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This day in history

This day in history: 2 December

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

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Key facts

400 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 2 December.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2020: Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

Holidays and observances

Armed Forces Day (Cuba)

Chichibu Night Festival

Christian feast day: Avitus of Rouen

Christian feast day: Bibiana

Christian feast day: Blessed Ivan Slezyuk

Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Angela Astorch

Christian feast day: Channing Moore Williams (Anglicanism)

Christian feast day: Chromatius

Christian feast day: December 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Habakkuk

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (United Nations)

Lao National Day

Events

2020Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

2016Thirty-six people die in a fire at a converted Oakland, California, warehouse serving as an artist collective.

2015San Bernardino attack: Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik kill 14 people and wound 22 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California.

2001Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

1999The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive following the Good Friday Agreement.

1993Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed by police in Medellín.

1993Space Shuttle program: STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

1992Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-53 for the United States Department of Defense.

1991Canada and Poland become the first nations to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union.

1990Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-35, carrying the ASTRO-1 spacelab observatory.

1989The Peace Agreement of Hat Yai is signed and ratified by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the governments of Malaysia and Thailand, ending the over two-decade-long communist insurgency in Malaysia.

1988Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state.

1988Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-27, a classified mission for the United States Department of Defense.

1982At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.

1980Salvadoran Civil War: Four American missionaries are raped and murdered by a death squad.

1977A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Benghazi, Libya, killing 59.

1976Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.

1975Laotian Civil War: The Pathet Lao seizes the Laotian capital of Vientiane, forces the abdication of King Sisavang Vatthana, and proclaims the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

1972Gough Whitlam is elected the 21st Prime Minister of Australia in the 1972 Australian federal election, defeating William McMahon and leading the Australian Labor Party back into office after 23 years in Opposition.

1971Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.

1970The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.

1968Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 crashes into Pedro Bay, Alaska, killing all 39 people on board.

1962Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to comment adversely on the war's progress.

1961In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba will adopt Communism.

1957United Nations Security Council Resolution 126 relating to the Kashmir conflict is adopted.

1956The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente Province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.

1954Cold War: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to censure Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute".

1954The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Taiwan, is signed in Washington, D.C.

1950Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with a decisive Chinese victory and UN forces are completely expelled from North Korea.

1949Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others is adopted.

1947Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Arabs riot in Jerusalem in response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.

1943World War II: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and transport ships, including the American SS John Harvey, which is carrying a stockpile of mustard gas.

1942World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

1939New York City's LaGuardia Airport opens.

1930Great Depression: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Herbert Hoover proposes a $150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.

1927Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.

1919Ukrainian War of Independence: Ukrainian Bolsheviks attempt to assassinate Nestor Makhno as part of the Polonsky conspiracy.

1917World War I: Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk begin.

1908Puyi becomes Emperor of China at the age of two.

1899Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, known as the "Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.

Born on this day

2005Learner Tien, American tennis player

2004Ilia Malinin, American competitive figure skater

2003Neil Erasmus, South African-Australian footballer

1998Anna Kalinskaya, Russian tennis player

1998Annalise Basso, American actress

1998Juice Wrld, American rapper, singer and songwriter (died 2019)

1997De'Andre Hunter, American basketball player

1996Jake Doran, Australian cricketer

1995Inori Minase, Japanese actress, voice actress and singer

1995Uladzislau Hancharou, Belarusian trampolinist

1994Aaron Jones, American football player

1994Elias Lindholm, Swedish ice hockey player

1994Fumika Shimizu, Japanese actress and model

1994Tomokaze Yūta, Japanese sumo wrestler

1994Zach Cunningham, American football player

1993Haruka Ishida, Japanese singer and actress

1993Kostas Stafylidis, Greek footballer

1992Gary Sánchez, Dominican baseball player

1992Sim Bhullar, Canadian basketball player

1991Brandon Knight, American basketball player

1991Charlie Puth, American singer-songwriter and pianist

1991Chloé Dufour-Lapointe, Canadian skier

1990Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Ghanaian footballer

1990Gastón Ramírez, Uruguayan footballer

1989Cassie Steele, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress

1989Etta Bond, English singer-songwriter

1989Matteo Darmian, Italian footballer

1989Robert Turbin, American football player

1988Alfred Enoch, English actor

1988Stephen McGinn, Scottish footballer

1986Claudiu Keșerü, Romanian footballer

1986Renee Montgomery, American basketball player and executive

1986Song Ha-yoon, South Korean actress

1986Tal Wilkenfeld, Australian bass player and composer

1985Amaury Leveaux, French swimmer

1985Dorell Wright, American basketball player

1984Péter Máté, Hungarian footballer

1983Aaron Rodgers, American football player

1983Action Bronson, American rapper, songwriter, chef, and television host

1983Bibiana Candelas, Mexican volleyball player

Died on this day

2024Debbie Mathers, Mother of Eminem (born 1955)

2024Ed Botterell, Canadian Olympic sailor (born 1931)

2024Helmut Duckadam, Romanian footballer (born 1959)

2024Israel Vázquez, Mexican boxer (born 1977)

2024Neale Fraser, Australian tennis player (born 1933)

2024Paul Maslansky, American film producer and writer (born 1933)

2020Pat Patterson, American wrestler (born 1941)

2015George T. Sakato, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1921)

2015Sandy Berger, American lawyer and politician, 19th United States National Security Advisor (born 1945)

2015Will McMillan, American actor, director, and producer (born 1944)

2014A. R. Antulay, Indian lawyer and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (born 1929)

2014Bobby Keys, American saxophonist (born 1943)

2014Don Laws, American figure skater and coach (born 1929)

2014Jean Béliveau, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1931)

2014Josie Cichockyj, English basketball player and coach (born 1964)

2013Jean-Claude Beton, Algerian-French engineer and businessman, founded Orangina (born 1925)

2013Junior Murvin, Jamaican singer-songwriter (born 1946)

2013Marcelo Déda, Brazilian lawyer and politician (born 1960)

2013William Allain, American soldier and politician, 58th Governor of Mississippi (born 1928)

2012Ehsan Naraghi, Iranian sociologist and author (born 1926)

2012Tom Hendry, Canadian playwright, co-founded the Manitoba Theatre Centre (born 1929)

2009Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (born 1945)

2009Foge Fazio, American football player and coach (born 1938)

2008Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian lawyer and businessman (born 1933)

2008Henry Molaison, American memory disorder patient (born 1926)

2008Odetta, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (born 1930)

2008Renato de Grandis, Italian composer, musicologist, and writer (born 1927)

2007Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic, novelist, and short story writer (born 1916)

2007Jennifer Alexander, Canadian-American ballerina and actress (born 1972)

2006Mariska Veres, Dutch singer (born 1947)

Quote of the day

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”

Zen proverb

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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