Thursday 2 May 2024 Calendar with holidays, observances and special days

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (Community of Madrid, Spain)
• Baby Day (is the first ever statewide celebration of the first three years, when early experiences shape livelong potential)
• Birth Anniversary of Third Druk Gyalpo in Bhutan
• Combate del Callao in Peru (commemorates a semi-victory against the attack of the Spanish flotilla in 1866, during the Spanish-South American War)
• Ferret Day
• Festival of the wine horses in Caravaca de la Cruz
• Flag Day in Poland (Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej)
• Harry Potter Day
• Indonesia National Education Day
• Madrid Day in Spain (Fiesta de la Comunidad de Madrid or Día de la Comunidad de Madrid)
• National Chocolate Truffle Day in USA
• National Life Insurance Day in USA
• National Prayer Day in the USA (Held on the first Thursday of May)
• Orthotist-Prosthetist Day in Panama
• Teachers' Day in Iran
• World Day of Bullying Prevention
• World Password Day (first Thursday of May)
• World Scrapbooking Day

Events

• 2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
• 2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
• 1999 – Panamanian general election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.
• 1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy.
• 1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USS Card while it is docked at Saigon. A North Vietnamese frogman had placed a bomb on the ship. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later.
• 1952 – The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 makes its maiden flight, from London to Johannesburg.
• 1920 – The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis.
• 1879 – The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is founded in Madrid by Pablo Iglesias.
• 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.
• 1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.
• 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.

