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This Day On History
| Date | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd of May 1194 | EVENT | King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter. |
| 2nd of May 1230 | EVENT | William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great. |
| 2nd of May 1335 | EVENT | Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia. |
| 2nd of May 1536 | EVENT | Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. |
| 2nd of May 1559 | EVENT | John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to become the leader of the beginning Scottish Reformation. |
| 2nd of May 1568 | EVENT | Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch Leven Castle. |
| 2nd of May 1611 | EVENT | King James Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker. |
| 2nd of May 1670 | EVENT | King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America. |
| 2nd of May 1672 | EVENT | John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March. |
| 2nd of May 1757 | EVENT | End of Konbaung-Hanthawaddy War, and end of Burmese Civil War (1740 : 1757) |
| 2nd of May 1808 | EVENT | Outbreak of the Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation. Francisco de Goya later memorializes this event in his painting The Second of May 1808. |
| 2nd of May 1816 | EVENT | Marriage of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Charlotte Augusta. |
| 2nd of May 1829 | EVENT | After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of the HMS Challenger, declares the Swan River Colony in Australia. |
| 2nd of May 1863 | EVENT | 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. |
| 2nd of May 1866 | EVENT | Peruvian defenders fight off Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao. |
| 2nd of May 1876 | EVENT | The April Uprising breaks out in Bulgaria. |
| 2nd of May 1879 | EVENT | The Spanish Socialist Worker's Party is founded in Casa Labra Pub (city of Madrid) by the historical Spanish workers' leader Pablo Iglesias. |
| 2nd of May 1885 | EVENT | Good Housekeeping magazine goes on sale for the first time. |
| 2nd of May 1885 | EVENT | Cree and Assiniboine warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion. |
| 2nd of May 1885 | EVENT | The Congo Free State is established by King Leopold II of Belgium. |
| 2nd of May 1889 | EVENT | Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs a treaty of amity with Italy, which gives Italy control over Eritrea. |
| 2nd of May 1906 | EVENT | Closing ceremony of the Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece. |
| 2nd of May 1918 | EVENT | General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware. |
| 2nd of May 1920 | EVENT | The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana. |
| 2nd of May 1932 | EVENT | Comedian Jack Benny's radio show airs for the first time. |
| 2nd of May 1933 | EVENT | Gleichschaltung: Adolf Hitler bans trade unions. |
| 2nd of May 1941 | EVENT | Following the coup d'etat against Iraq Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah earlier that year, the United Kingdom launches the Anglo-Iraqi War to restore him to power. |
| 2nd of May 1945 | EVENT | World War II: Fall of Berlin: The Soviet Union announces the capture of Berlin and Soviet soldiers hoist their red flag over the Reichstag building. |
| 2nd of May 1945 | EVENT | World War II: Italian Campaign : General Heinrich von Vietinghoff signs the official instrument of surrender of all Wehrmacht forces in Italy. |
| 2nd of May 1945 | EVENT | World War II: The US 82nd Airborne Division liberates Wobbelin concentration camp finding 1000 dead inmates, most starved to death. |
| 2nd of May 1946 | EVENT | The "Battle of Alcatraz" takes place, killing two guards and three inmates. |
| 2nd of May 1952 | EVENT | The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 makes its maiden flight, from London to Johannesburg. |
| 2nd of May 1955 | EVENT | Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. |
| 2nd of May 1963 | EVENT | Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany. |
| 2nd of May 1964 | EVENT | Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the USS Card while docked at Saigon. Viet Cong forces are suspected of placing a bomb on the ship. |
| 2nd of May 1964 | EVENT | First ascent of Shishapangma the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders. |
| 2nd of May 1969 | EVENT | The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City. |
| 2nd of May 1972 | EVENT | In the early morning hours a fire broke out at the Sunshine mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, ID, killing 91 workers. |
| 2nd of May 1982 | EVENT | Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano. |
| 2nd of May 1994 | EVENT | In a bus disaster in Poland, 32 people die. |
| 2nd of May 1995 | EVENT | During the Croatian War of Independence, Serb forces fire cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing 7 and wounding over 175 civilians. |
| 2nd of May 1998 | EVENT | The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy. |
| 2nd of May 1999 | EVENT | Panamanian election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama. |
| 2nd of May 2000 | EVENT | President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military. |
| 2nd of May 2002 | EVENT | Marad massacre of eight Hindus near Palakkad in Kerala. |
| 2nd of May 2004 | EVENT | Yelwa massacre of more than 630 nomad Muslims by Christians in Nigeria. |
| 2nd of May 2008 | EVENT | Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless. |
| 2nd of May 2008 | EVENT | Chaiten Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people. |
| 2nd of May 2011 | EVENT | Osama Bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man, is killed by US Special Forces. |
| 2nd of May 1360 | BIRTHDAY | Yongle, Emperor of China (d. 1424) |
| 2nd of May 1451 | BIRTHDAY | Rene II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1508) |
| 2nd of May 1458 | BIRTHDAY | Leonor of Viseu, queen of Portugal (d. 1525) |
| 2nd of May 1551 | BIRTHDAY | William Camden, English historian (d. 1623) |
| 2nd of May 1601 | BIRTHDAY | Athanasius Kircher, German Jesuit scholar (d. 1680) |
| 2nd of May 1660 | BIRTHDAY | Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1725) |
| 2nd of May 1695 | BIRTHDAY | Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni, Italian-born architect (d. 1766) |
| 2nd of May 1702 | BIRTHDAY | Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian (d. 1782) |
| 2nd of May 1729 | BIRTHDAY | Catherine II of Russia, Empress of Russia (d. 1796) |
| 2nd of May 1737 | BIRTHDAY | William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1805) |
| 2nd of May 1740 | BIRTHDAY | Elias Boudinot, President of the American Continental Congress (d. 1821) |
| 2nd of May 1750 | BIRTHDAY | John Andre, British Army officer of the American Revolutionary War (d. 1780) |
| 2nd of May 1772 | BIRTHDAY | Novalis, German writer (d. 1801) |
| 2nd of May 1773 | BIRTHDAY | Henrik Steffens, Norwegian philosopher (d. 1845) |
| 2nd of May 1802 | BIRTHDAY | Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (d. 1870) |
