Loch Ness Monster

1933

Loch Ness “Monster” sighted for the first time, igniting the modern legend

Born on This Day

Catherine Ii (1729-96)

Catherine the Great

1729 - 1796

Empress of Russia who overthrew her husband, Peter III, and led a series of Enlightenment-based reforms in the 18th century.

"Black Adam" Madrid Photocall

Dwayne Johnson

1972 -

Pro wrestler and actor better known as The Rock. Exuded athleticism and charisma in the "Fast & Furious" and "Jumanji" franchises.

Hong Kong Team v Inter Miami - Preseason Friendly

David Beckham

1975 -

First British soccer player to win league titles in four different countries. Married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham.

Catherine the Great

Getty Images

Dwayne Johnson

WireImage

David Beckham

Getty Images

1885

MAY

2

Good Housekeeping magazine debuts, vowing to "produce and perpetuate perfection." It quickly becomes the gold standard for home tips, recipes and that coveted seal of approval.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on May 2nd

1670

King Charles II grants charter to Hudson’s Bay Company

King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company, made up of the group of French explorers who opened the lucrative North American fur trade to London merchants. The charter conferred on them not only a trading monopoly but also effective control over the vast region surrounding North America’s Hudson […]

1:12m read read

1885

“Good Housekeeping” goes on sale for the first time

On May 2, 1885, Good Housekeeping magazine debuts in Holyoke, Massachusetts with this bold stated mission: “To produce and perpetuate perfection—or as near unto perfection as may be attained in the household.” And an American institution begins, with a place in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. From its beginning until 1900, Good Housekeeping published many […]

2:32m read read

1918

GM buys Chevrolet

On May 2, 1918, General Motors Corporation (GM), which will become the world’s largest automotive firm, acquires Chevrolet Motor Company. GM had been founded a decade earlier by William C. “Billy” Durant, a former carriage maker from Flint, Michigan, whose Durant-Dort Carriage Company had taken control of the ailing Buick Motor Company. On September 16, […]

2:14m read read

1918

Allies resolve argument over whether to deploy U.S. troops on Western Front

On May 2, 1918, in a conference of Allied military leaders at Abbeville, France, the U.S., Britain and France argue over the entrance of American troops into World War I. On March 23, two days after the launch of a major German offensive in northern France, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George telegraphed the British […]

1924

Man arrested in grisly murder that makes rubber gloves standard crime-scene equipment

Patrick Mahon is arrested on suspicion of murder after showing up at the Waterloo train station in London to claim his bag. He quickly confessed that the bloody knife and case inside were connected to the death of his mistress, Emily Kaye. Mahon then directed the Scotland Yard detectives to a particularly grisly scene in […]

1:46m read read

1945

German troops surrender to Allies in Italy, while Berlin surrenders to Russia’s Zhukov

On May 2, 1945, approximately 1 million German soldiers lay down their arms as the terms of the German unconditional surrender, signed at Caserta on April 29, comes into effect. Early this same day, Russian Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov accepts the surrender of the German capital. The Red Army takes 134,000 German soldiers prisoner.

1949

Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama

On May 2, 1949, New York playwright Arthur Miller wins a Pulitzer Prize in Drama for “Death of a Salesman,” the most famous work of his career. Miller describes the story as “the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it” while pursuing the elusive American Dream. The play, which premiered on […]

1:48m read read

1957

Senator Joseph McCarthy dies

Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) succumbs to illness exacerbated by alcoholism and passes away at age 48. McCarthy had been a key figure in the anticommunist hysteria popularly known as the “Red Scare” that engulfed the United States in the years following World War II. McCarthy was born in a small town in Wisconsin in 1908. […]

2:10m read read

1960

Dick Clark survives the Payola scandal

On May 2, 1960, Dick Clark concludes his second day of testimony in the so-called Payola hearings—testimony that both saved and altered the course of his career. If Alan Freed, the disk jockey who gave rock and roll its name, was Payola’s biggest casualty, then Dick Clark was its most famous survivor. It may be […]

1:54m read read

1963

More than 1,000 schoolchildren protest segregation in the Children’s Crusade

On May 2, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, more than 1,000 Black school children march 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. Martin Luther King Jr., […]

1972

J. Edgar Hoover dies, ending a five-decade era at the FBI

After nearly five decades as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover dies, leaving the powerful government agency without the administrator who had been largely responsible for its existence and shape. Educated as a lawyer and a librarian, Hoover joined the Department of Justice in 1917 and within two years had […]

3:16m read read

1974

Former Vice President Spiro Agnew disbarred for tax evasion

On May 2, 1974, the Maryland Court of Appeals orders the disbarment of former U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew, seven months after his no-contest plea to a tax-evasion charge in the United States District Court in Baltimore. In a strongly worded, 13-page opinion, Maryland’s highest court writes that disbarment is an automatic consequence for a […]

1:46m read read

2011

Osama bin Laden killed by U.S. forces

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, is killed by U.S. forces 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 […]

3:08m read read

Why Did US Forces Dump Osama Bin Laden’s Body at Sea?

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