Births

• 1990 – Paul George, American basketball player. Paul Clifton Anthony George (born May 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• 1989 – Jeanette Pohlen, American basketball player. Born in Downey, California, Pohlen appeared in 4 straight Final Fours at Stanford; including three straight Championship games.
• 1987 – Pat McAfee, American football player. Patrick Justin McAfee (born May 2, 1987) is an American football analyst, professional wrestling analyst, podcaster, small business owner, and retired football punter.
• 1985 – Ashley Harkleroad, American tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking in singles of No. 39 on June 9, 2003.
• 1985 – Kyle Busch, American race car driver. Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985), nicknamed Rowdy and Wild Thing for his driving style and The Candy Man due to his longtime sponsorship with Mars, Incorporated, is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner.
• 1985 – Sarah Hughes, American figure skater. She is the 2002 Olympic Champion and the 2001 World bronze medalist in ladies' singles.
• 1981 – Robert Buckley, American actor. Robert Earl Buckley (born May 2, 1981) is an American actor, known for his roles as Kirby Atwood on NBC's comedy-drama series Lipstick Jungle and Clay Evans on The CW's teen drama series One Tree Hill.
• 1980 – Ellie Kemper, American actress, comedian and writer. Kemper also appeared in the films Bridesmaids (2011) and 21 Jump Street (2012).
• 1980 – Troy Murphy, American basketball player. Troy Brandon Murphy (born May 2, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• 1978 – Melvin Ely, American basketball player. Melvin Anderson Ely (/iːˈlaɪ/; born May 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who is an assistant coach for the Canton Charge of the NBA G League.
• 1977 – Brian Cardinal, American basketball player. Before his NBA career, he was one of the all-time great players in the history of Purdue University.
• 1977 – Jenna von Oÿ, American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Six LeMeure on the NBC sitcom Blossom and her role as Stevie Van Lowe on the UPN sitcom The Parkers, which is the spin-off series of Moesha.
• 1977 – Luke Hudson, American baseball player. He played professionally with the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals.
• 1976 – Jeff Gutt, American singer-songwriter. Jeffrey Adam Gutt (born May 2, 1976) is an American musician, singer and songwriter who is best known as the lead vocalist for the band Stone Temple Pilots since November 2017.
• 1972 – Dwayne Johnson, American-Canadian wrestler, actor, and producer. Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name, The Rock, is an American actor, producer, investor and retired professional wrestler.
• 1971 – Musashimaru Kōyō, Samoan-American sumo wrestler, the 67th Yokozuna. After reaching ozeki rank in 1994 his progress seemed to stall, but in 1999 he became the second foreign-born wrestler in history to reach the rank of yokozuna.
• 1968 – Jeff Agoos, Swiss-American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster. Jeffrey Alan Agoos (born May 2, 1968) is a retired Swiss-born American soccer defender, and one of the all-time appearance leaders for the United States national team.
• 1967 – Mika Brzezinski, American journalist and author. Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough (/ˈmiːkə bərˈzɪnski ˈskɑːrbɒroʊ/; born May 2, 1967) is an American journalist, talk show host, liberal political commentator, and author who currently co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast show Morning Joe.
• 1965 – Félix José, Dominican-American baseball player. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks between 1988 and 2003.
• 1954 – Elliot Goldenthal, American composer and conductor. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2002 for his score to the motion picture Frida, directed by his longtime partner Julie Taymor.
• 1952 – Christine Baranski, American actress and singer. Baranski has received further critical acclaim for her performance as Diane Lockhart in the legal drama series The Good Wife (2009–2016) and its spinoff series The Good Fight (2017–present), as well as her recurring role as Dr.
• 1950 – Lou Gramm, American singer-songwriter. Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico; May 2, 1950) is an American rock singer-songwriter, best known for being the original lead singer of the rock band Foreigner.
• 1948 – Larry Gatlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. As their fame grew, the band became known as Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers.
• 1947 – James Dyson, English businessman, founded the Dyson Company. Sir James Dyson OM CBE FRS FREng (born 2 May 1947) is a British inventor, industrial designer and founder and chief executive of Dyson Ltd.
• 1946 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015), was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16 (in 1963) she recorded the pop hit "It's My Party" (a US number one), and followed it up with other hits including "Judy's Turn to Cry", "She's a Fool", "You Don't Own Me", "Maybe I Know" and "California Nights".
• 1946 – Peter L. Benson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011), was a psychologist and CEO/President of Search Institute. He pioneered the developmental assets framework, which became the predominant approach to research on positive facets of youth development.
• 1945 – Bianca Jagger, Nicaraguan-American model, actress, and activist. Bianca Jagger (born Blanca Pérez-Mora Macías; 2 May 1945) is a Nicaraguan social and human rights advocate and a former actress.
• 1945 – Randy Cain, American soul singer (d. 2009), was a Philadelphia soul singer with The Delfonics (early 1960s to 1971). He also helped set up the group Blue Magic.
• 1941 – Clay Carroll, American baseball player. Clay Palmer Carroll (born May 2, 1941) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball with a 15-year career from 1964 to 1978.
• 1941 – Tony Adamowicz, American race car driver, was an American racing driver, active from 1963 until his death. He won the Under 2-Liter class of the 1968 Trans-Am Championship and the 1969 SCCA Continental Championship.
• 1937 – Lorenzo Music, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001), was an American actor, voice actor, writer, producer and musician. He was best known as the original voice of Jim Davis' comic strip cat Garfield.
• 1936 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (d. 1972). He has been described as "one of the most talented and tragic violin virtuosi of his generation".
• 1933 – Bunk Gardner, American musician. John Leon Guarnera, professionally known as "Bunk" Gardner (born May 2, 1933 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States) is an American musician who most notably played for the original version of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention until the group disbanded in 1969.
• 1932 – Maury Allen, American journalist, actor, and author (d. 2010), was an American sportswriter, actor, and columnist for the New York Post and the Journal-News. He was also a voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• 1931 – Martha Grimes, American author and poet. She is best known for a series featuring Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard inspector.
• 1931 – Phil Bruns, American actor and stuntman (d. 2012), was an American television actor and writer. He portrayed George Shumway, the father of Mary Hartman on the 1970s comedic series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
