Historical Events on May 2

1194 King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter

1497 John Cabot's expedition departs Bristol searching for new lands across the Atlantic

1670 King Charles II gives royal charter to the Hudson's Bay Company

1780 William Herschel discovers 1st binary star, Xi Ursae Majoris

1783 Architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant is promoted by brevet to Major of Engineers in recognition of his service to American liberty

1863 Stonewall Jackson attacking Chancellorsville is wounded by his own men

1865 US President Andrew Johnson offers $100,000 reward for capture of Jefferson Davis

1887 Gioachino Rossini's corpse transferred to Santa Croce, Florence

1887 Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film (used in Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope)

1889 Abyssinian Emperor Menelik II and Italy sign Treaty of Wichale

1900 George Bernard Shaw's "You Never Can Tell" premieres in London

1905 French newspapers publish lists of Jules Verne's unpublished work

1906 Tsar Nicolas II of Russia dismisses his moderate Prime Minister Witte and appoints Ivan Goremykin, a conservative bureaucrat

1909 Honus Wagner steals his way around bases in 1st inning against Cubs

1916 US President Woodrow Wilson signs Harrison Drug Act

1923 MLB Washington Senator Walter Johnson pitches his 100th shutout, beats Yanks 3-0

1929 Billie Holiday (14) and her mother are arrested for prostitution following a raid of a brothel in Harlem

1932 Jack Benny's 1st radio show premieres (NBC Blue Network)

1933 In Germany, Adolf Hitler bans trade unions

1936 Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and family flee Abyssinia

1938 Ella Fitzgerald records "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"

1938 Pulitzer prize awarded to Thornton Wilder for his play "Our Town"

1939 Lou Gehrig ends 2,130 consecutive game streak, Yanks beat Tigers 22-2

1941 MLB player Ted Williams' lowest average (.308) in year he hit over .400

1945 Dutch Queen Wilhelmina & Princess Juliana reach Gilze-Rijen

1946 "The Postman Always Rings Twice" film based on the novel by James M. Cain, directed by Tay Garnett and starring Lana Turner and John Garfield is released

1947 Eugene O'Neill's "Moon for the Misbegotten" premieres in NYC

1949 Arthur Miller wins Pulitzer Prize for "Death of a Salesman"

1954 Stan Musial hits 5 HRs in a doubleheader

1955 Pulitzer prize awarded Tennessee Williams for (Cat on Hot Tin Roof)

1957 Gangster Frank Costello escapes an assassination attempt made by rival mobsters

1963 Children's crusade begins in Birmingham, Alabama. More than 600 African American school children arrested for marching against segregation, organised by James Bevel and the SCLC

1967 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Terry Sawchuk makes 40 saves as Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 in Game 6 to take title, 4-2

1974 Former US Vice President Spiro Agnew disbarred

1979 14th Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Rogers and Barbara Mandrell win

1980 Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in Wall (Part II)" is banned in South Africa

1988 David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" premieres in NYC

1988 Jackson Pollock's "Search" sold for $4,800,000

1988 Reds manager Pete Rose is suspended for 30 days for pushing an umpire

1989 "Killin' Time" debut album by Clint Black is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1990)

1991 Pope John Paul II's encyclical on Centesimus annus

1992 118th Kentucky Derby: Pat Day aboard Lil E Tee wins in 2:03

1997 Police arrest transsexual prostitute Atisone Seiuli with Eddie Murphy

1997 "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery", starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley, is released

1999 John Elway announces his retirement from the NFL

2000 President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military

2008 First film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe released "Iron Man" directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark