Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April 3
- 1882 - Jesse James, an outlaw in the American Old West, was shot in the back and killed for a US$5,000 bounty.
- 1922 - Joseph Stalin (pictured) became the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- 1936 - Bruno Hauptmann was executed in the electric chair for the kidnapping and murder of the "Lindbergh baby".
- 1948 - The Marshall Plan, an economic recovery program established by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall to assist the post-World War II re-building of Europe, was signed into law.
- 1974 - The Super Outbreak of 148 tornadoes began, killing at least 315 people and injuring 5,484 in 13 U.S. states at the end of a very strong La Niña event.