• 1929 – James Dillion, American discus thrower (d. 2010), was an American discus thrower who won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Domestically he won the NCAA title in 1952 and the AAU title in 1952.
• 1929 – Link Wray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005), was a Shawnee rock and roll guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s.
• 1924 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2015), was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist and political activist. He appeared in films including The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Enemy Below (1957), I Want to Live! (1958), My Fair Lady (1964), The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) and 200 Motels (1971).
• 1922 – A. M. Rosenthal, Canadian-born American journalist and author (d. 2006), was an American journalist who served as The New York Times executive editor from 1977 to 1988, having served previously as the city editor and managing editor. At the end of his tenure as executive editor, he became a columnist (1987–1999) and New York Daily News columnist (1999–2004).
• 1922 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (d. 2007), was an American actor and director known for his rich voice and dignified bearing. He resisted playing stereotypically black roles, instead performing in several productions with New York City's Shakespeare Festival Theater, Leland Hayward's satirical NBC series That Was the Week That Was, and a poetry performance tour of the United States in addition to his work in television and film.
• 1920 – Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter, soldier, and pilot (d. 2004), was an American athlete, the 1948 Olympic champion in the pole vault.
• 1912 – Axel Springer, German journalist and publisher, founded Axel Springer AG (d. 1985), was a German journalist and the founder and owner of the Axel Springer SE publishing company.
• 1910 – Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943), was a United States Marine Corps officer who was killed in action on Betio Atoll in the Gilbert Islands during World War II. A combat engineer, he received the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three Bronze Stars and the World War II Victory Medal posthumously for his actions during the strategically important assault on a Japanese bombproof shelter during the Battle of Tarawa.
• 1907 – Pinky Lee, American comedian and television host (d. 1993), was an American burlesque comic and host of the children's television program The Pinky Lee Show in the early 1950s.
• 1906 – Philippe Halsman, Latvian-American photographer (d. 1979), was an American portrait photographer. He was born in Riga in the part of the Russian Empire which later became Latvia, and died in New York City.
• 1903 – Benjamin Spock, American rower, pediatrician, and author (d. 1998), was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care (1946) is one of the best-selling volumes in history. The book's premise to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."
• 1897 – John Frederick Coots, American songwriter (d. 1985). He composed over 700 popular songs and over a dozen Broadway shows.
• 1895 – Lorenz Hart, American playwright and lyricist (d. 1943), was the lyricist half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon," "Mountain Greenery," "The Lady Is a Tramp," "Manhattan," "Where or When," "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," "Falling in Love with Love," "Have You Met Miss Jones?," "My Funny Valentine," "I Could Write a Book", "This Can't Be Love", "With a Song in My Heart", "It Never Entered My Mind", and "Isn't It Romantic?".
• 1890 – E. E. Smith, American engineer and author (d. 1965). Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965), better known by his pen name E.
• 1887 – Eddie Collins, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951). A graduate of Columbia University, Collins holds major league career records in several categories and is among the top few players in several other categories.
• 1887 – Vernon Castle, English-American dancer (d. 1918). Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century.
• 1885 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (d. 1966), was an American actress and gossip columnist, notorious for feuding with her arch-rival Louella Parsons. She was well-known for her extravagant hats and McCarthy era red-baiting.
• 1880 – Bill Horr, American football player, discus thrower, and coach (d. 1955), was an American football player, coach, and Olympic track and field athlete.
• 1879 – James F. Byrnes, American stenographer and politician, 49th United States Secretary of State (d. 1972), was an American judge and politician from the state of South Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrnes served in Congress, the executive branch, and on the United States Supreme Court.
• 1867 – Giuseppe Morello, Italian-American mobster (d. 1930), was the first boss of the Morello crime family and later top adviser to Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. He was known as Piddu (Sicilian diminutive form of Giuseppe) and his rivals the Castellammarese knew him as Peter Morello.
• 1865 – Clyde Fitch, American playwright (d. 1909), was an American dramatist, the most popular writer for the Broadway stage of his time (c. 1890–1909).
• 1843 – Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American engineer (d. 1929). McCoy (May 2, 1844  – October 10, 1929) was a Canadian-born inventor and engineer of African American descent who was notable for his 57 U.S. patents, most having to do with the lubrication of steam engines.
• 1740 – Elias Boudinot, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1821), was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress (more accurately referred to as the Congress of the Confederation) and served as President of Congress from 1782 to 1783. He was elected as a U.S.

Deaths

• 2016 – Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman, activist, and Black Panther (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Charles Banks Wilson, American painter and illustrator (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1964)
• 2013 – Joseph P. McFadden, American bishop (b. 1947)
• 2010 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Marilyn French, American author and academic (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (b. 1940)
• 2006 – Louis Rukeyser, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
• 1998 – Gene Raymond, American actor (b. 1908)
• 1994 – Dorothy Marie Donnelly, American poet and author (b. 1903)
• 1992 – Wilbur Mills, American lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
• 1990 – David Rappaport, English-American actor (b. 1951)
• 1986 – Sergio Cresto, American race car driver (b. 1956)
• 1985 – Larry Clinton, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1909)
• 1984 – Bob Clampett, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1913)
• 1983 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
• 1980 – George Pal, Hungarian-American animator and producer (b. 1908)
• 1974 – James O. Richardson, American admiral (b. 1878)
• 1972 – J. Edgar Hoover, American 1st director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)
• 1964 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (b. 1879)
• 1957 – Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1908)
• 1953 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (b. 1863)
• 1945 – Joe Corbett, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1875)
• 1880 – Eberhard Anheuser, German-American businessman, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (b. 1805)
• 1711 – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English politician, First Lord of the Treasury (b. 1641)