On this day: May 2

Events on May 2

• 1611 The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker. Wikipedia
• 1625 Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Latin Patriarch of Ethiopia, arrives at Beilul from Goa. Wikipedia
• 1808 Outbreak of the Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation. Francisco de Goya later memorializes this event in his painting The Second of May 1808. Wikipedia
• 1863 American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia eight days later. Wikipedia
• 1878 A dust explosion at the world's largest flour mill in Minneapolis resulted in 18 deaths. Wikipedia
• 1889 Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs the Treaty of Wuchale, giving Italy control over Eritrea. Wikipedia
• 1906 Closing ceremony of the Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece. Wikipedia
• 1920 The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: Following the coup d'état against Iraq Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah earlier that year, the United Kingdom launches the Anglo-Iraqi War to restore him to power. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: General Helmuth Weidling, the German commander of Berlin, surrendered to Soviet forces led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov, ending the Battle of Berlin. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin. Wikipedia
• 1952 A De Havilland Comet makes the first jetliner flight with fare-paying passengers, from London to Johannesburg. Wikipedia
• 1964 Vietnam War: An explosion attributed to Viet Cong commandos caused the escort carrier USNS Card to sink in the port of Saigon. Wikipedia
• 1964 First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders. Wikipedia
• 1964 Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Two Viet Cong combat swimmers had placed explosives on the ship's hull. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later. Wikipedia
• 1970 ALM Flight 980 ditches in the Caribbean Sea near Saint Croix, killing 23. Wikipedia
• 1982 Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano. Wikipedia
• 1989 Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect. Wikipedia
• 1995 Croatian War of Independence: Serb forces began rocket attacks on the Croatian capital Zagreb, killing 7 people and injuring around 200 others. Wikipedia
• 1995 During the Croatian War of Independence, the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fires cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians. Wikipedia
• 1998 The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy. Wikipedia
• 2000 President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military. Wikipedia
• 2008 Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people. Wikipedia
• 2008 Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless. Wikipedia
• 2011 Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted fugitive, is killed by the United States Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Wikipedia
• 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War: Forty-eight people were killed during a confrontation between pro-Russian protesters and pro-Ukrainian unity protesters in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa. Wikipedia

Born on May 2

• 1360 Yongle Emperor of China (died 1424) Wikipedia
• 1601 Athanasius Kircher, German priest and scholar (died 1680) Wikipedia
• 1660 Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (died 1725) Wikipedia
• 1729 Catherine the Great of Russia (died 1796) Wikipedia
• 1737 William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (died 1805) Wikipedia
• 1752 Ludwig August Lebrun, German oboe player and composer (died 1790) Wikipedia
• 1772 Novalis, German author and poet (died 1801) Wikipedia
• 1859 Jerome K. Jerome, English author and playwright (died 1927) Wikipedia
• 1860 Theodor Herzl, Austro-Hungarian Zionist philosopher, journalist and author (died 1904) Wikipedia
• 1879 James F. Byrnes, American stenographer and politician, 49th United States Secretary of State (died 1972) Wikipedia
• 1892 Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (died 1918) Wikipedia
• 1910 Alexander Bonnyman Jr., American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1943) Wikipedia
• 1921 Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1992) Wikipedia
• 1923 Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1929 Édouard Balladur, Turkish-French economist and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of France (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1942 Jacques Rogge, Belgian businessman (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1946 David Suchet, English actor Wikipedia
• 1955 Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer Wikipedia
• 1972 Dwayne Johnson, American actor and wrestler Wikipedia
• 1975 David Beckham, English footballer, coach, and model Wikipedia
• 1985 Lily Allen, English singer-songwriter and actress Wikipedia
• 2015 Princess Charlotte of Wales, British royal, and third in line to the British throne Wikipedia

Died on May 2

• 1203 BC Merneptah, pharaoh of Egypt Wikipedia
• 373 Athanasius of Alexandria, Egyptian bishop and saint (born 298) Wikipedia
• 649 Marutha of Tikrit, Persian theologian of the Syriac Orthodox Church (born 565) Wikipedia
• 1519 Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (born 1452) Wikipedia
• 1857 Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (born 1810) Wikipedia
• 1880 Tom Wills, Australian cricketer, co-created Australian rules football (born 1835) Wikipedia
• 1945 Martin Bormann, German politician (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 1947 Dorothea Binz, German SS officer (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 1957 Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 1969 Franz von Papen, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (born 1879) Wikipedia
• 1979 Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 1997 John Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 2011 Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founder of Al-Qaeda (born 1957) Wikipedia
• 2016 Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman, activist, and Black Panther (born 1947) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church). Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Athanasius of Alexandria (Western Christianity) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bolesław Strzelecki (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Boris I of Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Germanus of Normandy Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Joseph Luu Van Nguyen (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Wiborada (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: William Tirry (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• The last day of the Festival of Ridván (Baháʼí Faith) (this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March equinox, see List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar) Wikipedia
• Anniversary of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (Community of Madrid, Spain) Wikipedia
• Birth Anniversary of Third Druk Gyalpo (Bhutan) Wikipedia
• Flag Day (Poland) Wikipedia
• Indonesia National Education Day Wikipedia
• Teachers' Day (Iran) (this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar) Wikipedia
• International Harry Potter Day Wikipedia
• World Tuna Day

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “May 2” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.