May 2
1670 - The Hudson Bay Company was founded by England's King Charles II.
1776 - France and Spain agreed to donate arms to American rebels fighting the British.
1797 - A mutiny in the British navy spread from Spithead to the rest of the fleet.
1798 - The black General Toussaint L’ouverture forced British troops to agree to evacuate the port of Santo Domingo.
1808 - The citizens of Madrid rose up against Napoleon.
1813 - Napoleon defeated a Russian and Prussian army at Grossgorschen.
1853 - Franconi’s Hippodrome opened at Broadway and 23rd Street in New York City.
1863 - Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was wounded by his own men in the battle of Chancellorsville, VA. He died 8 days later.
1865 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson offered $100,000 reward for the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
1885 - The Congo Free State was established by King Leopold II of Belgium.
1885 - The magazine "Good Housekeeping" was first published.
1887 - Hannibal W. Goodwin applied for a patent on celluloid photographic film. This is the film from which movies are shown.
1890 - The Oklahoma Territory was organized.
1902 - "A Trip to the Moon," the first science fiction film was released. It was created by magician George Melies.
1922 - WBAP-AM began broadcasting in north Texas.
1926 - In India, Hindu women gained the right to seek elected office.
1926 - U.S. Marines landed in Nicaragua to put down a revolt and to protect U.S. interests. They did not depart until 1933.
1927 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld 8-1 a Virginia law that allowed the forced sterilization of people to promote the "health of the patient and the welfare of society." (Buck v. Bell)
1932 - Jack Benny's first radio show debuted on NBC Radio.
1933 - Hitler banned trade unions in Germany.
1939 - Lou Gehrig set a new major league baseball record when he played in his 2,130th game. The streak began on June 1, 1925.
1941 - Hostilities broke out between British forces in Iraq and that country’s pro-German faction.
1941 - The Federal Communications Commission agreed to let regular scheduling of TV broadcasts by commercial TV stations begin on July 1, 1941. This was the start of network television.
1945 - Russians took Berlin after 12 days of fierce house-to-house fighting. The Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.
1946 - Prisoners revolted at California's Alcatraz prison.
1954 - Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals set a new major league record when he hit 5 home runs against the New York Giants.
1960 - Caryl Chessman was executed. He was a convicted sex offender and had become a best selling author while on death row.
1965 - The "Early Bird" satellite was used to transmit television pictures across the Atlantic.
1969 - The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) made its maiden voyage.
1970 - Student anti-war protesters at Ohio's Kent State University burn down the campus ROTC building. The National Guard took control of the campus.
1970 - Jockey Diane Crump became the first woman to ride in the Kentuck Derby. She finished 15th aboard Fathom.
1972 - In Kellogg, ID, a fire at the Sunshine silver mine, 91 workers died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
1974 - Former U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was disbarred by the Maryland Court of Appeals.
1974 - The filming of "Jaws" began in Martha's Vineyard, MA.
1982 - The British submarine HMS Conqueror sank Argentina's only cruiser, the General Belgrano during the Falkland Islands War. More than 350 people died.
1993 - At Washington's National Gallery of Art, an exhibit of 80 paintings from the collection of Dr. Albert C. Barnes opened.
1993 - Authorities said that they had recovered the remains of David Koresh from the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, TX.
1994 - Nelson Mandela claimed victory after South Africa's first democratic elections.
1997 - Tony Blair, at age 43, became Britain's youngest prime minister in 185 years.
1999 - In Panama, Mireya Moscoso de Grubar, of the Armulfista Party, was elected president.
2002 - It was reported that Phyllis Diller had retired from touring.
2018 - The Boys Scouts of America announced their flagship program would be reneamed Scouts BSA. The program was known simply as the Boy Scouts for 108 years.
