TODAY IN HISTORY ― MAY 2

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

NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE DAY 


1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, the second wife of King Henry VIII, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. 

1611 – The King James Bible (James I of England, James VI of Scotland) is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.

1812 – The Siege of Cuautla during the Mexican War of Independence ends with both sides claiming victory after Mexican rebels under José María Morelos y Pavón abandon the city after 72 days under siege by royalist Spanish troops under Félix María Calleja.

1863 – The American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He dies of pneumonia eight days later.

1918 – General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware. ― From history.com

1920 – The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis. (Pictured are members of the Homestead Grays of that league).

1945 – World War II ― The Fall of Berlin: The Soviet Union announces the capture of Berlin and Soviet soldiers hoist their red flag over the Reichstag building. I wonder if that soldier survived the war?

1945 – World War II: The United States 82nd Airborne Division liberates Wöbbelin concentration camp finding 1000 dead prisoners, most of whom starved to death.

1952 – The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 makes its maiden flight, from London to Johannesburg.

1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Viet Cong forces are suspected of placing a bomb on the ship. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later. 

1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma (China) the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the "Eight-thousanders".

1972 – In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, ID, killing 91 workers.

1986 – The Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster.

2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military. That meant something else to him (and the government).

2004 – The Yelwa massacre ended. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims attacked the Christians of Yelwa killing more than 78 Christians including at least 48 who were worshipping inside a church compound. More than 630 nomad Muslims were killed by Christians in Nigeria

2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.

2008 – Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.

2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Or so Obama told us.

2012 – A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction.

2014 – Odessa clashes occur between supporters of a united Ukraine and supporters of Federalization; 48 casualties result.

BORN TODAY

1660 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1725)

1729 – Catherine the Great of Russia (d. 1796)

1892 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot WWI (d. 1918)

1931 – Martha Grimes, American author and poet

From Wikipedia and Google (images), ex as noted.