| 1670 |
|
The Hudson Bay Company is founded. |
| 1598 |
|
Henry IV signs Treaty of Vervins, ending Spain’s interference in France. |
| 1668 |
|
Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of Devolution in France. |
| 1776 |
|
France and Spain agree to donate arms to American rebels fighting the British. |
| 1797 |
|
A mutiny in the British navy spreads from Spithead to the rest of the fleet. |
| 1798 |
|
The black General Toussaint L’ouverture forces British troops to agree to evacuate the port of Santo Domingo. |
| 1808 |
|
The citizens of Madrid rise up against Napoleon. |
| 1813 |
|
Napoleon defeats a Russian and Prussian army at Grossgorschen. |
| 1863 |
|
Stonewall Jackson smashes Hooker’s flank at Chancellorsville, Virginia. |
| 1865 |
|
President Andrew Johnson offers a $100,000 reward for the capture of Confederate President |
| 1885 |
|
King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State. |
| 1890 |
|
The Territory of Oklahoma is created. |
| 1919 |
|
The first U.S. air passenger service starts. |
| 1923 |
|
Lieutenants Okaley Kelly and John Macready take off from New York for the West Coast on what will become the first successful nonstop transcontinental flight. |
| 1941 |
|
Hostilities break out between British forces in Iraq and that country’s pro-German faction. |
| 1942 |
|
Admiral Chester J. Nimitz, convinced that the Japanese will attack Midway Island, visits the island to review its readiness. |
| 1945 |
|
Russian forces take Berlin after 12 days of fierce house-to-house fighting. |
| 1946 |
|
Prisoners revolt at California’s Alcatraz prison. |
| 1968 |
|
The U.S. Army attacks Nhi Ha in South Vietnam and begins a fourteen-day battle to wrestle it away from Vietnamese Communists. |
| 1970 |
|
Student anti-war protesters at Ohio’s Kent State University burn down the campus ROTC building. The National Guard takes control of campus. |
|
Born on May 2 |
| 1729 |
|
Catherine II, Czarina of Russia. |
| 1837 |
|
Henry Martyn Roberts, parlimentarian (Robert’s Rules of Order). |
| 1860 |
|
William Maddock Bayliss, British physiologist, co-discoverer of hormones. |
| 1866 |
|
Jesse Lazear, American physician and researcher of yellow fever. |
| 1877 |
|
Vernon Castle, ballroom dancer. |
| 1892 |
|
Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), German fighter ace of World War I. |
| 1895 |
|
Lorenz Milton Hart, lyricist, collaborator with Richard Rodgers. |
| 1901 |
|
Bing [Harry Lillis] Crosby, singer and actor. |
| 1903 |
|
Benjamin Spock, pediatrician, author and activist. |
| 1921 |
|
Satyajit Ray, Indian film director (Aparajito, The World of Apu). |
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