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This day in history

This day in history: 2 January

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

284 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 2 January.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2024: Two aircraft collide on a runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, killing 5 and injuring 18.

Holidays and observances

Ancestry Day (Haiti)

Bank holiday (Scotland)

Berchtold's Day (Switzerland)

Christian feast day: Basil the Great (Catholic Church and Church of England)

Christian feast day: Blessed Marie Anne Blondin

Christian feast day: Gregory of Nazianzus (Catholic Church)

Christian feast day: January 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: John the Good

Christian feast day: Macarius of Alexandria

Christian feast day: Seraphim of Sarov (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Christian feast day: Theodore of Marseille

Christian feast day: Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (Episcopal Church)

Events

2024Two aircraft collide on a runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, killing 5 and injuring 18.

2022Massive nationwide protests and unrest break out in Kazakhstan over the sudden increase of liquefied petroleum gas prices, leading to 238 people dead and thousands injured by January 11.

2004Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.

1993Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.

1991Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.

1988Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 crashes near Seferihisar, Turkey, killing 16 people.

1981One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

1978On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.

1976The Gale of January 1976 begins, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, affecting countries from Ireland to Yugoslavia and causing at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.

1975At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.

1971The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football match.

1967Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.

1963Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.

1959Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.

1955Following the assassination of the Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera, his deputy, José Ramón Guizado, takes power, but is quickly deposed after his involvement in Cantera's death is discovered.

1954India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.

1949Luis Muñoz Marín is inaugurated as the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.

1942The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtains the conviction of 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history; Also known as the Duquesne Spy Ring.

1942World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces, enabling them to control the Philippines.

1941World War II: The Cardiff Blitz severely damages the cathedral in Cardiff, Wales.

1932The Young Brothers engaged in a gun battle resulting in the deaths of six law enforcement officers; the worst single killing of US police officers in the 20th century.

1921World premiere of the science fiction play R.U.R. by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a theater in Hradec Králové.

1920The second Palmer Raid, ordered by the US Department of Justice, results in 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists being arrested and held without trial.

1900American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.

1900Chicago Canal opens.

1865Uruguayan War: The Siege of Paysandú ends as the Brazilians and Coloradans capture Paysandú, Uruguay.

1863American Civil War: The three-day Battle of Stones River ends in a Union victory when the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg are repulsed for the final time by the Army of the Cumberland under General William S. Rosec

1818The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded by a group of six engineers; Thomas Telford would later become its first president.

1791Northwest Indian War: The Big Bottom massacre is committed by Lenape and Wyandot warriors in the Ohio Country, North America.

1788Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

1777American Revolutionary War: American forces under the command of General George Washington repulse a British attack led by General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey.

1776Empress Maria Theresa of Austria amends the Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana to include the abolition of torture throughout the Habsburg-ruled countries of Austria and Bohemia.

1680Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram and his bodyguards execute the rebel leader Trunajaya.

1492Reconquista: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.

1444Christian forces defeat the Turks in the battle of Kunovica.

533Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.

366The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.

69The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor.

Born on this day

2006Claudio Echeverri, Argentine footballer

2003CJ Egan-Riley, English footballer

2003Elye Wahi, French footballer

2001Cole Caufield, American ice hockey player

2001Luiz Henrique, Brazilian footballer

2000Spencer Arrighetti, American baseball player

1999Aaron Wiggins, American professional basketball player

1999Fernando Tatís Jr., Dominican baseball player

1999Georgios Kalaitzakis, Greek basketball player

1998Tfue, American online streamer

1998Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Dutch footballer

1997Arshad Nadeem, Pakistani javelin thrower

1997Carlos Soler, Spanish footballer

1996Jonah Bolden, Australian-American basketball player

1994Ronald Darby, American football player

1993Bryson Tiller, American singer and rapper

1992Alexey Marchenko, Russian ice hockey player

1992Korbin Sims, Australian-Fijian rugby league player

1992Paulo Gazzaniga, Argentine footballer

1992Teemu Pulkkinen, Finnish ice hockey player

1991Ben Hardy, English actor

1988Damien Tussac, French-German rugby player

1988Germán Cano, Argentine footballer

1988Luke Harangody, American basketball player

1987Loïc Rémy, French footballer

1987Robert Milsom, English footballer

1987Shelley Hennig, American actress and model

1983Anthony Carrigan, American actor

1983Kate Bosworth, American actress

1981Kirk Hinrich, American basketball player

1981Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer

1980David Gyasi, British actor

1980Kemi Badenoch, English politician

1979Jonathan Greening, English footballer

1977Brian Boucher, American ice hockey player and sportscaster

1977Stefan Koubek, Austrian tennis player

1976Paz Vega, Spanish actress

1975Chris Cheney, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1975Dax Shepard, American actor

1975Jeff Suppan, American baseball player

Died on this day

2025Ágnes Keleti, Hungarian Olympic gymnast (born 1921)

2025Francesc Antich, Spanish politician (born 1958)

2019Bob Einstein, American actor and comedian (born 1942)

2019Daryl Dragon, American musician (born 1942)

2019Gene Okerlund, American wrestling announcer (born 1942)

2019Julia Grant, British transgender activist (born 1954)

2018Guida Maria, Portuguese actress (born 1950)

2018Thomas S. Monson, American religious leader, 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (born 1927)

2017Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (born 1933)

2017John Berger, English art critic, novelist and painter (born 1926)

2016Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1924)

2016Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (born 1935)

2016Gisela Mota Ocampo, mayor of Temixco, Morelos, Mexico, assassinated (born 1982)

2016Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabian religious leader (born 1959)

2015Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (born 1929)

2014Bernard Glasser, American director and producer (born 1924)

2014Elizabeth Jane Howard, English author and screenwriter (born 1923)

2013Gerda Lerner, Austrian-American historian, author, and academic (born 1920)

2013Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and author (born 1944)

2012Gordon Hirabayashi, American-Canadian sociologist and academic (born 1918)

2012Silvana Gallardo, American actress and producer (born 1953)

2012William P. Carey, American businessman and philanthropist, founded W. P. Carey (born 1930)

2011Anne Francis, American actress (born 1930)

2011Bali Ram Bhagat, Indian politician; 16th Governor of Rajasthan (born 1922)

2011Mia Bustam, Indonesian painter, writer, and political prisoner (born 1920)

2011Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (born 1946)

2010David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (born 1958)

2009Inger Christensen, Danish poet and author (born 1935)

2008George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish journalist and author (born 1925)

2008Lee S. Dreyfus, American politician, Governor of Wisconsin (born 1926)

Quote of the day

“Silence is a source of great strength.”

Lao Tzu

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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