May 2


May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap
years). There are 243 days remaining.

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 - The ARA General Belgrano is sunk 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.
   * 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, the fourth President of the United States in
     Congress assembled under the Articles of Confederation (+ 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 Richtofen, 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 CŠsar 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 - Englebert Humperdinck, singer
   * 1941 - Stephen J. Cannell, producer
   * 1946 - David Suchet, actor
   * 1946 - Lesley Gore, singer
   * 1949 - Alan Titchmarsh, gardener, TV presenter, writer
   * 1955 - Donatella Versace, fashion designer
   * 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
   * 2002 - W. T. Tutte, codebreaker and mathematician

Holidays and observances

   * Bah‡'’ Faith: Last day of the Festival of Ridv‡n