May 2
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May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). There are 243 days remaining.
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[edit] Events
- 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
- 1335 - Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia.
- 1568 - Mary I of Scotland escapes from Loch Leven Castle, where she had been imprisoned by Sir William Douglas.
- 1670 - King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.
- 1672 - John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March.
- 1808 - Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation.
- 1816 - Léopold of Saxe-Coburg and Charlotte Augusta are wed.
- 1829 - After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger, declares the Swan River Colony in Australia.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering for the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia 8 days later.
- 1866 - Peruvian defenders fight off Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.
- 1885 - Good Housekeeping magazine goes on sale for the first time.
- 1885 - Cree and Assiniboine warriors won the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion.
- 1885 - The Congo Free State is established by King Léopold II of Belgium.
- 1889 - Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs a treaty of amity with Italy, which gives Italy control over Eritrea.
- 1900 - Oscar II, King of Sweden, declares support for Britain at the time of the Second Boer War.
- 1918 - General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
- 1920 - The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- 1932 - Comedian Jack Benny's radio show airs for the first time.
- 1933 - The first modern sighting of the Loch Ness monster is reported.
- 1933 - Gleichschaltung: 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 56 years before Cal Ripken, Jr. breaks it.
- 1945 - World War II: Fall of Berlin – The Soviet Union announces the capture of Berlin and Soviet soldiers hoist their red flag over the Reichstag building. German forces surrender in Italy. German forces surrender to the New Zealand Army in Trieste.
- 1946 - "Battle of Alcatraz" - Alcatraz Federal prison, San Francisco is taken over by six inmates following failed escape attempt
- 1952 - The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 makes its maiden voyage, flying from London to Johannesburg.
- 1953 - Hussein is crowned King of Jordan.
- 1953 - Blackpool F.C. win the FA Cup Final. Subsequently dubbed "The Matthews Final", Blackpool came back from being 3-1 down to Bolton Wanderers to win 4-3, with Stan Mortensen scoring the first and, to date, only FA Cup Final hat-trick at Wembley.
- 1955 - Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
- 1963 - Berthold Seliger launches near Cuxhaven a rocket with three stages with a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the USS Card while docked at Saigon. Viet Cong forces are suspected of placing a bomb on the ship.
- 1969 - The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.
- 1972 - Buddy Baker became the first stock car driver to finish a 500-mile race in less than three hours en route to winning the Winston Select 500 at the Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama.
- 1982 - Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.
- 1986 - The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, opens.
- 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 for 185 years.
- 1998 - The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the EU's monetary policy.
- 1999 - Panamanian election: Mireya Moscoso became the first woman to be elected President of Panama.
- 2000 - Bill Clinton announces that GPS access equivalent to the U.S. military would be available for regular citizens.
- 2000 - Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands unveiled the Man With Two Hats monument in Ottawa on May 11, 2002, and the other in Apeldoorn on May 2, 2000. Symbolically linking both Netherlands and Canada for their assistance throughout the Second World War.
- 2005 - Airwork Flight 23 crashes after structural failure.
- 2005 - The Pontiac Grand Am ceases production at the 100 year-old Lansing M plant.