| 2nd of May 1806 | BIRTHDAY | Catherine Laboure, French visionary and saint (d. 1876) |
| 2nd of May 1808 | BIRTHDAY | Emma Wedgwood, English naturalist, wife of Charles Darwin, (d. 1896) |
| 2nd of May 1810 | BIRTHDAY | Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer (d. 1874) |
| 2nd of May 1828 | BIRTHDAY | Desire Charnay, French archaeologist (d. 1915) |
| 2nd of May 1843 | BIRTHDAY | Elijah McCoy, Canadian-born Inventor (d. 1929) |
| 2nd of May 1859 | BIRTHDAY | Jerome Klapka Jerome, English writer (d. 1927) |
| 2nd of May 1860 | BIRTHDAY | Theodor Herzl, Austrian journalist/Zionist (d. 1904) |
| 2nd of May 1865 | BIRTHDAY | Clyde Fitch, American playwright (d. 1909) |
| 2nd of May 1867 | BIRTHDAY | Giuseppe Morello, Sicilian-American gangster (d. 1930) |
| 2nd of May 1873 | BIRTHDAY | Jurgis Baltrusaitis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1944) |
| 2nd of May 1879 | BIRTHDAY | James F. Byrnes, American statesman, and Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1972) |
| 2nd of May 1881 | BIRTHDAY | Alexander Kerensky, Russian politician (d. 1970) |
| 2nd of May 1885 | BIRTHDAY | Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist (d. 1966) |
| 2nd of May 1886 | BIRTHDAY | Gottfried Benn, German author (d. 1956) |
| 2nd of May 1887 | BIRTHDAY | Eddie Collins, American baseball player (d. 1951) |
| 2nd of May 1887 | BIRTHDAY | Vernon Castle, English dancer (d. 1918) |
| 2nd of May 1889 | BIRTHDAY | Ki Hajar Dewantara, Indonesian education pioneer and national hero (d. 1959) |
| 2nd of May 1890 | BIRTHDAY | E. E. Smith, American writer (d. 1965) |
| 2nd of May 1892 | BIRTHDAY | Manfred von Richthofen, German World War I pilot : the Red Baron (d. 1918) |
| 2nd of May 1894 | BIRTHDAY | Joseph Henry Woodger, British theoretical biologist (d. 1981) |
| 2nd of May 1895 | BIRTHDAY | Lorenz Hart, American lyricist (d. 1943) |
| 2nd of May 1896 | BIRTHDAY | Helen of Greece and Denmark, queen of Romania (d. 1982) |
| 2nd of May 1897 | BIRTHDAY | J. Fred Coots, American songwriter (d. 1985) |
| 2nd of May 1898 | BIRTHDAY | Henry Hall, British bandleader (d. 1989) |
| 2nd of May 1903 | BIRTHDAY | Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and author (d. 1998) |
| 2nd of May 1906 | BIRTHDAY | Philippe Halsman, American photographer (d. 1979) |
| 2nd of May 1906 | BIRTHDAY | Aileen Riggin, American swimmer (d. 2002) |
| 2nd of May 1907 | BIRTHDAY | Pinky Lee, American vaudeville performer (d. 1993) |
| 2nd of May 1910 | BIRTHDAY | Alexander Bonnyman, U.S. Marine (d. 1943) |
| 2nd of May 1912 | BIRTHDAY | Axel Casar Springer, German publisher (d. 1985) |
| 2nd of May 1913 | BIRTHDAY | Nigel Patrick, English actor (d. 1981) |
| 2nd of May 1915 | BIRTHDAY | Doris Fisher, American songwriter (d. 2003) |
| 2nd of May 1915 | BIRTHDAY | Peggy Mount, English actress (d. 2001) |
| 2nd of May 1917 | BIRTHDAY | Albert Castelyns, Belgian water polo player and bobsledder |
| 2nd of May 1920 | BIRTHDAY | Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor (d. 2004) |
| 2nd of May 1920 | BIRTHDAY | Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian writer and ecological activist (d. 2000) |
| 2nd of May 1921 | BIRTHDAY | Satyajit Ray, Indian director (d. 1992) |
| 2nd of May 1922 | BIRTHDAY | Serge Reggiani, Italian-born French singer and actor (d. 2004) |
| 2nd of May 1922 | BIRTHDAY | A.M. Rosenthal, Canadian-born newspaper editor (d. 2006) |
| 2nd of May 1924 | BIRTHDAY | Jamal Abro, Sindhi writer (d. 2004) |
| 2nd of May 1924 | BIRTHDAY | Theodore Bikel, Austrian-born actor and singer |
