Discover what happened on May 2 in history, along with notable events that shaped religion, sports, and modern technology.
What Happened on May 2 in History?
From the publication of a historic religious text to the end of one of baseball’s most legendary streaks and a major shift in global technology access, May 2 highlights moments that changed everyday life.
MAY 2 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
1611 – The King James Bible was published for the first time in London, England by printer Robert Barker.
1885 – The magazine “Good Housekeeping” was first published.
1887 – Hannibal W. Goodwin applied for a patent on celluloid photographic film. This is the film from which movies are shown.
1890 – The Oklahoma Territory was organized.
1918 – General Motors acquired the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
1932 – Jack Benny’s first radio show debuted on NBC Radio.
1939 – Not hitting well and feeling bad, Ironman Lou Gehrig took himself out of the Yankee line-up after playing 2,130 consecutive games. The Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 22-2 in that game. Gehrig never played baseball again.
1941 – The Federal Communications Commission agreed to let regular scheduling of TV broadcasts by commercial TV stations begin on July 1, 1941. This was the start of network television.
1941 – A new cereal called CheeriOats was introduced. The name was eventually changed to Cheerios four years later.
1946 – Prisoners revolted at California’s Alcatraz prison. Two guards and three inmates were killed.
1954 – Stan Musial, of the St. Louis Cardinals, set a new major league record when he hit 5 home runs against the New York Giants.
1964 – While speaking in Ann Arbor, MI at the University of Michigan Spring Commencement, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced plans for his “Great Society” plan.
1965 – The “Early Bird” satellite was used to transmit television pictures across the Atlantic.
1969 – The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) made its maiden voyage from England to the United States.
1970 – Student anti-war protesters at Ohio’s Kent State University burn down the campus ROTC building. The National Guard took control of the campus.
1974 – Former U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was disbarred by the Maryland Court of Appeals.
1974 – The filming of “Jaws” began in Martha’s Vineyard, MA.
1978 – The first unsolicited bulk commercial email was sent to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States. This first “spam” invited users to a product demonstration by Digital Equipment Corporation.
1982 – The Weather Channel debuted. It was founded by veteran television meteorologist John Coleman (who served as a chief meteorologist at WLS-TV in Chicago and as a forecaster for “Good Morning America”) and Frank Batten, then-president of the channel’s original owner Landmark Communications. The channel launched at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on May 2, 1982.
1986 – The City of Chernobyl was evacuated six days after the disaster.
1997 – The American spy action comedy film “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”, starring Mike Myers, was released.
1999 – The Mercury space capsule, which carried Gus Grissom on America’s second crewed space flight, was discovered off the Florida shore 38 years after it was lost.
2000 – President Bill Clinton announced that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to just the United States military.
2004 – Television’s “Doctor Phil” McGraw was slapped with a class action lawsuit that charged he knowingly deceived consumers with false claims about his line of weight-loss products.
2005 – Production of the Pontiac Grand Am ended.
2007 – Iowa spent $6,000 to change the locks at one of its state prisons after someone paid $12 on e-Bay for a set of keys belonging to a guard who retired in the 1970s.
2008 – The movie “Ironman” (based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name), starring Robert Downey Jr., debuted in theaters.
2008 – Sean “Diddy” Combs became the first male rapper to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2012 – A pastel version of “The Scream” by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sold for $120 million in a New York, NY auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction.
2015 – A 4.2 earthquake centered near Galesburg, MI (between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo) hit west Michigan. It was the state’s most powerful quake since 1947.
2019 – A drone delivered a kidney for transplant surgery in Baltimore, MD.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON MAY 2:
Clay Carroll – 85 years old (1941) – Baseball player
Bianca Jagger – 81 years old (1945) – Nicaraguan-American model, actress, and activist
Larry Gatlin – 78 years old (1948) – Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
Lou Gramm – 76 years old (1950) – Singer-songwriter
Christine Baranski – 74 years old (1952) – Actress and singer
Jamaal Wilkes – 73 years old (1953) – Basketball player
Elliot Goldenthal – 72 years old (1954) – Composer and conductor
Mika Brzezinski – 59 years old (1967) – Journalist and author
Jeff Agoos – 58 years old (1968) – Footballer
Musashimaru Kōyō – 55 years old (1971) – Samoan-American sumo wrestler, the 67th Yokozuna
Dwayne Johnson – 54 years old (1972) – Actor and wrestler
Jeff Gutt – 50 years old (1976) – Singer-songwriter
Kumail Nanjiani – 48 years old (1978) – Pakistani-American actor, stand-up comedian, and screenwriter
Ellie Kemper – 46 years old (1980) – Actress, comedian and writer
Troy Murphy – 46 years old (1980) – Basketball player
Robert Buckley – 45 years old (1981) – Actor
Kyle Busch – 41 years old (1985) – Race car driver
Ashley Harkleroad – 41 years old (1985) – Tennis player
Sarah Hughes – 41 years old (1985) – Figure skater
Pat McAfee – 39 years old (1987) – Sports analyst and football player
Kay Panabaker – 36 years old (1990) – Actress
Paul George – 36 years old (1990) – Basketball player
Lucy Dacus – 31 years old (1995) – Singer-songwriter
Schuyler Bailar – 30 years old (1996) – Swimmer
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR MAY 2:
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For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
