May 2
It’s Baby Day and Brothers and Sisters Day and National Truffles Day and International Tuba Day
ON THIS DAY…
1194 King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter
1536 Queen Anne Boleyn is sent to the Tower of London to await her execution
1568 Mary I of Scotland escapes from Loch Leven Castle
1670 England’s King Charles II grants a charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company, giving it a trading monopoly and control over the region around Hudson Bay in North America
1775 Benjamin Franklin completed the first scientific study of the Gulf Stream; his observations began in 1769 when as deputy postmaster of the British Colonies he found ships took two weeks longer to bring mail from England than was required in the opposite direction and thus, Franklin became the first to chart the Gulf Stream
1863 Confederate General Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering for the Battle of Chancellorsville
1885 The Congo Free State was established by King Leopold II of Belgium
1885 Good Housekeeping magazine was first published
1887 Hannibal W. Goodwin applied for a patent on celluloid photographic film; this is the film from which movies are shown
1918 General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware
1932 The first Radio show featuring comedian Jack Benny debuted on the NBC Blue Network
1933 The Loch Ness monster was first spotted
1933 Hitler banned trade unions in Germany
1939 Lou Gehrig established a new major-league baseball record when he played his 2,130th consecutive game; it would take another 57 years before Cal Ripken, Jr., broke it
1945 Berlin surrenders to Russian Allied forces after they stormed the German capital during World War II
1946 Alcatraz Federal prison 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
1955 The Indian Parliament forbids discrimination based on caste
1955 Tennessee Williams won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1969 The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth II departed on her maiden voyage to New York
1979 The Who performed their first concert after the death of Keith Moon; Kenney Jones, formerly of the Faces, was the new drummer
1994 South African President F. W. de Klerk concedes defeat and Nelson Mandela claims victory in the country’s first multi-racial presidential election
1997 The Labour Partys Tony Blair became Prime Minister of Britain, ending 18 years of conservative rule; at 44, he was the youngest prime minister in 185 years
1998 The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the EU’s monetary policy
2000 Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the US military
2005 The Pontiac Grand Am ceases production at the 100 year-old Lansing Car Assembly plant
BORN:
1729 Catherine the Great, empress of Russia (1762-1796)
1885 Hedda Hopper (Elda Furry), actress and gossip columnist who was noted for her large, flamboyant hats
1890 E. E. “Doc” Smith, food engineer and science fiction author (Lensman series and the Skylark series)
1903 Dr. Benjamin Spock, pediatrician who was the most influential child-care authority of the 20th century
1903 Bing Crosby (Harry Lillis Crosby), singer, producer and Academy Award-winning actor (Going My Way, The Bells of St. Mary, The Country Girl, Robin and the 7 Hoods)
1921 Satyajit Ray, writer-director-producer-composer (Ashani Sanket, Nayak, Charulata, Mahanagar, Aparajito)
1925 Roscoe Lee Browne, Emmy Award-winning actor (The Cosby Show, Black Like Me, The Cowboys, Logan’s Run, Soap, Babe)
1925 John Neville, OBE, actor (The X-Files, The Fifth Element, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Billy Budd, The Adventures of Gerard)
1935 Link Wray (Frederick Lincoln Wray Jr.), rock and roll guitar player most noted for early feedback and distortion experimentation
1936 Engelbert Humperdinck (Arnold George Dorsey), entertainer (“Release Me,” “Am I That Easy to Forget,” “A Man Without Love”)
1941 Paul Darrow, actor (Blake’s 7, Lord Peter Wimsey: Murder Must Advertise, Dombey & Son, Die Another Day)
1944 Jo Ann Pflug, actress (Fantastic 4, MASH, The Fall Guy, Traveller, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil)
1946 David Suchet, actor (Agatha Christie: Poirot, A World Apart, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan Lord of the Apes, Harry and the Hendersons, Executive Decision)
1949 Alan Titchmarsh, MBE, gardener, writer and television presenter (Ground Force, The Nature of Britain, Britain’s Best)
1952 Christine Baranski, Emmy Award-winning actress (Cybill, Another World, The Pick-up Artist, The Birdcage, Chicago)
1972 The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), actor and former professional wrestler (The Scorpion King, The Rundown, Walking Tall, Be Cool, Get Smart)
1975 David Beckham, professional footballer who plays as a midfielder
1985 Lily Allen, singer-songwriter and television chat show host
DIED:
1519 Leonardo da Vinci, the great scientist, engineer and inventor (who designed buildings, bridges, canals, forts and war machines), sculptor, and painter of masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, dies at 67
1957 Joseph McCarthy, Wisconsin Senator (1947-1957) who was notorious for aggressive investigations of people in the US government and others who were suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers, dies at 48
1964 Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, the first woman to serve as a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, dies at 84
1972 J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1924-1972), dies at 77
1980 George Pál, director-producer-writer-cinematographer (7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Time Machine, the series of “Jasper” cartoon shorts), dies at 72
1990 David Rappaport, actor (Time Bandits, The Bride, The Wizard), commits suicide at 38
1995 Sir Michael Hordern, actor (Lady Jane, Gandhi, Yellowbeard, The Missionary, Royal Flash, Theater of Blood, The Bed Sitting Room, How I Won the War, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh), dies at 83
1999 Oliver Reed, actor (Gladiator, Oliver!, The Three Musketeers, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Burnt Offerings, The Royal Flash, Tommy) dies at 61