This Day In History, April 3rd

33 C.E.: Jesus Christ Is Crucified

Jesus Christ is crucified (according to some scholars’ estimates and theories) just outside Jerusalem, at Golgotha. After being put on trial for blasphemy, Christ was sentenced to death by the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate.

As told in the New Testament, Jesus Christ was then nailed to a cross, where he died. However, Christians believe that, following his burial, he rose from the dead three days later and ascended into heaven.

1860: The Pony Express Begins

Universal History Archive/Getty ImagesAn illustration of a Pony Express rider crossing “hostile” territory.

The Pony Express begins as relay teams on horseback leave from Saint Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California to deliver mail. Though this form of mail delivery did not last long, it impressed many with its ability to deliver mail across the country in an average of just 10 days. When the first transcontinental telegraph line was completed in October 1861, however, the Pony Express became largely obsolete.

1882: Jesse James Is Murdered

Library of CongressA young Jesse James, many years before his 1882 murder.

Jesse James is shot and killed by Robert Ford in Saint Joseph, Missouri, at the age of 34. One of the leaders of the James-Younger gang (along with his brother Frank), James and his band of outlaws robbed more than 20 banks and trains, stole some $200,000, and murdered anyone who got in their way. Ford and his brother worked with the gang, but Ford eventually decided to kill James for the $5,000 bounty.

1959: Vito Genovese Is Found Guilty Of Narcotics Trafficking

After a public trial in which his wife, Anna, testified against him, Mafia leader Vito Genovese and 14 others are found guilty of conspiracy to violate the federal narcotics law. Genovese was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, but died 10 years into his sentence.

1968: Martin Luther King Delivers His “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” Speech

Bettmann/Getty ImagesMartin Luther King Jr. giving his “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech on the night before his assassination.

Martin Luther King delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. In the speech, which King delivered in Memphis during the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, the civil rights leader noted, “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.” His words proved tragically prophetic, as King was assassinated the next day. King was shot by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel and died at the age of just 39.

1973: The First Cell Phone Call Is Made

The first handheld cell phone call is made. It was made in New York City by Martin Cooper, a Motorola engineer, who called his rival, Joel Engel of Bell Laboratories at AT&T.

1975: Operation Babylift Begins In Vietnam

As Saigon falls and the Vietnam War draws to a close while U.S. forces begin pulling out, the American government initiates a daring, last-ditch effort called Operation Babylift. But this was no military offensive. Instead, the plan was to evacuate as many orphaned children as possible and find them safe haven in homes across America and abroad.

In just three weeks between April 3 and April 26, 1975, Operation Babylift rescued a whopping 3,300 orphans, loading them onto whatever planes could be spared. In all, some 30 flights left Vietnam carrying virtually nothing but young children and infants, some of them nestled into padded cardboard boxes and placed on the seats.

1996: The “Unabomber” Is Arrested

Kaczynski Family PhotoTed Kaczynski outside his Montana cabin in 1971.

Ted Kaczynski is arrested in rural Montana. Kaczynski had sent 16 mail bombs to universities and airlines over a two-decade span, earning him the moniker “Unabomber.” He was finally apprehended thanks to the investigative work of FBI criminal profiler James Fitzgerald who, with help from Kaczynski’s brother David, was able to help track him down.