[edit] Births
- 1360 - Yongle, Emperor of China (d. 1424)
- 1451 - René II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1508)
- 1551 - William Camden, English historian (d. 1623)
- 1601 - Athanasius Kircher, German Jesuit scholar (d. 1680)
- 1660 - Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1725)
- 1695 - Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni, Italian-born French architect (d. 1766)
- 1702 - Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian (d. 1782)
- 1729 - Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (d.1796)
- 1737 - William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1805)
- 1740 - Elias Boudinot, President of the American Continental Congress (d. 1821)
- 1772 - Novalis, German writer (d. 1801)
- 1773 - Henrik Steffens, Norwegian-born philosopher (d. 1845)
- 1802 - Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (d. 1870)
- 1810 - Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer (d. 1874)
- 1828 - Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist (d. 1915)
- 1860 - Theodor Herzl, Austrian journalist (d. 1904)
- 1865 - Clyde Fitch, American playwright (d. 1909)
- 1873 - Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1944)
- 1881 - Alexander Kerensky, Russian politician (d. 1970)
- 1884 - Elijah McCoy, Canadian-born inventor (d. 1929)
- 1885 - Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist (d. 1966)
- 1886 - Gottfried Benn, German author (d. 1956)
- 1887 - Vernon Castle, English dancer (d. 1918)
- 1887 - Eddie Collins, American baseball player (d. 1951)
- 1890 - E. E. Smith, American writer (d. 1965)
- 1892 - Manfred von Richthofen, German World War I pilot (d. 1918)
- 1895 - Lorenz Hart, American lyricist (d. 1943)
- 1903 - Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (d. 1977)
- 1903 - Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and author (d. 1998)
- 1906 - Philippe Halsman, American photographer (d. 1979)
- 1907 - Pinky Lee, American vaudeville performer (d. 1993)
- 1910 - Alexander Bonnyman, U.S. Marine (d. 1943)
- 1912 - Axel Cäsar Springer, German publisher (d. 1985)
- 1913 - Nigel Patrick, English actor (d. 1981)
- 1915 - Doris Fisher, American songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1920 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (d. 2004)
- 1920 - Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian writer and ecological activist (d. 2000)
- 1921 - Satyajit Ray, Indian director (d. 1992)
- 1922 - A.M. Rosenthal, Canadian-born newspaper editor
- 1924 - Theodore Bikel, Austrian-born actor and singer
- 1925 - Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor
- 1929 - Link Wray, American guitarist (d. 2005)
- 1935 - King Faisal II of Iraq (d. 1958)
- 1935 - Lance LeGault, American actor
- 1936 - Engelbert Humperdinck, British-born singer
- 1936 - Michael Rabin, American violinist (d. 1972)
- 1937 - Lorenzo Music, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1938 - Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (d. 1996)
- 1939 - Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist
- 1941 - Clay Carroll, American baseball player
- 1942 - Jacques Rogge, Belgian International Olympic Committee president
- 1945 - Sarah Weddington, American attorney
- 1945 - Bianca Jagger, Nicaraguan socialite, ex-wife of Mick Jagger
- 1945 - Gene Deckerhoff, American sports announcer
- 1945 - Judge Dread, English musician (d. 1998)
- 1946 - Lesley Gore, American singer
- 1946 - David Suchet, English actor
- 1948 - Larry Gatlin, American musician
- 1949 - Alan Titchmarsh, English television presenter
- 1950 - Lou Gramm, American musician (Foreigner)
- 1950 - Duncan Gay, Australian politician
- 1952 - Christine Baranski, American actress
- 1953 - Valery Gergiev, Russian-born conductor
- 1955 - Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
- 1956 - David Rhodes, English guitarist
- 1961 - Steve James, English snooker player
- 1962 - Jimmy White, English snooker player
- 1962 - Ray Traylor, American professional wrestler (d. 2004)
- 1965 - Félix José, Dominican baseball player
- 1966 - Belinda Stronach, Canadian politician
- 1967 - Mika Brzezinski, American journalist
- 1968 - Midorikawa Hikaru, Japanese voice actor
- 1968 - Jeff Agoos, American footballer
- 1968 - Ziana Zain, Malaysian singer and actress
- 1969 - Brian Lara, Trinidadian West Indies cricketer
- 1972 - The Rock, American professional wrestler and actor
- 1972 - Paul Adcock, English footballer
- 1973 - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German film director and screenwriter
- 1974 - Garðar Thór Cortes, Icelandic tenor
- 1974 - Andy Johnson, Welsh footballer
- 1975 - David Beckham, English footballer
- 1977 - Fredrik Malm, Swedish politician
- 1978 - Steve Bays, Canadian musician
