May 2

2024 Calendar

May 2 is the 122nd day of the year (123rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 243 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

373 - Athanasius of Alexandria (b. 298)
756 - Emperor Shomu of Japan (b. 701)
907 - Boris I of Bulgaria
1219 – Leo I, King of Armenia (b. 1150)
1300 - Blanche of Artois (b. 1248)
1519 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist and inventor (b. 1452)
1627 - Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, Italian composer (b. 1560)
1802 - Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch statesman (b. 1762)
1819 - Mary Moser, English painter (b. 1744)
1821 - Hester Thrale, Welsh diarist (b. 1741)
1825 – Michail Leontievich Bulatov, Russian military (b. 1760)
1857 - Alfred de Busset, French writer (b. 1810)
1864 – Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer (b. 1791)
1880 - Eberhard Anheuser, German-American businessman (b. 1805)
1880 - Tom Willis, Australian cricketer and co-founder of Australian rules football (b. 1835)

1901 – 2000

1909 - Manuel Amador Guerrero, 1st President of Panama (b. 1833)
1915 - Clara Immerwahr, German chemist, doctor and activist (b. 1870)
1918 - Jüri Vilms, Estonian politician (b. 1889)
1927 - Ernest Starling, English physiologist (b. 1866)
1930 - Isidor Gunsberg, Hungarian chess player (b. 1854)
1945 – Martin Bormann, Nazi politician (b. 1900)
1957 – Joseph McCarthy, US Senator (b. 1908)
1960 – Caryl Chessman, American, controversially executed (b. 1921)
1964 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-British politician (b. 1879)
1969 – Franz von Papen, German politician (b. 1879)
1972 – J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI (b. 1895)
1979 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist (b. 1903)
1983 - Norm Van Brocklin, American football player (b. 1926)
1983 - Pridi Banomyong, Prime minister of Thailand (b. 1900)
1984 - Bob Clampett, American animator, producer and director (b. 1913)
1985 - Attilio Bettega, Italian rally driver (b. 1953)
1989 - Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (b. 1902)
1989 - Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (b. 1902)
1993 - André Moynet, French fighter pilot, entrepreneur, politician and racing driver (b. 1921)
1995 - Michael Hordern, English actor (b. 1911)
1995 - Werner Veigel, German television journalist (b. 1928)
1997 - Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator and philosopher (b. 1921)
1997 – Sir John Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist (b. 1903)
1998 – Hide, Japanese musician (b. 1964)
1998 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (b. 1961)
1998 - Kevin Lloyd, British actor (b. 1949)
1999 - Oliver Reed, English actor (b. 1938)

