1. In 1846, the U.S. Army under the command of General Stephen W. Kearny entered Santa Fe, marking the beginning of the U.S. occupation of New Mexico during the Mexican-American War.

2. On April 2, 1870, the New Mexico School for the Deaf was founded in Santa Fe. It was the first school of its kind in the state, and one of the earliest schools for the deaf to be established in the United States.

3. Roswell Army Airfield became a top secret base on April 2, 1942, when the U.S. Army Air Corps established the 509th Composite Group there. This was the unit responsible for dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

4. The New Mexico State Capitol building in Santa Fe was dedicated on April 2, 1966. Designed by New Mexico architect W.C. Kruger, the building features a distinctive, rounded design that reflects the state's traditional adobe architecture.

5. On April 2, 2013, a group of Native American activists and their supporters began a 26-mile protest walk from Tohajiilee to Albuquerque, calling attention to a proposed copper mine near the village of San Mateo that they said would damage sacred sites and poison the environment. The walk, known as the Red Water Pond Road Community Association Walk, was one of many protests against the mine over the years.