Goya's El dos de Mayo 1808  memorializes a popular uprising against Napoleon Bonaparte's occupying troops in Madrid on May 2, 1808.  The scene in question, "The Charge of the Mamelukes" attempts to capture some of the street fighting between the populace and the Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard that took place in the vicinity of the Puerta del Sol.  This uprising was one of the drivers of the nationwide insurrection against French rule.  The eventual Spanish War of Independence that grew out of it overlapped the Peninsular War between the forces of Britain, Portugal and Spain, largely under Sir Arthur Wellesley against France.

On this day in history:

1670 – King Charles II of England granted a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.

1808 – The people of Madrid rose up in rebellion against French occupation.

1829 – Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger, declared the Swan River Colony in Australia.

1866 – Peruvian defenders fought off the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.

1885 – Cree and Assiniboine warriors won the Battle of Cut Knife over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion.

1889 – Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signed the Treaty of Wuchale, giving Italy control over Eritrea.

1933 – Germany's independent labor unions were replaced by the German Labour Front.

1941 – Following the coup d'état against Iraq Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah earlier that year, the United Kingdom launched the Anglo-Iraqi War to restore him to power.

1945 – The Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin.

1945 – The surrender of Caserta went into effect, by which German troops in Italy ceased fighting.

1945 – The US 82nd Airborne Division liberated Wöbbelin concentration camp

1945 – A death march from Dachau to the Austrian border was halted by the Nisei 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army

1952 – A De Havilland Comet madesthe first jetliner flight with paying passengers

1963 – Berthold Seliger launched a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres near Cuxhaven.

1964 – An explosion sunk the US aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon.

1972 – A fire broke out at the Sunshine Mine in Idaho, killing 91 workers.

1986 – The City of Chernobyl was evacuated six days after the disaster.

1989 – Hungary began dismantling its border fence with Austria, allowing some East Germans to defect.

1995 – The Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fired cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians.

1998 – The European Central Bank was founded in Brussels

1999 – Mireya Moscoso became the first woman to be elected President of Panama.

2004 – About 630 Muslims were killed by Christians in the Yelwa massacre

2011 – Osama bin Laden, was killed by the US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Some people who were born on this day:

But I don't believe in organised politics, organised religion, organised music, organised anything.

~~     Link Wray

1551 – William Camden, historian and topographer
1660 – Alessandro Scarlatti, composer
1695 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, painter and architect
1707 – Jean-Baptiste Barrière, cellist and composer
1752 – Ludwig August Lebrun, oboe player and composer
1754 – Vicente Martín y Soler, composer
1772 – Novalis, author and poet
1773 – Henrik Steffens, philosopher and poet
1797 – Abraham Pineo Gesner, physician and geologist
1802 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, chemist and physicist
1810 – Hans Christian Lumbye, composer and conductor
1813 – Caroline Leigh Gascoigne, novelist and poet
1822 – Jane Miller Thengberg, governess and educator
1828 – Désiré Charnay, archaeologist and photographer
1830 – Otto Staudinger, entomologist and author
1843 – Elijah McCoy, engineer
1859 – Jerome K. Jerome, author and playwright
1860 – John Scott Haldane, physiologist, physician, and academic
1872 – Ichiyo Higuchi, writer
1882 – Isabel González, activist who helped pave the way for Puerto Ricans' American citizenship
1890 – E. E. Smith, engineer and author
1894 – Joseph Henry Woodger, biologist, philosopher, and academic
1895 – Lorenz Hart, playwright and lyricist
1897 – John Frederick Coots, songwriter
1898 – Henry Hall, bandleader, composer, and actor
1901 – Edouard Zeckendorf, doctor, army officer and mathematician
1905 – Charlotte Armstrong,  author
1909 – Teddy Stauffer, bandleader, musician, and actor
1912 – Axel Springer, journalist and publisher
1915 – Doris Fisher, singer and songwriter
1920 – Jean-Marie Auberson, violinist and conductor
1920 – Otto Buchsbaum, journalist and activist
1920 – Vasantrao Deshpande, singer and sitar player
1921 – B. B. Lal, archaeologist
1924 – Theodore Bikel, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1927 – Michael Broadbent, wine critic and writer
1929 – Link Wray, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1933 – Bunk Gardner, musician
1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck,  singer and pianist
1936 – Michael Rabin, violinist
1939 – Sumio Iijima, physicist and engineer
1941 – Eddy Louiss, jazz musician
1945 – Randy Cain, soul singer
1945 – Judge Dread, singer and songwriter
1945 – Bianca Jagger, model, actress, and activist
1945 – Goldy McJohn, keyboard player
1946 – Lesley Gore, singer and songwriter
1948 – Larry Gatlin, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1950 – Lou Gramm, singer and songwriter
1951 – John Glascock, singer and bass player
1959 – Tony Wakeford, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – Ziana Zain, singer, songwriter and actress
1972 – Ahti Heinla, programmer and businessman, co-developed Skype
1976 – Jeff Gutt, singer and songwriter
1985 – Lily Allen, singer and songwriter and actress
1987 – Justin Young, singer and songwriter

Some people who died on this day:

“It has always been my attitude that a life has only been worth living if one has made full use of all one's abilities and tried to live out every kind of experience human life has to offer.”

~~      Clara Immerwahr

1519 – Leonardo da Vinci, painter, sculptor, inventor and architect
1627 – Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, composer and educator
1683 – Stjepan Gradic, philosopher and mathematician
1
1819 – Mary Moser, painter and academic
1915 – Clara Immerwahr, chemist and activist
1925 – Johann Palisa, astronomer
1977 – Nicholas Magallanes, principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet
1979 – Giulio Natta, chemist and engineer
1985 – Larry Clinton, trumpet player and bandleader
1994 – Dorothy Marie American poet and author
1998 – hide,  singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
2000 – Sundar Popo, musician
2002 – W. T. Tutte, mathematician and academic
2009 – Kiyoshiro Imawano, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor
)
2012 – Zenaida Manfugás, pianist
2013 – Jeff Hanneman, guitarist and songwriter
2015 – Guy Carawan, singer and musicologist

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Anniversary of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (Community of Madrid, Spain)

MUSIC goes here; With apologies

Alessandro Scarlatti

Doris Fisher

Vasantrao Deshpande

Theodore Bikel

Link Wray

Eddy Louiss

Randy Cain

Judge Dread

Goldy McJohn

Lesley Gore

Larry Gatlin

John Glascock

Larry Clinton

Sundar Popo

Kyoshiro Imawano

Zenaida Manufugas

Guy Carawan

Please reserve Covid-19 commentary for a separate threadf. Thank you.

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?