From 2001

2005 – Wee Kim Wee, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
2009 – Augusto Boal, Brazilian theatre director (b. 1931)
2009 – Jack Kemp, American politician and football player (b. 1935)
2010 – Kama Chinen, Japanese supercentenarian (b. 1895)
2010 – Lynn Redgrave, British actress (b. 1943)
2011 – Osama Bin Laden, Saudi Islamist terrorist (b. 1957)
2012 – Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, Indonesian physician and politician (b. 1955)
2012 – Junior Seau, American football player (b. 1969)
2013 - Ivan Turina, Croatian footballer (b. 1980)
2013 - Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist (Slayer) (b. 1964)
2014 - Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
2014 - Mohammad-Reza Lotfi, Iranian classical musician (b. 1947)
2014 - Nigel Stepney, English mechanic (b. 1958)
2014 - Pauline Wagner, American actress (b. 1910)
2015 - Ruth Rendell, English writer (b. 1930)
2015 - Maya Plisetskaya, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1925)
2015 - Konstantin K. Kuzminsky, Russian performance poet (b. 1940)
2015 - Sarah Correa, Brazilian swimmer (b. 1992)
2015 - Guy Carawan, American folk musician (b. 1927)
2015 - Michael Blake, American author and screenwriter (b. 1945)
2015 - Stuart Archer, British recipient of the George Cross (b. 1915)
2015 - Philip S. Goodman, American director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1926)
2016 - Afeni Shakur, African American music businesswoman, philanthropist, political activist, and Black Panther. Mother of Tupac Shakur (b. 1947)
2016 - Jonathan Cainer, British astrologer (b. 1957)
2016 - John Kaye, Australian politician (b. 1955)
2016 - Roger Millward, British rugby league player (b. 1947)
2017 - Harold Bedoya Pizarro, Colombian military commander and politician (b. 1938)
2017 - Abelardo Castillo, Argentine author and essayist (b. 1935)
2017 - Kevin Garcia, American musician (b. 1975)
2017 - Heinz Kessler, German politician (b. 1920)
2017 - George Hugh Niederauer, American archbishop (b. 1936)
2017 - Leo K. Thorsness, American air force officer (b. 1932)
2017 - Moray Watson, British actor (b. 1928)
2017 - Roy Gater, English footballer (b. 1940)
2018 - Gord Brown, Canadian politician (b. 1960)
2018 - Tony Cucchiara, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
2018 - Herman Krebbers, Dutch violinist (b. 1923)
2018 - Vadim Mulerman, Soviet-Ukrainian singer (b. 1938)
2018 - Bill Torrey, Canadian ice hockey executive (b. 1934)
2018 - Wang Danfeng, Chinese actress (b. 1924)
2018 - Wolfgang Völz, German actor (b. 1930)
2018 - János Juszkó, Hungarian cyclist (b. 1939)
2019 - Michel Crauste, French rugby union player (b. 1934)
2019 - Rafael Hernández Colón, Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1936)
2019 - Fatimih Dávila, Uruguayan model (b. 1988)
2019 - Master Hirannaiah, Indian actor (b. 1934)
2019 - Frank Ivancie, American businessman and politician (b. 1924)
2019 - Red Kelly, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1927)
2019 - Micha Lindenstrauss, German-born Israeli judge (b. 1937)
2019 - Ali Mroudjaé, Prime minister of the Comoros (b. 1939)
2019 - Lord Toby Jug, British politician (b. 1935)
2019 - Chris Reccardi, American animator (b. 1964)
2019 - John Starling, American bluegrass musician (b. 1940)
2019 - Juan Vicente Torrealba, Venezuelan harpist and composer (b. 1917)

Births

1901 – 1950

1902 - Arturo Licata, Sicilian supercentenarian (d. 2014)
1903 – Benjamin Spock, American writer (d. 1998)
1913 - Nigel Patrick, English actor (d. 1981)
1915 - Van Alexander, American jazz composer, arranger and bandleader (d. 2015)
1917 - Van Tien Dung, Vietnamese general and politician (d. 2002)
1917 - Albert Castelyns, Belgian water polo player and bobsledder (d. unknown)
1920 - Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
1920 - Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-Brazilian activist (d. 2000)
1920 - Vasantrao Deshpande, Indian singer and sitar player (d. 1983)
1920 - Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter, 1948 Olympic champion (d. 2004)
1921 – Satyajit Ray, Indian movie maker (d. 1992)
1923 – Patrick Hillery, President of Ireland (d. 2008)
1924 - Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American actor and singer (d. 2015)
1924 - Hugh Cortazzi, English businessman and diplomat (d. 2018)
1925 - Maria Barroso, Portuguese actress and politician (d. 2015)
1928 – Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, King of Bhutan (d. 1972)
1929 – Edouard Balladur, former Prime Minister of France
1929 - Eddie Garcia, Filipino actor, director and television personality (d. 2019)
1930 - Marco Pannella, Italian politician and activist (d. 2016)
1930 - Yoram Kaniuk, Israeli painter, journalist and critic (d. 2013)
1931 - Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf, English lawyer and judge
1932 - Bruce Glover, American actor
1933 - Gérard Jouannest, French pianist (d. 2018)
1933 - Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf, English lawyer and judge
1935 - Luis Suárez Miramontes, Spanish footballer
1935 – King Faisal II of Iraq (d. 1958)
1936 - Norma Aleandro, Argentine actress, director and screenwriter
1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck, British singer
1937 - Lance LeGault, American actor (d. 2012)
1937 - Lorenzo Music, American screenwriter, actor and producer (d. 2001)
1938 – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (d. 1996)
1941 – Jules Wijdenbosch, former President of Suriname
1941 - Eddy Louiss, French jazz musician (d. 2015)
1942 – Jacques Rogge, Belgian Olympic official (d. 2021)
1943 - Manfred Schnelldorfer, German figure skater
1944 - Kim Yong-il, North Korean politician
1945 – Judge Dread, English musician (d. 1998)
1945 – Bianca Jagger, Nicaraguan-born activist
1946 - Lesley Gore, American singer (d. 2015)
1946 – David Suchet, British actor
1947 – James Dyson, British inventor
1947 - Prashanta Nanda, Indian actor, director, producer and politician
1949 - Alan Titchmarsh, British television presenter
1949 - Alfons Schuhbeck, German chef and cookery writer
1949 - Alan Gross, American government contractor
1950 - Lou Gramm, American singer

