May 2 in Military History

Spanish civilians in Madrid rose up against French occupation forces, attacking Napoleonic soldiers in the streets. Marshal Murat crushed the revolt with savage reprisals, immortalized in Goya's paintings. The uprising ignited the Peninsular War, Napoleon's "Spanish ulcer", that tied down hundreds of thousands of French troops for six years.

Napoleon's newly raised French army defeated a Russo-Prussian force at Lutzen in Saxony, his first major victory after the disastrous 1812 Russian campaign. Despite fighting with raw conscripts, Napoleon's tactical brilliance won the field, though his critical shortage of cavalry prevented decisive pursuit.

Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally shot by his own troops while conducting a night reconnaissance after his devastating flank attack at Chancellorsville. Hit three times, his left arm was amputated. He developed pneumonia and died on May 10.

Japanese naval forces began their advance toward Port Moresby, New Guinea, initiating what became the first naval battle where opposing ships never directly sighted each other. U.S. carriers Lexington and Yorktown, alerted by code-breaking intelligence, moved to intercept.

General Weidling surrendered Berlin's garrison to the Soviets, ending the bloodiest urban battle of World War II.

The surrender signed at Caserta on April 29 came into effect across northern Italy, ending organized Axis resistance south of the Alps. Nearly a million German and Italian fascist troops laid down their arms to Field Marshal Alexander's 15th Army Group.

U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortresses flew round-the-clock Arc Light sorties from Guam and U-Tapao against North Vietnamese armor and logistics during the Easter Offensive, the largest conventional invasion of South Vietnam since Tet 1968.

The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror torpedoed the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War, killing 323 crewmen. The sinking, controversial because the ship was sailing away from the exclusion zone, convinced the Argentine navy to withdraw to port for the remainder of the war.

President Clinton ordered the deactivation of Selective Availability, the intentional degradation of civilian GPS signals. Civilian receivers immediately gained the same accuracy as military units, transforming navigation, surveying, aviation, and commerce worldwide.

U.S. analysts began processing the massive trove of documents and hard drives seized during the Abbottabad raid, the largest intelligence haul ever obtained from a senior terrorist. The collection revealed al-Qaeda's organizational structure and operational plans, leading to subsequent operations against leaders worldwide.