Today in History - History - May 2nd

1783Architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant is promoted by brevet to Major of Engineers in recognition of his service to American liberty

2011Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man is killed by United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

2000President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.

1949Arthur Miller wins Pulitzer Prize for "Death of a Salesman"

1939Lou Gehrig ends 2,130 consecutive game streak, Yanks beat Tigers 22-2

1906Tsar Nicolas II of Russia dismisses his moderate Prime Minister Witte and appoints Ivan Goremykin, a conservative bureaucrat

1997Donald Trump & Marla Maples announce they are separating

1941Ted Williams lowest average (.308) in year he hit over .400

1965Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Shreveport Kiwanis Golf Invitational

1670King Charles II gives royal charter to the Hudson's Bay Company

1985Lily Allen, English singer and songwriter

1972Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, American professional wrestler and actor

1729Catherine the Great [Catherine II], Stettin, Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, Empress of Russia (1762-96)

1903Benjamin Spock, New Haven, Connecticut, American pediatrician (Common Sense Book of Baby Care)

1797Abraham Gesner, Cornwallis Nova Scotia, Canadian geologist (inventor of kerosene)

1892Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen [The Red Baron], Breslau, German World War I fighter ace

2009Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal (32) weds film and stage actor Peter Sarsgaard (38) in a small chapel in Brindisi, Italy

1946"Rebecca" actress Joan Fontaine (28) weds producer and actor William Dozier (38)

1957Joseph McCarthy, anti-communist US senator (R-Wisc), dies at 48

1519Leonardo da Vinci, artist/scientist, dies at 67

2011Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda and 'the most wanted man in the world' (b. 1957)

1972J. Edgar Hoover, first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1924-72) dies at 77