| 2nd of May 1925 | BIRTHDAY | John Neville, English theatre and film actor |
| 2nd of May 1925 | BIRTHDAY | Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor (d. 2007) |
| 2nd of May 1926 | BIRTHDAY | Gerard D. Levesque, Quebec politician (d. 1993) |
| 2nd of May 1927 | BIRTHDAY | Ray Barrett, Australian actor (d. 2009) |
| 2nd of May 1928 | BIRTHDAY | Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, third king of Bhutan (d. 1972) |
| 2nd of May 1929 | BIRTHDAY | Edouard Balladur, French Prime Minister |
| 2nd of May 1929 | BIRTHDAY | Link Wray, American guitarist (d. 2005) |
| 2nd of May 1930 | BIRTHDAY | Marco Pannella, Italian politician and activist |
| 2nd of May 1932 | BIRTHDAY | Maury Allen, American sportswriter |
| 2nd of May 1935 | BIRTHDAY | Luis Suarez Miramontes, Spanish footballer and manager |
| 2nd of May 1935 | BIRTHDAY | King Faisal II of Iraq (d. 1958) |
| 2nd of May 1935 | BIRTHDAY | Lance LeGault, American actor |
| 2nd of May 1936 | BIRTHDAY | Engelbert Humperdinck, Indian-born singer |
| 2nd of May 1936 | BIRTHDAY | Michael Rabin, American violinist (d. 1972) |
| 2nd of May 1937 | BIRTHDAY | Lorenzo Music, American actor (d. 2001) |
| 2nd of May 1938 | BIRTHDAY | Paramount Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (d. 1996) |
| 2nd of May 1939 | BIRTHDAY | Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist |
| 2nd of May 1941 | BIRTHDAY | Clay Carroll, American baseball player |
| 2nd of May 1941 | BIRTHDAY | Tony Adamowicz, American racing driver |
| 2nd of May 1942 | BIRTHDAY | Jacques Rogge, Belgian International Olympic Committee president |
| 2nd of May 1945 | BIRTHDAY | Sarah Weddington, American attorney |
| 2nd of May 1945 | BIRTHDAY | Judge Dread, English musician (d. 1998) |
| 2nd of May 1945 | BIRTHDAY | Gene Deckerhoff, American sports announcer |
| 2nd of May 1945 | BIRTHDAY | Bianca Jagger, Nicaraguan socialite |
| 2nd of May 1946 | BIRTHDAY | Lesley Gore, American singer |
| 2nd of May 1946 | BIRTHDAY | David Suchet, English actor |
| 2nd of May 1948 | BIRTHDAY | Larry Gatlin, American musician |
| 2nd of May 1949 | BIRTHDAY | Alan Titchmarsh, English television presenter |
| 2nd of May 1950 | BIRTHDAY | Duncan Gay, Australian politician |
| 2nd of May 1950 | BIRTHDAY | Lou Gramm, American vocalist (Foreigner) |
| 2nd of May 1952 | BIRTHDAY | Christine Baranski, American actress |
| 2nd of May 1952 | BIRTHDAY | Mari Natsuki, Japanese singer, dancer and actress |
| 2nd of May 1953 | BIRTHDAY | Valery Gergiev, Russian-born conductor |
| 2nd of May 1954 | BIRTHDAY | Stephen Venables, British mountaineer |
| 2nd of May 1954 | BIRTHDAY | Angela Bofill, American singer songwriter |
| 2nd of May 1954 | BIRTHDAY | Roberta Pedon, American glamour model (d. 1982) |
| 2nd of May 1955 | BIRTHDAY | Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer |
| 2nd of May 1956 | BIRTHDAY | David Rhodes, English guitarist |
| 2nd of May 1956 | BIRTHDAY | Amir Mokri, Iranian-born American cinematographer |
| 2nd of May 1957 | BIRTHDAY | Michael Coyle, American Composer |
| 2nd of May 1958 | BIRTHDAY | David O'Leary, Irish football manager and player |
| 2nd of May 1959 | BIRTHDAY | Tony Wakeford, English musician (Sol Invictus) |
| 2nd of May 1959 | BIRTHDAY | Alan Best, Canadian animation director and producer |
| 2nd of May 1961 | BIRTHDAY | Steve James, English snooker player |
| 2nd of May 1961 | BIRTHDAY | Stephen Daldry, English film director |
| 2nd of May 1961 | BIRTHDAY | Phil Vickery, English celebrity chef |
| 2nd of May 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Elizabeth Berridge, American actress |
