May 2

Events

• 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter
• 1568 - Mary I of Scotland escapes from Loch Leven.
• 1670 - The Hudson's Bay Company is formed in England
• 1672 - John Maitland becomes duke of Lauderdale and earl of March
• 1808 - Peninsular War: Citizens of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation
• 1816 - Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Charlotte Augusta are wed
• 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends, with a defeat of the Army of the Potomac under General Joseph Hooker by Confederate troops under Stonewall Jackson
• 1885 - Good Housekeeping magazine goes on sale for the first time
• 1885 - The Congo Free State is established by King Leopold II of Belgium
• 1889 - Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs a treaty of amity with Italy, which gives Ethiopia control over Eritrea
• 1900 - Oscar II of Sweden declares support of Great Britain at the time of the Boer War
• 1920 - The first game of the National Negro Baseball League is played in Indianapolis, Indiana
• 1933 - The first modern sighting of the Loch Ness monster is reported.
• 1933 - Adolf Hitler bans trade unions
• 1939 - Lou Gehrig's streak of 2130 consecutive Major League Baseball games played comes to an end. The record will stand for 57 years before Cal Ripken, Jr. breaks it.
• 1940 - The British passenger liner City of Exeter encounters the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis, but without incident.
• 1945 - The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin. Soviet soldiers hoist the red flag over the Reichstag building. German forces surrender in Italy.
• 1945 - The last postage stamp utilized by Manzhouguo is issued
• 1952 - The first commercial jet plane, the BOAC Comet, is put into service
• 1953 - Hussein of Jordan is throned
• 1955 - Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• 1966 - Upper Hutt in New Zealand is proclaimed a city.
• 1969 - The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City
• 1970 - The Ohio National Guard arrives at Kent State University in response to arson on an ROTC building
• 1982 - HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War
• 1984 - Sunday in the Park with George opens on Broadway
• 1986 - The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada opens.
• 1988 - The last B-1 Lancer is delivered
• 1997 - The Labour Party's Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, ending 18 years of Conservative Party rule. At 44, he is the youngest prime minister in 185 years.
• 1999 - Norman J. Sirnic and Karen Sirnic are murdered in their Weimar, Texas parsonage by Angel Maturino Resendiz. The couple are his fourth and fifth victims in his fourth incident.
• 2000 - Bill Clinton announces that GPS access equivalent to the U.S. military would be available for regular citizens

Births

• 1660 - Alessandro Scarlatti, composer († 1725)
• 1729 - Empress Catherine II of Russia († 1796)
• 1740 - Elias Boudinot, American President of the Continental Congress († 1821)
• 1772 - Novalis, poet († 1801)
• 1860 - Theodor Herzl, Zionist leader († 1904)
• 1881 - Alexander Karensky, Russian politician († 1970)
• 1884 - Elijah McCoy, inventor
• 1885 - Hedda Hopper, gossip columnist, journalist († 1966)
• 1886 - Gottfried Benn, lyricist, dramatist, narrator and essayist († 1956)
• 1887 - Vernon Castle, dancer († 1918)
• 1890 - E. E. Smith, science fiction writer († (1965)
• 1892 - Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Baron pilot († 1918)
• 1895 - Lorenz Hart, lyricist († 1943)
• 1903 - Dr. Benjamin Spock, pediatrician, Olympic Games gold medalist in rowing, author († 1998)
• 1904 - Bing Crosby, actor and singer († 1977)
• 1907 - Pinky Lee, vaudeville performer, children's television host († 1993)
• 1912 - Axel Cäsar Springer, publisher († 1985)
• 1913 - Nigel Patrick, actor († 1981)
• 1915 - Doris Fisher, songwriter († 2003)
• 1921 - Satyajit Ray, Indian director († 1992)
• 1924 - James Baldwin, American author († 1987)
• 1924 - Theodore Bikel, actor, singer
• 1925 - Roscoe Lee Browne, actor
• 1927 - Carmen Basilio, boxer
• 1927 - Link Wray, guitarist
• 1935 - King Faisal II of Iraq († 1958)
• 1937 - Lorenzo Music, writer, producer
• 1936 - Engelbert Humperdinck, singer
• 1941 - Stephen J. Cannell, producer
• 1942 - Jacques Rogge, Belgian IOC president
• 1946 - David Suchet, actor
• 1946 - Lesley Gore, singer
• 1949 - Alan Titchmarsh, gardener, TV presenter, writer
• 1955 - Donatella Versace, fashion designer
• 1972 - The Rock, WWE professional wrestler turned actor
• 1975 - David Beckham, English footballer
• 1983 - Rose Falcon, actress, singer
• 1985 - Sarah Hughes, figure skating champion

Deaths

• 373 - Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria
• 1230 - William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny
• 1519 - Leonardo da Vinci, inventor, painter
• 1857 - Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist
• 1864 - Giacomo Meyerbeer, composer
• 1934 - Paul von Hindenburg, German chancellor
• 1957 - Senator Joseph McCarthy
• 1960 - Caryl Chessman, convicted sex offender (executed)
• 1972 - J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI
• 1980 - George Pal, director, producer
• 1989 - Giuseppe Cardinal Siri, a senior cardinal
• 1983 - Norm Van Brocklin, American football star
• 1995 - Michael Hordern, actor
• 1997 - John Carew Eccles, Nobel Prize winner
• 1999 - Oliver Reed, actor
• 1999 - Norman J. Sirnic, Minister
• 1999 - Karen Sirnic - Norman J. Sirnic's wife
• 2002 - W. T. Tutte, codebreaker and mathematician

Holidays and observances

• Bahá'í Faith: Last day of the Festival of Ridván

May 1 - May 3 - April 2 - June 2 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By