Today in History: April 3, Unabomber arrested in Montana
Today is Thursday, April 3, the 93rd day of 2025. There are 272 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On April 3, 1996, Theodore Kaczynski (kah-ZIHN’-skee), also known as the Unabomber, was arrested at his remote Montana cabin by FBI agents.
Also on this date:
In 1860, the first Pony Express mail delivery rides began; one heading west from St. Joseph, Missouri, and one heading east from Sacramento, California.
In 1882, outlaw Jesse James was shot and killed in St. Joseph, Missouri, by Robert Ford, a member of James’ gang.
In 1936, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, New Jersey, for the kidnap-murder of 20-month-old Charles Lindbergh Jr.
In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Smith v. Allwright, struck down a Democratic Party of Texas rule that allowed only white voters to participate in Democratic primaries.
In 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed into law the Marshall Plan, designed to help European allies rebuild after World War II and resist communism.
In 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered what was to be his final speech, telling a rally of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, “I’ve been to the mountaintop. … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!” (The following day, King was killed by an assassin’s bullet at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.)
In 1973, the first handheld portable telephone was demonstrated for reporters on a New York City street corner as Motorola executive Martin Cooper called Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs.
In 1974, an outbreak of tornadoes began hitting wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada; 148 tornadoes caused more than 300 fatalities in what became known as the 1974 Super Outbreak.
In 1996, a U.S. Air Force jet crashed as it approached Dubrovnik, Croatia; all 35 people on board were killed, including U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown.
Today’s birthdays:
- Conservationist Jane Goodall is 91.
- Actor Marsha Mason is 83.
- Singer Wayne Newton is 83.
- Singer Tony Orlando is 81.
- Singer-songwriter Richard Thompson is 76.
- Actor Alec Baldwin is 67.
- Actor David Hyde Pierce is 66.
- Actor-comedian Eddie Murphy is 64.
- Celebrity chef Cat Cora is 58.
- Olympic skiing gold medalist Picabo Street is 54.
- Actor Jennie Garth is 53.
- Actor Adam Scott is 52.
- Football Hall of Famer Jared Allen is 43.
- Actor Cobie Smulders is 43.
- Singer Leona Lewis is 40.
- Actor-comedian Rachel Bloom is 38.