carolina for the championship.
1985 - The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the 45-second shot clock for men's basketball, the begin in the 1986 season. It was an effort to thwart the end-of-game stalls that kept opposing teams from scoring in close contests.
1987 - Drivers were back in the fast lane as states began to post the speed limit on interstate highways in limited areas to 65 miles per hour. Watch the signs, please. Radar ahead.