1885: A private company called Congo Free State is formed as a money-making scheme by King Leopold II of Belgium. The territory claimed by the company will one day be the Democratic Republic of Congo. Congolese who resist subjugation and forced labour will be maimed, tortured, and killed and their villages burned. Congo Free State will be characterised by such cruelty and exploitation that the international community will call on the Belgium government to take over the administration of the territory.
1889: Abyssinian Emperor Menelik II and Italy sign the Treaty of Wichale, giving Italy the northern half of Ethiopia’s Tigray province. Ethiopia will receive money and guns.
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1924: A grisly murder makes rubber gloves standard equipment at crime scenes.
1952: The jet age begins with the first scheduled flight of the De Havilland Comet 1. Precisely one year after the maiden flight from London to Johannesburg, a Comet 1 crashed due to structural problems, killing 43 people. A series of similar accidents soon led to the grounding of the entire Comet fleet.
1963: On May 2, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, more than 1,000 Black school children marched through the city in a demonstration against segregation. The goal of the non-violent demonstration, which became known as the “Children’s Crusade” and “Children’s March,” was to provoke the city’s civic and business leaders to agree to desegregate.
1982: The British Royal Navy sinks the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano
323 lives were lost in the attack, more than half of the total number of Argentinian casualties during the Falklands War. The British Sun tabloid newspaper commented on the controversial attack with one of its most notorious headlines: “Gotcha”.
1989: The Iron Curtain begins to crumble as Hungary dismantles its border fence. By gradually opening its border to Austria, Hungary facilitated the escape of hundreds of East Germans in the months before the Berlin Wall fell.
1994: Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the wake of South Africa’s first democratic elections; President F.W. de Klerk acknowledged defeat.
1997: Tony Blair becomes British Prime Minister, ending 18 years of Conservative Party reign. Blair’s Labor Party achieved a landslide victory in the general elections, and became at age 43 Britain’s youngest prime minister in 185 years. Many of his early fans were bitterly disappointed when he supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
2000: U.S. President Bill Clinton announced that highly accurate GPS would be made available to the public; the satellite signals had previously been degraded for non military use.
2011: Osama bin Laden is killed by a U.S. commando. Bin Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda, a militant group that claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks on U.S. targets on September 11, 2001, during a raid on his compound hideout in Pakistan. The notorious, 54-year-old leader of Al Qaeda, the terrorist network of Islamic extremists, had been the target of a nearly decade-long international manhunt.
The raid began around 1 a.m. local time when 23 U.S. Navy SEALs in two Black Hawk helicopters descended on the compound in Abbottabad,
2018: Attorney Rudy Giuliani said President Donald Trump had reimbursed his lawyer for $130,000 in hush money paid to a porn actress days before the 2016 presidential election, comments that appeared to contradict Trump’s past claims that he didn’t know the source of the money.
BIRTHS ON THIS DAY: May 2
Donatella Versace, 69 years
Donatella Francesca Versace, sometimes simply referred to mononymously as Donatella was born on 2 May 1955, is an Italian fashion designer, businesswoman, socialite, and model.
Lily Allen, 39 years
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen.
Chidinma, 33 years
Chidinma Ekile, who is known professionally as Chidinma was born on 2 May 1991. She is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress. A native of Imo State, Chidinma was born in Ketu, Kosofe, Lagos State. In 2010, she gained prominence after winning the third season of Project Fame West Africa.
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