Historical timeline for May 2

Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave up to 2,500 people missing.

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

An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others are taken ill.

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted fugitive, is killed by the United States Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.

Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.

The Yelwa massacre concludes. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims killed 78 Christians at Yelwa, Nigeria. In response, about 630 Muslims were killed by Christians on May 2.

President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.

Panamanian general election: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.

The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy.

During the Croatian War of Independence, the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fires cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians.

Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect.

Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster.

Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.

In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.

ALM Flight 980 ditches in the Caribbean Sea near Saint Croix, killing 23.

The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.

First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.

Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Two Viet Cong combat swimmers had placed explosives on the ship's hull. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later.

Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.