Today in History: Monday, May 2, 2013

歷史上的今天：2013年5月2日，星期四

May 2nd, 1945The end is near for World War II in Europe. The Soviet Union announces the fall of Nazi Germany's capital, Berlin. And the Allies announce the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.

1519, Leonardo Da Vinci, the Italian Renaissance artist who painted “The Last Supper” and “The Mona Lisa”, dies in France, at age 67.

1863,During the Civil War, Confederate General Thomas Stonewall Jackson is accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Virginia. Jackson dies eight days later.

1994,“Now it's the time for celebration, for South Africans to join together to celebrate the birth of democracy.”

Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress claim victory in South Africa's first multiracial election. Mandela, who spent more than 30 years in prison under apartheid rule, becomes the country's president.

1972,J. Edgar Hoover, who ran the FBI from the Prohibition era through the turbulent 1960s, dies in Washington, D.C. at age 77.

And 1903,“Would you like to swing on a star, carry moonbeams home in a jar...”Singer and actor Bing Crosby, one of the 20th Century's most popular entertainers, is born in Tacoma, Washington.

Today in History, May 2nd, Sandy Kozel, the Associated Press.