1951 – 1975

1951 - John Glascock, English musician (d. 1979)
1952 – Christine Baranski, American actress
1952 - Christopher Doyle, Australian director and screenwriter
1953 – Valery Gergiev, Russian conductor
1955 - Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
1956 - Régis Lebeaume, Canadian politician, 41st Mayor of Quebec City
1958 - Yasushi Akimoto, Japanese television writer, songwriter, record producer and professor
1958 – David O'Leary, Irish footballer
1962 – Jimmy White, English snooker player
1964 – Silvia Neid, German footballer and coach
1967 - Bengt Akerblom, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1995)
1967 - Luigi Apolloni, Italian footballer
1968 - Hikaru Midorikawa, Japanese voice actor
1968 - Ziana Zain, Malaysian singer-songwriter and actress
1969 – Brian Lara, West Indies cricketer
1971 - Musashimaru Koyo, American Samoan sumo wrestler
1972 - Dwayne Johnson, American professional wrestler and actor
1972 - Ahti Heinla, Estonian programmer and entrepreneur
1973 - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German movie director
1974 - Matt Berry, English actor
1975 – David Beckham, English footballer
1975 – Dorothy M. Metcalf-Lindenburger, American astronaut

From 1976

1977 - Jan Fitschen, German runner
1977 - Kalle Palander, Finnish skier
1979 - Jason Chimera, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 - Roman Lyashenko, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
1980 – Tim Borowski, German footballer
1980 – Zat Knight, English footballer
1980 - Troy Murphy, American basketball player
1980 - Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder
1981 – Chris Kirkland, English footballer
1981 – Tiago Mendes, Portuguese footballer
1982 - Lorie, French singer
1982 - Johan Botha, South Korean cricketer
1983 - Alessandro Diamanti, Italian footballer
1983 - Derek Boateng, Ghanaian footballer
1983 - Maynor Figueroa, Honduran footballer
1983 – Tina Maze, Slovenian skier
1985 – Lily Allen, English singer
1985 - Kyle Busch, American racing driver
1985 – Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
1985 – David Nugent, English footballer
1985 - Oh Land, Danish singer-songwriter and record producer
1985 – Alexander Galimov, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
1986 - Emily Hart, American actress
1986 - Sani Kaita, Nigerian footballer
1987 - Saara Aalto, Finnish singer
1987 - Kris Russell, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 - Nana Kitade, Japanese singer-songwriter and musician
1988 - Stephen Henderson, Irish footballer
1990 – Kay Panabaker, American actress
1990 - Paul George, American basketball player
1991 - Jeong Jinwoon, South Korean actor and singer
1994 - Josh Bolt, English actor
1996 - Julian Brandt, German footballer
1997 - Bambam, South Korean dancer, rapper and singer
2015 - Princess Charlotte of Cambridge

Deaths

Observances

Polish Flag day celebrated
Last day of the Bahá'í festival to select members of the Universal House of Justice.
National Education Day (Indonesia)
Teachers' Day (Iran, Bhutan)