| 2nd of May 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Jimmy White, English snooker player |
| 2nd of May 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Mitzi Kapture, American actress |
| 2nd of May 1962 | BIRTHDAY | Ray Traylor, American wrestler (d. 2004) |
| 2nd of May 1965 | BIRTHDAY | Felix Jose, Dominican baseball player |
| 2nd of May 1966 | BIRTHDAY | Belinda Stronach, Canadian politician |
| 2nd of May 1967 | BIRTHDAY | Bengt Akerblom, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1995) |
| 2nd of May 1967 | BIRTHDAY | Mika Brzezinski, American journalist |
| 2nd of May 1968 | BIRTHDAY | Hikaru Midorikawa, Japanese voice actor |
| 2nd of May 1968 | BIRTHDAY | Ziana Zain, Malaysian singer and actress |
| 2nd of May 1968 | BIRTHDAY | Jeff Agoos, American footballer |
| 2nd of May 1969 | BIRTHDAY | Brian Lara, Trinidadian West Indies cricketer |
| 2nd of May 1971 | BIRTHDAY | Musashimaru Koyo, American Samoan sumo wrestler, the 67th Yokozuna |
| 2nd of May 1972 | BIRTHDAY | Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, American professional wrestler and actor |
| 2nd of May 1972 | BIRTHDAY | Pandora Boxx, American drag queen and reality TV personality |
| 2nd of May 1972 | BIRTHDAY | Paul Adcock, English footballer |
| 2nd of May 1973 | BIRTHDAY | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German film director and screenwriter |
| 2nd of May 1974 | BIRTHDAY | Horacio Carbonari, Argentine former footballer |
| 2nd of May 1974 | BIRTHDAY | Gar?ar Thor Cortes, Icelandic tenor |
| 2nd of May 1974 | BIRTHDAY | Andy Johnson, Welsh footballer |
| 2nd of May 1975 | BIRTHDAY | David Beckham, English footballer |
| 2nd of May 1975 | BIRTHDAY | Eva Santolaria, Spanish actress |
| 2nd of May 1977 | BIRTHDAY | Luke Hudson, American baseball player |
| 2nd of May 1977 | BIRTHDAY | Fredrik Malm, Swedish politician |
| 2nd of May 1977 | BIRTHDAY | Jenna von Oy, American actress |
| 2nd of May 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Steve Bays, Canadian musician |
| 2nd of May 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Melvin Ely, American basketball player |
| 2nd of May 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Intars Busulis, Latvian singer, trombone player |
| 2nd of May 1978 | BIRTHDAY | Mike Weaver, Canadian ice hockey player |
| 2nd of May 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Ioannis Kanotidis, Greek footballer |
| 2nd of May 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Jason Chimera, Canadian ice hockey player |
| 2nd of May 1979 | BIRTHDAY | Roman Lyashenko, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2003) |
| 2nd of May 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Tim Borowski, German footballer |
| 2nd of May 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder |
| 2nd of May 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Troy Murphy, American basketball player |
| 2nd of May 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Brad Richards, Canadian ice hockey player |
| 2nd of May 1980 | BIRTHDAY | Zat Knight, English footballer |
| 2nd of May 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Tiago Mendes, Portuguese footballer |
| 2nd of May 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Matt Murray, English footballer |
| 2nd of May 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Chris Kirkland, English footballer |
| 2nd of May 1981 | BIRTHDAY | Robert Buckley, American actor |
| 2nd of May 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Lorie, French singer |
