This Day in History - 2nd May

1194King Richard I gave Portsmouth its first Royal Charter. The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was founded.

1536Anne Boleyn, second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was sent to the Tower of London, accused of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. She was executed 17 days later.

1568Mary, Queen of Scots, escaped from Loch Leven Castle in Perth and Kinross with the help of her jailer's family. She was imprisoned there in 1567 and had been forced to abdicate as queen.

1611The Authorized Version of the Bible (King James Version) was first published and became the standard English language Bible.

1797A mutiny in the British navy spread from Spithead to the rest of the fleet.

1942World War II: HMS Edinburgh was sunk in the Barents Sea off the Norwegian coast. Its cargo of gold bars lay in 800 feet of water until salvaged in 1981.

1952The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1, set off from London to Johannesburg on its maiden flight.

1953Football legend Sir Stanley Matthews, at the age of 38, won an FA Cup winners' medal as Blackpool came back from trailing 3-1 to beat Bolton 4-3. In recognition of the impact he had on the match, it become known as the 'Matthews Final'.

1964The death of Nancy Astor, American born English politician and socialite and the first woman to take a seat in Parliament.

1965Britain's Early Bird satellite began transmitting TV programmes to more than 300 million viewers. The first programme was:- 'Out Of This World'.

1969The Cunard passenger liner Queen Elizabeth II (QE2) set sail from Southampton on its maiden voyage. One of the two QE2s 13 tonne anchors was donated by Cunard to Southampton in March 2010 'to commemorate the long association between the city and this iconic liner'. In March, 2017, a Dubai-based construction company announced that it had been contracted to refurbish the ship. On 18th April 2018 it opened to visitors, but with only five of the planned 13 restaurants and bars completed.

1982The Argentinean light cruiser General Belgrano was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS Conqueror during the Falklands War. 

2015The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to her second child (Charlotte Elizabeth Diana), a sister to Prince George. She will be fourth in line to the throne.