January 2
January is the
second day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar. 363 days (364 in
leap years) remain in the year after this day.
*
366 -
Alamanni cross the frozen
Rhine in large numbers, invading
Roman Empire.
*
533 - Mercurius becomes
Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the
papacy.
*
1492 -
Reconquista:
Granada, the last
Moorish stronghold in
Spain, surrenders.
*
1757 - The
United Kingdom captures
Calcutta,
India.
*
1788 -
Georgia becomes the 4th state to ratify the
United States Constitution.
*
1793 -
Russia and
Prussia partition
Poland.
*
1818 - British
Institution of Civil Engineers formed.
*
1860 - The discovery of the planet
Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the
Académie des Sciences in
Paris.
*
1870 - Construction of the
Brooklyn Bridge begins.
*
1871 -
Amadeus I becomes King of
Spain.
*
1872 -
Brigham Young is arrested for
bigamy for having 25 wives.
*
1879 -
Fred Spofforth claims the first
Hat-trick in
test cricket on the
Sydney Cricket Ground against
England.
*
1882 -
John D. Rockefeller unites his oil holdings into the
Standard Oil trust.
*
1890 -
Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer for the
White House.
*
1893 -
Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America introduces
railroad chronometers.
*
1900 -
John Hay announces the
Open Door Policy to promote trade with
China.
*
1905 -
Russo-Japanese War: The
Russian fleet surrenders at
Port Arthur,
China.
*
1905 - American
anarcho-syndicalist union, the
Industrial Workers of the World forms.
*
1917 - The
Royal Bank of Canada takes over
Quebec Bank.
*
1920 - The
Palmer Raids begin in the United States.
*
1921 - The first religious
radio broadcast (
KDKA AM in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) .
*
1923 -
U.S. Interior Secretary Albert Fall resigns due to the
Teapot Dome scandal.
*
1929 -
Canada and the
United States agree on a plan to preserve
Niagara Falls.
*
1935 -
Bruno Hauptmann goes on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr., infant son of aviator
Charles Lindbergh.
*
1941 -
World War II:
German bombing severely damages the
Llandaff Cathedral in
Cardiff,
Wales.
* 1941 - World War II: The U.S. government announces its
Liberty ship program with a stated goal of building 200 freighters. Over 2,700 ships will eventually be constructed by the end of the war.
*
1942 - World War II:
Manila is captured by
Japanese forces.
* 1942 - The
United States Navy opens a
blimp base at
Lakehurst, New Jersey.
*
1946 - Unable to resume rule after
World War II,
King Zog of
Albania abdicates but retains his claim to the
throne.
*
1949 -
Luis Muñoz MarÃn became the first democratically elected
Governor of Puerto Rico.
*
1955 -
Panamanian president
Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated.
*
1957 -
San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange and
Los Angeles Oil Exchange merge.
*
1959 - The first artificial satellite to orbit the sun,
Luna 1, is launched by the
U.S.S.R.*
1960 - Sen.
John F. Kennedy of
Massachusetts announces his candidacy for the
Democratic presidential nomination.
*
1965 - The
New York Jets sign
University of Alabama quarterback
Joe Namath for a reported $400,000.
*
1967 - Dr.
Christiaan Barnard performs the second successful
heart transplant.
*
1969 -
Luis Ferré becomes first statehooder
Governor of Puerto Rico.
*
1971 - The second
Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a
Rangers-
Celtic game.
*
1974 -
Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum
US speed limit to 55
MPH in order to conserve
gasoline during an
OPEC embargo.
*
1979 -
Sid Vicious goes on trial for the murder of
Nancy Spungen.
*
1981 -
Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is arrested.
*
1991 -
Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of
Washington, DC becoming the first
African American woman to lead a city of that size and importance.
* 1991 -
Linus Torvalds buys the computer which got
Linux started.
*
1993 - Leaders of the three warring factions in
Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans.
*
1998 -
Russia begins to circulate new
rubles to stem
inflation and promote confidence.
*
1999 - A brutal
snowstorm smashes into the
Midwestern
USA, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at
Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487 mm) at
Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C), and 68 deaths are reported.
*
2001 - Sila Calderón becomes first female
Governor of Puerto Rico.
*
2002 -
Levy Mwanawasa takes office as the third President of
Zambia.
*
2004 -
Stardust successfully flies past
Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to
Earth two years later.
*
2006 - An explosion in a
coal mine leads to the death of 12 of 13 miners in the
2006 Sago Mine disaster in
West Virginia.
* 2006 - Fifteen die in the
Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof collapse in
Bavaria,
Germany.
*
1642 -
Mehmed IV,
Ottoman Sultan (d.
1693)
*
1647 -
Nathaniel Bacon, English-born American colonist (d.
1676)
*
1713 -
Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d.
1803)
*
1719 -
Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder (d.
1797)
*
1727 -
James Wolfe, British general (d.
1759)
*
1777 -
Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (d.
1857)
*
1822 -
Rudolf Clausius, German physicist (d.
1888)
*
1827 -
Peter Semenov of Tian Shan, Russian explorer (d.
1914)
*
1836 -
Mendele Moykher Sforim, Jewish writer (d.
1917)
*
1837 -
Mily Balakirev, Russian composer (d.
1910)
*
1870 -
Ernst Barlach, German sculptor (d.
1938)
*
1873 -
Thérèse de Lisieux, French Roman-Catholic nun (d.
1897)
*
1877 -
Slava Raskaj, Croatian painter (d.
