Today In History

Today is Monday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2022. There are 243 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1994: Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the wake of South Africa’s first democratic elections; President F.W. de Klerk acknowledged defeat.

ON THIS DATE ›

1863: During the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Virginia; he died eight days later.

› 1890: The Oklahoma Territory was organized.

› 1927: The U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, upheld 8-1 a Virginia law allowing the forced sterilization of people to promote the “health of the patient and the welfare of society.”

› 1932: Jack Benny’s first radio show, sponsored by Canada Dry, made its debut on the NBC Blue Network.

› 1941: General Mills began shipping its new cereal, “Cheerioats,” to six test markets. (The cereal was later renamed “Cheerios.”)

› 1970: Jockey Diane Crump became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby; she finished in 15th place aboard Fathom. (The winning horse was Dust Commander.)

› 1997: Tony Blair, whose new Labour Party crushed John Major’s long-reigning Conservatives in a national election, became at age 43 Britain’s youngest prime minister in 185 years.

› 2005: Pfc. Lynndie England, the young woman pictured in some of the most notorious Abu Ghraib photos, pleaded guilty at Fort Hood, Texas, to mistreating prisoners. (A judge later threw out the plea agreement; England was then convicted in a court-martial and received a three-year sentence, of which she served half.)

› 2010: Record rains and flash floods in Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee caused more than 30 deaths and submerged the Grand Ole Opry House stage.

› 2011: Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who’d been killed hours earlier in a raid by elite American forces at his Pakistan compound, was buried at sea.

› 2018: The Boy Scouts of America announced that the group’s flagship program would undergo a name change; after being known simply as the Boy Scouts for 108 years, the program would now be called Scouts BSA. (The change came as girls were about to enter the ranks.)

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 86. Actor-activist Bianca Jagger is 77. Country singer R.C. Bannon is 77. Actor David Suchet is 76. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 74. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 72. Actor Christine Baranski is 70. Singer Angela Bofill is 68. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 67. Actor Brian Tochi is 63. Movie director Stephen Daldry is 62. Actor Elizabeth Berridge is 60. Country singer Ty Herndon is 60. Actor Mitzi Kapture is

60. Commentator Mika Brzezinski is 55. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is

54. Rock musician Todd Sucherman (Styx) is 53. Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) is 50. Former soccer player David Beckham is 47. Rock singer Jeff Gutt (Stone Temple Pilots) is 46. Actor Kumail Nanjiani is 44. Actor Ellie Kemper is 42. Actor Robert Buckley is

41. Actor Gaius Charles is

39. Pop singer Lily Rose Cooper is 37. Olympic gold medal figure skater Sarah Hughes is 37. Actor Thomas McDonell is 36. Actor Kay Panabaker is

32. NBA All-Star Paul George is 32. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge is 7.