2 May
Notable Births
Princess Charlotte of Wales (born 2015)
b. 2015
British princess
BamBam
b. 1997
Thai rapper and singer (born 1997)
Cherprang Areekul
b. 1996
Thai idol (born 1996)
Julian Brandt
b. 1996
German footballer (born 1996)
Schuyler Bailar
b. 1996
American swimmer and LGBTQ rights advocate
Lucy Dacus
b. 1995
American singer-songwriter (born 1995)
Owain Doull
b. 1993
British road cyclist
Isyana Sarasvati
b. 1993
Indonesian singer-songwriter (born 1993)
Huang Zitao
b. 1993
Chinese rapper (born 1993)
Sunmi
b. 1992
South Korean singer
María Teresa Torró Flor
b. 1992
Spanish tennis player (born 1992)
Jeong Jin-woon
b. 1991
South Korean singer and actor
Jonathan Villar
b. 1991
Dominican baseball player (born 1991)
Kay Panabaker
b. 1990
American zookeeper and former actress (born 1990)
Paul George
b. 1990
American basketball player (born 1990)
Neftalí Feliz
b. 1988
Dominican baseball player (born 1988)
Saara Aalto
b. 1987
Finnish singer, songwriter, and voice actress
Nana Kitade
b. 1987
Japanese singer-songwriter and musician (born 1987)
Dwayne Johnson
b. 1972
American actor and professional wrestler (born 1972)
Lorenzo Music
b. 1937
American actor, producer, and writer (1937–2001)
Notable Deaths
Ricky Davao
d. 2025
Filipino actor and director (1961–2025)
George Ryan
d. 2025
Governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003
Sjoukje Dijkstra
d. 2024
Dutch figure skater (1942–2024)
Darius Morris
d. 2024
American basketball player (1991–2024)
Peter Oosterhuis
d. 2024
English golfer and broadcaster (1948–2024)
Afeni Shakur
d. 2016
American political activist (1947–2016)
Michael Blake (author)
d. 2015
American writer (1945–2015)
Guy Carawan
d. 2015
American musician and musicologist
Maya Plisetskaya
d. 2015
Russian ballet dancer (1925–2015)
Ruth Rendell
d. 2015
English writer (1930–2015)
Tomás Balduino
d. 2014
Brazilian Roman Catholic Bishop (1922–2014)
Žarko Petan
d. 2014
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
d. 2014
American actor (1918–2014)
Ernie Field
d. 2013
English professional boxer & rugby league footballer
Jeff Hanneman
d. 2013
American guitarist (1964–2013)
Joseph P. McFadden
d. 2013
American prelate (1947–2013)
Dvora Omer
d. 2013
Israeli writer
Bob Clampett
d. 1984
American animator (1913–1984)
Joseph McCarthy
d. 1957
American politician (1908–1957)
Leonardo da Vinci
d. 1519
Italian polymath (1452–1519)
On This Day in History
All 48 ›
2014
Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave up to 2,500 people missing.
2014 Badakhshan mudslides
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.
Pastel
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.
Osama bin Laden
2011
An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others are taken ill.
2011 Germany E. coli O104:H4 outbreak
2008
Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.
Cyclone Nargis
2008
Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.
Chaitén (volcano)
2004
The Yelwa massacre concludes. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims killed 78 Christians at Yelwa, Nigeria. In response, about 630 Muslims were killed by Christians on May 2.
Yelwa massacre
2000
President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
Bill Clinton
1999
Panamanian general election: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.
1999 Panamanian general election
1998
The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy.
European Central Bank
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.
Croatian War of Independence
1989
Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect.
Cold War
1986
Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster.
Chernobyl disaster
1982
Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.
Falklands War
1972
In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.
Sunshine Mine
1970
ALM Flight 980 ditches in the Caribbean Sea near Saint Croix, killing 23.
ALM Flight 980
1969
The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.
Queen Elizabeth 2
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.
Vietnam War
1964
First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.
First ascent
1963
Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.
Seliger Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH