Today In History [2nd May, 2016]

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

May 2

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 Louverture 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 Joseph Hooker’s flank at Chancellorsville, Virginia.
1865		President Andrew Johnson offers a $100,000 reward for the capture of the 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 Oakley 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 Robert, parliamentarian (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.
1903		Benjamin Spock, pediatrician, author and activist.
1921		Satyajit Ray, Indian film director (Aparajito, The World of Apu).