Almanac - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

TOP TEN LISTS

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

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Today in History

Saturday, 02 May 2026

2008

Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar killing over 130,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.

2004

Yelwa massacre of more than 630 nomad Muslims by Christians in Nigeria.

2003

From the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, US President George W. Bush announced in a nationally televised address in front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner that major combat operations in Iraq had ended.

2002

Marad massacre of eight Hindus near Palakkad in Kerala.

2000

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

1999

Panamanian election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.

1998

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

1995

During the Croatian War of Independence, Serb forces fire cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing 7 and wounding over 175 civilians.

1994

In a bus disaster in Poland, 32 people die.

1982

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

FACTOIDS

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime.

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived.

Gold

Every ton of seawater contains approximately 1 milligram of dissolved gold.

Mosquito

Studies show that mosquitoes prefer biting blondes to brunettes.

Timelines

People's Republic of China

Afghanistan