Today in History for May 2002

Months in 2002: January February March April June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 23 of 23

2nd - Marad massacre of eight Hindus near Palakkad in Kerala.
3rd - A military MiG-21 aircraft crashes into the Bank of Rajasthan in India, killing eight.
4th - Barry Bonds hits his 400th home run as a Giant, leading his team to a 3-0 win over Cincinnati. Bonds is the first player to hit 400 homers for one team and 100 with another
6th - Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is shot and killed by an animal rights activist.
7th - A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
9th - The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries.
9th - In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb explodes during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130.
10th - Anaheim Angels crush the Chicago White Sox 19-0. The Angels join the 1923 Indians, 1939 Yankees and 1950 Red Sox as the only teams to beat two opponents by 19 or more runs in the same season
11th - Last performance of the musical Cats in London's West End.
11th - Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands unveils the Man With Two Hats monument in Ottawa and Apeldoorn (May 2), 2000, symbolically linking both the Netherlands and Canada for their assistance throughout the Second World War.
12th - Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
14th - Ten members of the Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition invade the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory of Australia.
20th - The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself was the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
22nd - In Washington, DC, the remains of the missing Chandra Levy are found in Rock Creek Park.
22nd - American civil rights movement: a jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
23rd - The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.
24th - Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
25th - A train crash in Tenga, Mozambique kills 197 people.
25th - China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.
Dictator Fidel Castro 26th - The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars.
26th - Álvaro Uribe becomes President of Colombia.
28th - NATO declares Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance.
31st - The New Jersey Nets defeat the Boston Celtics 96-88 in Game 6 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Championship, winning the series 4 games to 2 to advance to their first NBA Finals appearance.

Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 2 of 2

24th - Princess Martha Louise of Norway (30) weds author Ari Behn (29) in Trondheim
31st - "NYPD Blue" actress Sharon Lawrence (30) weds doctor Thomas Apostle at Saint Sophia Cathedral in Los Angeles

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 35 of 35

2nd - John Nathan-Turner, English television producer (b. 1947)
2nd - W. T. Tutte, English-born codebreaker (b. 1917)
3rd - Barbara Castle, British politician (b. 1910)
3rd - Evgeny Svetlanov, Russian composer and pianist (b. 1928)
5th - Hugo Banzer, Bolivian dictator (b. 1926)
5th - Paul Klipsch, American engineer, noted for his loudspeaker designs. (b. 1904)
5th - George Sidney, American film director (b. 1916)
6th - Otis Blackwell, American pianist, singer and songwriter (b. 1932)
6th - Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (b. 1948)
7th - Seattle Slew, American racehorse (b. 1974)
7th - Kevyn Aucoin, Makeup Artist and Photographer (b. 1962)
9th - Dan Devine, American football coach (b. 1924)
10th - Lynda Lyon Block, convicted murderer (b. 1948)
10th - Yves Robert, French actor, screenwriter and director (b. 1920)
11th - Joseph Bonanno, Italian-born gangster (b. 1905)
11th - Renaude Lapointe, French Canadian journalist and senator (b. 1912)
12th - Erich Kulas, ECW Wrestler (Mass Transit)
13th - Valeri Lobanovsky, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
13th - Ruth Cracknell, Australian actress (b. 1925)
16th - Alec Campbell, the last surviving ANZAC (b. 1899)
16th - Big Dick Dudley, American professional wrestler (b. 1968)
17th - Dave Berg, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
17th - Sharon Sheeley, American songwriter (b. 1940)
17th - Ladislao Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer (b. 1927)
18th - Davey Boy Smith, English professional wrestler (b. 1962)
19th - John Gorton, nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
19th - Walter Lord, American writer (b. 1917)
20th - Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
21st - Niki de Saint Phalle, French artist (b. 1930)
23rd - Sam Snead, American golfer (b. 1912)
24th - Wallace Markfield, American writer (b. 1926)
25th - Pat Coombs, English actress (b. 1926)
26th - Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
28th - Jean Berger, German-born composer (b. 1909)
29th - Mildred Benson, American writer (b. 1905)