Important Events From This day in History – 2 May

Today in History

• 2011 Osama bin Laden is killed by a U.S. commando

  Bin Laden founded al-Qaeda, a militant group that claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on US targets.

• 1997 Tony Blair becomes British Prime Minister, ending 18 years of Conservative Party reign

  Blair’s Labor Party won the general election by a landslide. Many of his early fans were disappointed when he supported the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003.

• 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.

• 1982 The British Royal Navy sinks the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano

  The attack claimed 323 lives, accounting for more than half of all Argentine casualties during the Falkland War. The British tabloid newspaper The Sun responded to the controversial attack with one of its most famous headlines: “Gotcha.”

• 1952 The jet age begins with the first scheduled flight of the De Havilland Comet 1

  A Comet 1 crashed due to structural problems exactly one year after its maiden flight from London to Johannesburg, killing 43 people. A series of similar mishaps quickly grounded the entire Comet fleet.