Today In History May 2

HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY ON THIS DATE

1519 - Artist Leonardo da Vinci dies at Cloux, France.

1526 - Protestant League of Germany is formed.

1536 - England's Queen Anne Boleyn is sent to Tower of London, where she eventually is beheaded.

1809 - People of Madrid rise against invading French, beginning six-year War of Independence.

1813 - Napoleon Bonaparte defeats Prussian and Russian armies at Lutzen, Germany.

1895 - British South Africa Company territory south of Zambesi is organised as Rhodesia.

1933 - Adolf Hitler abolishes trade unions in Germany, thus establishing his iron grip on the country.

1945 - The Russian victory in the Battle of Berlin signals the end of the Second World War in Europe.

1953 - Jordan's Hussein ascends the throne on his 18th birthday.

1957 - Death of controversial US Senator Joseph McCarthy.

1960 - Convicted sex offender and best-selling author Caryl Chessman is executed at San Quentin Prison in California.

1965 - The first satellite television program links nine countries and over 300 million viewers.

1967 - British Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labour government decides to seek membership in European Common Market.

1972 - Death of J Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI for 48 years.

1982 - Argentine cruiser General Belgrano is sunk by a British submarine, killing 368 Argentine sailors in the war over possession of the Falkland Islands.

1994 - Nelson Mandela and the ANC claim victory in the first democratic election in South Africa.

1997 - Tony Blair becomes Britain's youngest prime minister in 185 years after his Labour Party crushes John Major's long-reigning Conservatives in a landslide.

2002 - Israeli troops and tanks depart the West Bank city of Ramallah, freeing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after more than a month of confinement in his compound.

2008 - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai wins 47.9 per cent of the vote in Zimbabwe's presidential elections - not enough to avoid a runoff against President Robert Mugabe.

2010 - European governments and the International Monetary Fund commit to pull Greece back from the brink of default, agreeing on 110 billion euros in emergency loans on the condition Athens makes painful budget cuts and tax increases.

2011 - Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11 terror attacks, is killed in his hideout in Pakistan in a firefight with US forces.

2014 - A landslide triggered by heavy rain buries large sections of a remote northeastern Afghanistan village, killing at least 350 people and tour hà giang leaving more than 2000 missing. NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher resigns over an ICAC investigation into a scheme to funnel illegal donations to NSW Liberal Party

2015 - Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William, gives birth to her second child, Princess Charlotte.

2018 - Emmanuel Macron becomes just the second French president to visit Australia, asserting France's commitment to the Pacific.

2019 - Tony Abbott and Zali Steggall go head-to-head in a televised debate for the seat of Warringah, with the former prime minister warning that a "protest vote" for the Independent candidate could lead to a Labor government.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (1729-1796); Theodor Herzl, Hungarian journalist, founder of Zionism (1860-1904); Baron Manfred von Richthofen, World War I German fighter ace (1892-1918); Alan Marshall, Australian author (1902-1984); Dr Benjamin Spock, US author-activist (1903-1998); Bing Crosby, kynghidongduong.vn US actor-singer (1904-1977); Peggy Mount, British actress (1916-2001); King Faisal II, last king of Iraq (1935-1958); Engelbert Humperdinck, British singer (1936-); Bianca Jagger, tour hà giang từ hà nội Nicaraguan actor and socialite (1945-); Leslie Gore, US singer (1946-2015); Larry Gatlin, US singer-songwriter (1948-); Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer (1955-); Brian Lara, West Indies cricketer (1969-); Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock), US actor and former wrestler (1972-); David Beckham, English footballer (1975-); Lily Allen, English singer and songwriter (1985-)

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

What experience and history teach is this: that people and governments have never learned anything from history - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher (1770-1831).