1906)
*
1886 -
Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (d.
1938)
*
1896 -
Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (d.
1954)
*
1897 -
Jim Londos, wrestler (d.
1975)
*
1904 -
Sally Rand, American fan dancer (d.
1979)
*
1905 -
Michael Tippett, English composer (d.
1998)
*
1913 -
Anna Lee, English actress (d.
2004)
*
1917 -
Vera Zorina, German dancer (d.
2003)
*
1920 -
Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (d.
1992)
*
1930 -
Julius LaRosa, American singer
*
1933 -
Morimura Seiichi, Japanese novelist
*
1936 -
Roger Miller, American singer (d.
1992)
*
1938 -
Ian Brady, British serial killer
* 1938 -
Hans Herbjørnsrud, Norwegian author
*
1939 -
Jim Bakker, American televangelist
*
1942 -
Dennis Hastert, 59th
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives* 1942 -
Hugh Shelton, 15th
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff*
1944 - Prince
Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
*
1946 -
Richard Cole, American tour manager
*
1947 -
Jack Hanna, American zoologist
* 1947 -
Calvin Hill, American football player
*
1949 -
Christopher Durang, American playwright
*
1954 -
Henry Bonilla, American politician
* 1954 -
Dawn Silva, American singer (
The Brides of Funkenstein,
P-Funk)
*
1955 -
Tex Brashear, American voice actor
*
1958 -
Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian pianist
*
1960 -
Christian Bartolf, German scientist
* 1960 -
Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga author
*
1961 -
Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
* 1961 -
Todd Haynes, American film director
*
1963 -
David Cone, American baseball player
* 1963 -
Edgar Martinez, American baseball player
*
1964 -
Pernell Whitaker, American boxer
*
1965 -
Greg Swindell, American baseball player
*
1967 -
Tia Carrere, American actress
*
1968 -
Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor
* 1968 -
Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
*
1969 -
Tommy Morrison, American boxer
* 1969 -
Christy Turlington, American model
* 1969 -
Róbert Švehla, Slovak ice hockey player
*
1970 -
Royce Clayton, American baseball player
*
1971 -
Lisa Harrison, American basketball player
*
1972 -
Taye Diggs, American actor
*
1973 -
Lucy Davis, British actress
*
1974 -
Tricia Helfer, Canadian actress and model
*
1975 -
Reuben Thorne, New Zealand rugby union player
* 1975 -
Doug Robb, American singer (
Hoobastank)
*
1976 -
Cletidus Hunt, American football player
* 1976 -
Danilo Di Luca, Italian cyclist
* 1976 -
Paz Vega, Spanish actress
*
1981 -
Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
* 1981 -
Kirk Hinrich, basketball player
*1981 -
Maxi RodrÃguez, Argentine footballer
*
1983 -
Kate Bosworth, American actress
*
1512 -
Svante, Regent of Sweden (b.
1460)
*
1514 -
William Smyth, English bishop and statesman (bc.
1460)
*
1557 -
Pontormo, Italian painter (b.
1494)
*
1685 -
Harbottle Grimston, English politician (b.
1603)
*
1694 -
Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English politician (b.
1651)
*
1726 -
Domenico Zipoli, Italian composer (b.
1688)
*
1892 -
George Airy, British Astronomer Royal (b.
1801)
*
1893 -
John Obadiah Westwood, British entomologist (b.
1805)
*
1904 -
James Longstreet, American Confederate general (b.
1821)
*
1913 -
Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist (b.
1855)
*
1917 -
Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (b.
1832)
*
1924 -
Sabine Baring-Gould, English composer and novelist (b.
1834)
*
1939 -
Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (b.
1864)
*
1960 -
Fausto Coppi, Italian cyclist (b.
1919)
*
1963 -
Dick Powell, American actor (b.
1904)
*
1974 -
Tex Ritter, American actor (b.
1905)
*
1977 -
Errol Garner, American musician (b.
1921)
*
1986 -
Una Merkel, American actress (b.
1903)
* 1986 -
Bill Veeck, baseball executive (b.
1914)
*
1990 -
Alan Hale Jr., American actor (b.
1918)
*
1995 -
Siad Barre,
President of Somalia (b.
1919)
*
1996 -
Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist (b.
1915)
*
2000 -
Nat Adderley, American musician and composer (b.
1931)
* 2000 -
Patrick O'Brian, British novelist (b.
1914)
* 2000 -
Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.,
U.S. admiral, 19th
Chief of Naval Operations (b.
1920)
*
2001 -
Teri Diver, American actress (b.
1971)
*
2004 -
Lynn Cartwright, American actress (b.
1927)
* 2004 -
Jess Collins, American artist (b.
1923)
*
2005 -
Cyril Fletcher, British comedian (b.
1913)
* 2005 -
Frank Kelly Freas, American artist (b.
1922)
* 2005 -
Ronald 'Bo' Ginn, American politician(b.
1934)
* 2005 -
Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist (b.
1911)
* 2005 -
Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (b.
1921)
* The eighth
day of Christmas (and ninth night of same) in Western
Christianity.
*
Catholicism and
Anglicanism — Feast day of
St. Basil the Great and
Gregory Nazianzen.
*
Scotland — Second day of the
Hogmanay Bank Holiday.
*
New Zealand — Statutory holiday, Second day of New Year.
*
Slovenia â€" Second day of New Year.
*
Science Fiction Day
*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
On This Day in CanadaJanuary 1 -
January 3 -
December 2 -
February 2 â€"
listing of all days
