January 2

is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 363 days (364 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

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 Marín 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.

Births

1642 - Mehmed IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1693)
1647 - Nathaniel Bacon, English-born American colonist and Virginia Colony of Jamestown plantation owner (d. 1676)
1713 - Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d. 1803)
1719 - Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (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, graphic artist, and poet (d. 1938)
1873 - Thérèse de Lisieux, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face (d. 1897)
1877 - Slava Raskaj, Croatian painter (d.1906)
1886 - Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (d. 1938)
1896 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (d. 1954)
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 and actress (d. 2003)
1920 - Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (d. 1992)
1930 - Julius LaRosa, American singer
1933 - Morimura Seiichi, Japanese novelist and author
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 of Led Zeppelin
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 and P-Funk)
1955 - Tex Brashear, American voice actor
1958 - Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian pianist
1960 - Christian Bartolf, German author and scientist
1960 - Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga author and artist
1961 - Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
1961 - Todd Haynes, American film director
1963 - David Cone, baseball player
1963 - Edgar Martinez, baseball player
1964 - Pernell Whitaker, American boxer
1965 - Greg Swindell, 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, Professional 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, former All Black captain
1975 - Doug Robb, American singer (Hoobastank)
1976 - Cletidus Hunt, American football player
1976 - Danilo Di Luca, Italian professional cyclist
1976 - Paz Vega, Spanish actress
1981 - Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
1981 - Kirk Hinrich, basketball player
1981 - Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
1983 - Kate Bosworth, American actress

Deaths

1512 - Svante, Regent of Sweden (b. 1460)
1514 - William Smyth, English bishop and statesman
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 and singer (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
1996 - Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor (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, U.S. Congressman from Georgia (b. 1934)
2005 - Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist (b. 1911)
2005 - Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

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 — Second day of New Year.
Science Fiction Day
United States - Bonza Bottler Day.

External links

January 1 - January 3 - December 2 - February 2 — listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: January 2

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links