1. In 1860, the Pony Express began its famous mail delivery service from Missouri to California, with the first rider leaving from St. Joseph on April 3. Although Ohio was not directly involved in this service, it provided an important link in the east-west communications network that helped connect the country.

2. On April 3, 1895, the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield opened its doors to its first inmates. The prison, which was designed to rehabilitate young offenders rather than simply punish them, gained notoriety as the setting for the film "The Shawshank Redemption."

3. In 1968, legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was stripped of his world heavyweight title and banned from boxing for refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War. This decision, which was controversial at the time, was made on April 3 by the Ohio Athletic Commission.

4. On April 3, 1976, Ohio State University student Gerald Ford was elected as the 38th president of the United States. He had previously served as vice president under Richard Nixon, and had assumed the presidency following Nixon's resignation in 1974.

5. In 2005, the Ohio State Buckeyes won the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship by defeating the University of Illinois 75-70. The victory, which came on April 3, marked the school's first basketball title since 1960 and helped solidify Ohio State's reputation as a basketball powerhouse.