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Today in history: May 2

Celebrity birthdays, highlights in history, plus more facts about this day
/ Source: The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2006. There are 243 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 2, 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin, and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.

On this date:
In 1519, artist Leonardo da Vinci died at Cloux, France.

In 1670, the Hudson Bay Company was chartered by England’s King Charles II.

In 1863, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Va.; he died eight days later.

In 1890, the Oklahoma Territory was organized.

In 1936, “Peter and the Wolf,” a symphonic tale for children by Sergei Prokofiev, had its world premiere in Moscow.

In 1957, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, the controversial Republican senator from Wisconsin, died at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.

In 1960, convicted sex offender and best-selling author Caryl Chessman was executed at San Quentin Prison in California.

In 1965, the Early Bird satellite was used to transmit television pictures across the Atlantic.

In 1972, after serving 48 years as head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover died in Washington at age 77.

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

Ten years ago: The Senate passed, 97-3, an immigration bill to tighten border controls, make it tougher for illegal aliens to get U.S. jobs and curtail legal immigrants’ access to social services.

Five years ago: President Bush and Republican congressional leaders clinched a budget deal embracing most of the president’s tax and spending goals. Germany inaugurated its new Chancellery in Berlin amid concerns the building was too grandiose. A landslide destroyed a nine-story apartment building in China, killing at least 79 people.

One year ago: Pvt. 1st Class Lynndie England, the young woman pictured in some of the most notorious Abu Ghraib photos, pleaded guilty at Fort Hood, Texas, to mistreating prisoners. (However, a judge later threw out the plea agreement; England was later convicted in a court-martial and sentenced to three years in prison.) Greenpeace co-founder Bob Hunter died at age 63.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Theodore Bikel is 82. Actor Roscoe Lee Browne is 81. Bianca Jagger is 61. Country singer R.C. Bannon is 61. Singer Lesley Gore is 60. Actor David Suchet is 60. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 58. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 56. Actress Christine Baranski is 54. Singer Angela Bofill is 52. Actress Elizabeth Berridge is 44. Country singer Ty Herndon is 44. Rock musician Todd Sucherman (Styx) is 37. Wrestler-actor The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) is 34. Actress Jenna Von Oy is 29. Olympic gold medal figure skater Sarah Hughes is 21. Actress Kay Panabaker (“Summerland”) is 16.

Thought for Today: “Like ships, men founder time and again.” — Henry Miller, American novelist (1891-1980).