| 2nd of May 1982 | BIRTHDAY | Johan Botha, South African cricketer |
| 2nd of May 1983 | BIRTHDAY | Christa Rigozzi, Swiss model |
| 2nd of May 1983 | BIRTHDAY | Daniel Sordo, Spanish rally driver |
| 2nd of May 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Thabo Sefolosha, American basketball player |
| 2nd of May 1984 | BIRTHDAY | Saulius Mikoliunas, Lithuanian footballer |
| 2nd of May 1985 | BIRTHDAY | Lily Allen, English singer and songwriter |
| 2nd of May 1985 | BIRTHDAY | Kyle Busch, American racing driver |
| 2nd of May 1985 | BIRTHDAY | Sarah Hughes, American figure skater |
| 2nd of May 1985 | BIRTHDAY | Jarrod Saltalamacchia, American baseball player |
| 2nd of May 1985 | BIRTHDAY | Ashley Harkleroad, American tennis player |
| 2nd of May 1985 | BIRTHDAY | David Nugent, English footballer |
| 2nd of May 1986 | BIRTHDAY | James Kirk, Canadian actor |
| 2nd of May 1986 | BIRTHDAY | Emily Hart, American actress |
| 2nd of May 1987 | BIRTHDAY | Nana Kitade, Japanese singer |
| 2nd of May 1987 | BIRTHDAY | Kris Russell, Canadian ice hockey player |
| 2nd of May 1988 | BIRTHDAY | Neftali Feliz, Dominican baseball player |
| 2nd of May 1988 | BIRTHDAY | Lara Liang, Taiwanese-American Singer |
| 2nd of May 1990 | BIRTHDAY | Paul George, American basketball player |
| 2nd of May 1990 | BIRTHDAY | Kay Panabaker, American actress |
| 2nd of May 0373 | DEATH | Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria (Born 298) |
| 2nd of May 0756 | DEATH | Emperor Shomu, Emperor of Japan (Born 701) |
| 2nd of May 0907 | DEATH | Boris I of Bulgaria |
| 2nd of May 1219 | DEATH | Leo I, King of Armenia (Born 1150) |
| 2nd of May 1230 | DEATH | William de Braose, Norman-English nobleman (Born 1197) |
| 2nd of May 1300 | DEATH | Blanche of Artois, regent of Navarre (Born 1248) |
| 2nd of May 1450 | DEATH | William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English military leader (Born 1396) |
| 2nd of May 1519 | DEATH | Leonardo da Vinci, Italian inventor and painter (Born 1452) |
| 2nd of May 1564 | DEATH | Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (Born 1500) |
| 2nd of May 1627 | DEATH | Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, Italian composer (Born 1560) |
| 2nd of May 1667 | DEATH | George Wither, English writer (Born 1588) |
| 2nd of May 1683 | DEATH | Stjepan Gradic, Croatian philosopher and scientist (Born 1613) |
| 2nd of May 1711 | DEATH | Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English statesman (Born 1641) |
| 2nd of May 1802 | DEATH | Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch statesman (Born 1762) |
| 2nd of May 1810 | DEATH | Rev. Dr. Henry Jerome de Salis, divine (Born 1740) |
| 2nd of May 1819 | DEATH | Mary Moser, English painter (Born 1744) |
| 2nd of May 1857 | DEATH | Alfred de Musset, French writer (Born 1810) |
| 2nd of May 1864 | DEATH | Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer (Born 1791) |
| 2nd of May 1880 | DEATH | Eberhard Anheuser, German soap and candle maker and father-in-law of Adolphus Busch, founder of the Anheuser-Busch Company (Born 1805) |
| 2nd of May 1927 | DEATH | Ernest Starling, British physiologist (Born 1866) |
| 2nd of May 1945 | DEATH | Martin Bormann, Nazi official (Born 1900) |
| 2nd of May 1945 | DEATH | Ludwig Stumpfegger, German SS doctor (Born 1910) |
| 2nd of May 1945 | DEATH | Joe Corbett, baseball player (Born 1875) |
| 2nd of May 1947 | DEATH | Dorothea Binz, Nazi war criminal (Born 1920) |
| 2nd of May 1957 | DEATH | Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator (Born 1908) |
