April 2

John Blofeld, the British writer whose accessible translations and travelogues introduced many Western readers to Chinese Buddhism and Taoism, was born in London.

Pope John Paul II, whose 26-year pontificate spanned the closing years of the Cold War, died at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.

Samuel F. B. Morse, the American painter and inventor who developed a practical electric telegraph and the dot-and-dash code that bears his name, died in New York City in 1872.