May 2

May 2 in the history of the Birmingham District:

• 2008: The 23rd Annual Crawfish Boil began at the future site of the Uptown entertainment district.
• 1997: UAB's expanded and renovated Lister Hill Library was rededicated.
• 1992: First Alabama Bank became Regions Bank
• 1991: "Expo '91", the featured event for the Birmingham Festival of Arts' Salute to the United Kingdom opened at the BJCC.
• 1979: A letter bomb at Bessemer City Hall killed Bessemer Police Lieutenant Clifford Hill.
• 1963: A series of organized Civil Rights movement marches known as the Children's Crusade began.
• 1959: The Birmingham Museum of Art reopened in the $1 million Oscar Wells Memorial Building on Linn Park.
• 1928: St Tammany & Gulf Coast Airways brought the first commercial passenger air service to Birmingham by stopping at Roberts Field on their New Orleans to Atlanta mail route.
• 1925: Piggly Wiggly entered the Birmingham market with four locations (Downtown, Norwood, Ensley, and Fairfield).
• 1902: Ground was broken for the new Hillman Hospital building.

Births and deaths

• 2014: Author and motivational speaker K. D. Hardy was found shot to death in East Brownsville.
• 1979: Bessemer Police Lieutenant Clifford Hill was killed by a letter bomb at Bessemer City Hall.
• 1976: Major League Baseball's first black pitcher, Dan Bankhead, died.
• 1960: Cartoonist Scott Stantis was born in San Diego, California.
• 1960: Presbyterian minister Frank Cross, Sr died during a cross-country train trip.
• 1925: Air Force veteran and Chelsea founder John Ritchie was born in New York.
• 1944: Talent agent, manager and record label executive Miles Copeland was born in London, England.
• 1944: Cartoonist and gay rights activist Howard Cruse was born in Springville.
• 1772: Pioneer farmer and miller Warren Truss was born in Pitt County, North Carolina.