| 2nd of May 1960 | DEATH | Caryl Chessman, American robber and rapist (Born 1921) |
| 2nd of May 1964 | DEATH | Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born politician (Born 1879) |
| 2nd of May 1969 | DEATH | Franz von Papen, Chancellor of Germany (Born 1879) |
| 2nd of May 1972 | DEATH | J. Edgar Hoover, American director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Born 1895) |
| 2nd of May 1979 | DEATH | Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (Born 1903) |
| 2nd of May 1980 | DEATH | George Pal, Hungarian-born film director (Born 1908) |
| 2nd of May 1980 | DEATH | Clarrie Grimmett, Australian cricketer (Born 1891) |
| 2nd of May 1983 | DEATH | Norm Van Brocklin, American football star (Born 1926) |
| 2nd of May 1984 | DEATH | Jack Barry, television game show producer and host (Born 1918) |
| 2nd of May 1985 | DEATH | Attilio Bettega, Italian rallydriver (Born 1951) |
| 2nd of May 1985 | DEATH | Larry Clinton, American trumpeter and bandleader (Born 1909) |
| 2nd of May 1986 | DEATH | Sergio Cresto, American rally co-driver (Born 1956) |
| 2nd of May 1986 | DEATH | Henri Toivonen, Finnish rallydriver (Born 1956) |
| 2nd of May 1989 | DEATH | Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic Cardinal (Born 1906) |
| 2nd of May 1989 | DEATH | Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (Born 1902) |
| 2nd of May 1990 | DEATH | David Rappaport, English actor (Born 1951) |
| 2nd of May 1991 | DEATH | Ronald McKie, Australian author (Born 1909) |
| 2nd of May 1992 | DEATH | Wilbur Mills, American politician (Born 1909) |
| 2nd of May 1995 | DEATH | Michael Hordern, English actor (Born 1911) |
| 2nd of May 1997 | DEATH | John Carew Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist, Nobel laureate (Born 1903) |
| 2nd of May 1997 | DEATH | Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator (Born 1921) |
| 2nd of May 1998 | DEATH | Justin Fashanu, English footballer (Born 1961) |
| 2nd of May 1998 | DEATH | Hideto "hide" Matsumoto, Japanese musician (Born 1964) |
| 2nd of May 1998 | DEATH | Kevin Lloyd, British actor (Born 1949) |
| 2nd of May 1998 | DEATH | Gene Raymond, American actor (Born 1908) |
| 2nd of May 1999 | DEATH | Oliver Reed, English actor (Born 1938) |
| 2nd of May 2001 | DEATH | Ted Rogers, British comedian (Born 1935) |
| 2nd of May 2001 | DEATH | Gina Mastrogiacomo, American actress (Born 1961) |
| 2nd of May 2002 | DEATH | John Nathan-Turner, English television producer (Born 1947) |
| 2nd of May 2002 | DEATH | W. T. Tutte, English-born codebreaker (Born 1917) |
| 2nd of May 2005 | DEATH | Wee Kim Wee, 4th President of Singapore (Born 1915) |
| 2nd of May 2005 | DEATH | Kenneth B. Clark, American psychologist (Born 1914) |
| 2nd of May 2006 | DEATH | Louis Rukeyser, American columnist (Born 1933) |
| 2nd of May 2007 | DEATH | Brad McGann, New Zealand film director and screenwriter (Born 1964) |
| 2nd of May 2008 | DEATH | Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (Born 1940) |
| 2nd of May 2009 | DEATH | Jack Kemp, American politician, former American football player (Born 1935) |
| 2nd of May 2009 | DEATH | Kiyoshiro Imawano, Japanese musician (Born 1951) |
| 2nd of May 2010 | DEATH | Kama Chinen, Japanese citizen and world's oldest living person (Born 1895) |
| 2nd of May 2010 | DEATH | Lynn Redgrave, British actress (Born 1943) |
| 2nd of May 2010 | DEATH | Moshe Hirsch, Jerusalem based anti-Zionist Neturei Karta rabbi (Born 1923) |
| 2nd of May 2011 | DEATH | Osama bin Laden, Saudi terrorist and al-Qaeda leader (Born 1957) |