- 1979 - Jason Chimera, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 - Roman Lyashenko, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
- 1980 - Tim Borowski, German footballer
- 1980 - Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder
- 1980 - Zat Knight, English footballer
- 1980 - Troy Murphy, American basketball player
- 1980 - Brad Richards, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 - Matt Murray, English footballer
- 1982 - Lorie, French singer
- 1984 - Saulius Mikoliūnas, Lithuanian footballer
- 1984 - Thabo Sefolosha, Swiss basketball player
- 1985 - Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
- 1985 - Kyle Busch, American race car driver
- 1985 - Lily Allen, English singer and songwriter
- 1986 - James Kirk, Canadian actor
- 1987 - Nana Kitade, Japanese singer
- 1990 - Kay Panabaker, American actress
- 1996 - Megan McKinnon, Canadian actress
[edit] Deaths
- 373 - Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria (b. 298)
- 756 - Emperor Shōmu, Emperor of Japan (b. 701)
- 907 - Boris I of Bulgaria
- 1230 - William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny (b. 1197)
- 1300 - Blanche of Artois, regent of Navarre (b. 1248)
- 1450 - William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English military leader (b. 1396)
- 1519 - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian inventor and painter (b. 1452)
- 1564 - Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (b. 1500)
- 1627 - Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, Italian composer (b. 1560)
- 1667 - George Wither, English writer (b. 1588)
- 1683 - Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and scientist (b. 1613)
- 1711 - Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English statesman (b. 1641)
- 1802 - Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch statesman (b. 1762)
- 1810 - Rev. Dr. Henry Jerome de Salis, divine (b.1740)
- 1819 - Mary Moser, English painter (b. 1744)
- 1857 - Alfred de Musset, French writer (b. 1810)
- 1864 - Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer (b. 1791)
- 1927 - Ernest Starling, British physiologist (b. 1866)
- 1945 - Martin Bormann, Nazi official (b. 1900)
- 1945 - Ludwig Stumpfegger, German SS doctor (b. 1910)
- 1945 - Joe Corbett, baseball player (b. 1875)
- 1957 - Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator (b. 1908)
- 1960 - Caryl Chessman, American robber and rapist (b. 1921)
- 1964 - Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born politician (b. 1879)
- 1969 - Franz von Papen, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)
- 1972 - J. Edgar Hoover, American director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)
- 1979 - Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1980 - George Pál, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1908)
- 1980 - Clarrie Grimmett, Australian cricketer (b. 1891)
- 1983 - Norm Van Brocklin, American football star (b. 1926)
- 1984 - Jack Barry, television game show producer and host (b. 1918)
- 1985 - Attilio Bettega, Italian rallydriver (b.1951)
- 1986 - Henri Toivonen, Finish rallydriver (b.1956)
- 1989 - Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic Cardinal (b. 1906)
- 1989 - Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (b. 1902)
- 1990 - David Rappaport, English actor (b. 1951)
- 1992 - Wilbur Mills, American politician (b. 1909)
- 1995 - Michael Hordern, English actor (b. 1911)
- 1997 - John Carew Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
- 1997 - Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator (b. 1921)
- 1998 - Hideto "hide" Matsumoto, Japanese musician (b. 1964)
- 1998 - Kevin Lloyd, British actor (b. 1949)
- 1998 - Justin Fashanu, English footballer (b. 1961)
- 1999 - Oliver Reed, English actor (b. 1938)
- 2001 - Ted Rogers, British comedian (b. 1935)
- 2001 - Gina Mastrogiacomo, American actress (b. 1961)
- 2002 - John Nathan-Turner, English television producer (b. 1947)
- 2002 - W. T. Tutte, English-born codebreaker (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Kenneth B. Clark, American psychologist (b. 1914)
- 2005 - Wee Kim Wee, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
- 2006 - Louis Rukeyser, American columnist (b. 1933)
[edit] Holidays and observances
- Poland - Flag Day, an official holiday to honour the Flag of Poland
- Bahá'í Faith: Last day of the Festival of Ridván
- Madrid Region - Day of the Region.
- Slovenia - second day of Labour Day
- Iran - Teacher's Day
- Indonesia - Indonesia National Education Day
[edit] Liturgical feast days
in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Saint Athanasius
- Saint Boris
- Saints Exuperius and Zoe
- Saint Germanus
- Saint Waldebert, Walbert or Gaubert
- Saint Mafalda
- Saint Zoe
in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church:
