Unix Timestamp: 1209686400
Friday, May 2. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

A pastel version of "The Scream", by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for US$120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for an auctioned work of art.

Edvard Munch's "The Scream" sells for a record $US119,922,500 in an auction in New York City. //news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/munchs-the-scream-sold-for-record-120m-20120503-1y0ae.html (AP via "Sydney Morning Herald")

The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund agree to a €110 billion bailout package for Greece. The package involves sharp Greek austerity measures.

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund agree to a bailout package for Greece that will provide approximately €120 billion to end the sovereign debt crisis in that country. //www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087sid=a9f8X9yDMcdIpos=1 ("Bloomberg")

The Sri Lankan Army kills 91 people and injures 87 others at a hospital inside a civilian safe zone. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8030605.stm (BBC)

The Pacific Islands Forum indefinitely suspends Fiji's membership. //news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/02/content_11297082.htm (Xinhua)

Iraq War: U.S. President George W. Bush meets with Democratic Party officials in Congress to try find ways to fund the Iraq War. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6616361.stm (BBC)

The Monkeyman superhero hoax begins in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time, at 11,014.70.

1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak: A devastating tornado, rated F5 on the Fujita scale, slams into Moore, Oklahoma, killing 38 people.

Norman J. Sirnic and Karen Sirnic are murdered by serial killer Ángel Maturino Reséndiz in Weimar, Texas.

The Labour Party of the United Kingdom return to power for the first time in 18 years, with Tony Blair becoming Prime Minister, in a landslide majority in the 1997 general election.

May 2–4 – First talks between the government of South Africa and the African National Congress.

In London, a man brandishing a knife robs a courier of bearer bonds worth £292 million (the largest mugging to date).

Takeshi's Castle first aired on TBS.

The 1986 World Exposition opens in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The Liverpool International Garden Festival opens in Liverpool.

Fire in a silver mine in Idaho kills 91.

The Harris Poll claims that 60% of Americans are against the Vietnam War.

East German leader Walter Ulbricht resigns as Communist Party leader but retains the position of head of state.

In Ceylon, left-wing guerillas launch a series of assaults against public buildings.

Arsenal FC wins the English Division 1 football league chionship at the home of their bitter rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, with Ray Kennedy scoring the winner. (Arsenal FC would go on to win the league and cup 'double' 6 days later by defeating Liverpool in the FA Cup final).

Anti-war militants attempt to disrupt government business in Washington, D.C. police and military units arrest as many as 12,000, most of whom are later released.

The Israel Broadcasting Authority commences television broadcasts.

An OAS bomb explodes in Algeria ndash this and other attacks kill 110 and injure 147.

1959 FA Cup Final: Nottingham Forest defeats Luton Town 2–1.

Vincent Gigante fails to assassinate mafiosoFrank Costello in Manhattan.

Austria and Israel form diplomatic relations.

The United Methodist Church in America decides at its General Conference to grant women full ordainedclergy status. It also calls for an end to racial segregation in the denomination.

The constitutional union between Indonesia and the Netherlands is dissolved.

John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" opens at the Royal Court Theatre, London, changing the scope of theatrical and other forms of drama in the UK.

Hussein is crowned King of Jordan.

The first passenger jet flight route between London and Johannesburg.

The movie "Miracle on 34th Street", a Christmastime classic, is first shown in theaters.

Six inmates unsuccessfully try to escape from Alcatraz Prison. A riot occurs, the so-called Battle of Alcatraz.

Troops of the New Zealand Army2nd Division enter Trieste a day after the Yugoslavs the German Army in Trieste surrenders to the New Zealand Army.

Lübeck is liberated by the British Army.

The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin. Soviet soldiers hoist the Red flag over the "Reich Chancellery".! Red Flag over the Reichstag was 29 Apil thumb|Prague liberated by Red Army in May 1945.

Anglo-Iraqi War: British combat operations against the rebel government of Rashid Ali in the Kingdom of Iraq begin.

The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Major League Baseball's Lou Gehrig, the legendary Yankee first baseman known as The Iron Horse, ends his 2,130 consecutive games played streak after contracting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The record stands for 56 years before Cal Ripken, Jr. plays 2,131 consecutive games.

Vyacheslav Molotov succeeds Maxim Litvinov as Soviet Foreign Commissar.

"Peter and the Wolf", a Russian fairy tale of Sergei Prokofiev's composition, debuts at the Nezlobin Theater in Moscow, Soviet Union.

The first game of Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana.

General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.

Thousands of Chinese scholars and Beijing citizens protest in front of the Capital Control Yuan, asking for reform.

Gongche Shangshu movement: Thousands of Beijing scholars and citizens protest against the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs a treaty of amity with Italy, giving Italy control over what will become Eritrea.

Charles Stewart Parnell is released.

The Spanish Socialist Worker's Party is founded in Casa Labra Pub (city of Madrid) by the historical Spanish workers' leader Pablo Iglesias.

The Washburn A Mill in Minneapolis, Minnesota explodes, killing 18.

Siege of Bilbao (Third Carlist War): The siege is lifted

Battle of Callao: Peruvian defenders fight the Spanish fleet.

Treaty of London: The United Kingdom voluntarily cedes control of the United States of the Ionian Islands to the Kingdom of Greece.

The California State Normal School (later San Jose State University) is created by an Act of the California Legislature.

A suspension bridge collapses in Great Yarmouth, England, leaving around 80 dead, mostly children.

Leopold of Saxe-Coburg (later King of the Belgians) marries Charlotte Augusta, but she dies the next year.

Battle of Lützen: Napoleon wins against the German alliance.

Finnish War: The fortress of Sveaborg is lost by Sweden to Russia.

Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose on May 2 are executed near Príncipe Pío Hill (Francisco Goya paints the fight and the execution in 1814).

Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up against the French troops.

May 3 ndash Mary Rowlandson is released from captivity and returns to Boston.

John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March.

The Hudson's Bay Company is founded in England, but located in Canada.

The Hudson's Bay Company is founded in England, but located in Canada.

Isaac Newton builds the first Reflecting telescoperef name=books.google.com//books.google.com/books?id=32IDpTdthm4Cpg=PA67lpg=PA67dq=newton+reflecting+telescope++1668+letter+1669source=blots=PKABaGwPaNsig=rPS8w23_nAp3kH5YMYGZ7JHhOaIhl=enei=0QC1Svf7AsWb8Aa3nqGTDwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=5#v=onepageq=newton%20reflecting%20telescope%20%201668%20letter%201669f=false Isaac Newton: adventurer in thought, by Alfred Rupert Hall, page 67

Mid-July ndash Henry Morgan sacks Portobello and Panama City the lack of booty from the latter attack leads to the city being burned.

Molière's comedy, "L'Avare", is first performed.

Emperor Yohannes I of Ethiopia convenes a church council in Gondar, which decides to expel all Roman Catholics in Ethiopia.

The British East India Company takes over Bombay.

The first National Bank in Europe (the "Riksbank") is founded in Stockholm, Sweden.

The first Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of Devolution.

Bishop Isaac Barrow founds the Bishop Barrow Trust to establish a university on the Isle of Man (King William's College).

The Authorized King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, printed by Robert Baker.

August ndash Battle of the Yellow Ford: The Irish rebellion against English rule gains a victory.

The Peace of Vervins ends the war between France and Spain.

Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch Leven Castle.

John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to become the leader of the beginning Scottish Reformation.

Anne Boleyn, Second Queen of Henry VIII of England, is arrested on the grounds of incest, adultery, and treason.

Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia.