May 2: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

2011 The FBI’s most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, was killed by the US Navy Seals and CIA operatives in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

US President Barack Obama ordered the covert operation.

2008 139,000 people lost their lives when Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar.

1967 The Stanley Cup Finals took place with the Toronto Maple Leafs beating the Montreal Canadiens.

Terry Sawchuk prevented 41 shots from the opposing team, resulting in their victory.

1957 An assassination attempt was made on Gangster Frank Costello.

As Frank Costello arrived home, a man followed him into the lobby, where Costello was shot. The bullet curved around his skull from his ear to his neck and exited without any mortal damage.

1945 The Battle of Berlin ended, with German forces conceding as the Soviet army took Berlin.

1920 The first game of the Negro National League was played at Washington Park in Indianapolis.

1918 General Motors bought the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.

1908 Take Me Out to the Ball Game was copyrighted.

The US Copyright Office received two copies of this new song for copyright. It was written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, neither of which had ever attended a baseball game before writing. It has since become the official anthem of Northern American baseball.

1890 The territory of Oklahoma was incorporated.

1885 The first-ever magazine issue of “Good Housekeeping” was published.

1878 American Congress eliminated the twenty-cent coin.

1829 Britain founded the Swan River Colony in Western Australia.

The original landing site of the Swan River Colony, later on, became the city of Perth, Western Australia's capital. The first settlers in the colony found life incredibly challenging as the land was not particularly suitable for growing crops. The colonists eventually eked out a meager existence as one of Australia's only non-penal colonies.

1780 William Herschel discovered the first binary star.

Named Xi Ursae Majoris, this star system was the first of its kind to be discovered. A binary star system is two stars that orbit around their common center of mass.