January 2
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January 2 in recent years
January 2 is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 363 days remaining until the end of the year (364 in leap years).
[edit] Events
366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire. 533 - Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy. 1492 - Reconquista: the emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders. 1757 - The United Kingdom captures Calcutta, India. 1788 - Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution. 1791 - Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War. 1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland. 1808 - The U.S. Congress bans the importation of slaves. 1818 - The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded. 1833 - Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands. 1860 - The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the Académie des Sciences in Paris. 1871 - Amadeus I becomes King of Spain. 1872 - Brigham Young is arrested on charges of bigamy for having 25 wives. 1882 - John D. Rockefeller unites his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust. 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 garrison surrenders at Port Arthur, China. 1905 - The American anarcho-syndicalist union known as the Industrial Workers of the World forms. 1917 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over the Quebec Bank. 1920 - The Palmer Raids begin in the United States. 1923 - United States Interior Secretary Albert Fall resigns over 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 to build freighters in support of the war effort. 1942 - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history -- the Duquesne Spy Ring. 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 becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. 1955 - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated. 1957 - The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange and Los Angeles Oil Exchange merge. 1959 - Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the U.S.S.R. 1969 - Luis Ferré becomes the first statehooder Governor of Puerto Rico. 1969 - Operation Barrier Reef begins in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. 1971 - The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic football match. 1974 - President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo. 1993 - Leaders of the three warring factions in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans. 1999 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, where temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C); 68 deaths are reported. 2001 - Sila Calderón becomes the first female Governor of Puerto Rico. 2002 - Eduardo Duhalde is appointed interim President of Argentina by the Legislative Assembly. 2004 - Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to Earth two years later.
[edit] Births
1642 - Mehmed IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1693) 1647 - Nathaniel Bacon, English-born American colonist (d. 1676) 1699 - Osman III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1757) 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) 1833 - Frederick A. Johnson, American politician (d. 1893) 1836 - Queen Emma of Hawaii, Consort of King Kamehameha IV (d. 1885) 1836 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Jewish writer (d. 1917) 1837 - Mily Balakirev, Russian composer (d. 1910) 1866 - Prof Gilbert Murray, Australian classical scholar (d. 1957) 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) 1886 - Apsley Cherry-Garrard, English Antarctic explorer (d. 1959) 1888 - Tito Schipa, Italian tenor (d. 1965) 1889 - Sir Bertram Stevens, Premier of New South Wales 1932-39 (d. 1973) 1892 - Seiichiro Kashio, Japanese tennis player (d. 1962) 1893 - Lillian Leitzel, German acrobat and strongwoman (d. 1931) 1895 - Count Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (d. 1948) 1896 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (d. 1954) 1896 - Sir Lawrence Wackett, Australian aircraft engineer (d. 1982) 1897 - Jim Londos, Greek wrestler (d. 1975) 1902 - Dan Keating, Irish republican (d. 2007) 1902 - Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998) 1904 - Sally Rand, American fan dancer (d. 1979) 1905 - Lev Schnirelmann, Russian mathematician (d. 1938) 1905 - Luigi Zampa, Italian film director and screenwriter (d. 1991) 1905 - Michael Tippett, English composer (d. 1998) 1910 - Srirangam Srinivasarao, Telugu Poet (d. 1983) 1913 - Anna Lee, English actress (d. 2004) 1917 - Vera Zorina, German dancer (d. 2003) 1918 - Willi Graf, German anti-Nazi activist (d. 1943) 1920 - Isaac Asimov, Russian author (d. 1992) 1921 - Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007) 1925 - William J. Crowe, American admiral and ambassador (d. 2007) 1925 - Larry Harmon, American entertainer and TV producer (d. 2008) 1928 - Robert Goralski, American journalist (d. 1988) 1928 - Avie Bennett, Canadian philanthropist 1928 - Daisaku Ikeda, Japanese writer 1930 - Julius LaRosa, American singer 1931 - Toshiki Kaifu, Japanese politician 1933 - Ed Casey, Australian politician (d. 2006) 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 1940 - S. R. S. Varadhan, Indian-American mathematician 1942 - Dennis Hastert, 59th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives 1942 - Hugh Shelton, 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1943 - Barış Manço, Turkish singer and television producer (d. 1999) 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 1950 - David Shifrin, American classical clarinetist 1951 - Alexander Pogrebinsky, Russian painter 1952 - Graeme Strachan, Australian rock singer (Skyhooks) (d. 2001) 1954 - Henry Bonilla, American politician 1954 - Dawn Silva, American singer (The Brides of Funkenstein, P-Funk) 1955 - Tex Brashear, American voice actor 1956 - Lynda Barry, American cartoonist 1957 - Joanna Pacula, Polish actress 1958 - Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian pianist 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 MartÃnez, American baseball player 1964 - Pernell Whitaker, American boxer 1965 - Greg Swindell, American baseball player 1967 - Tia Carrere, American actress 1967 - Jón Gnarr, Icelandic comedian 1967 - Francois Pienaar, South African rugby player 1968 - Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor 1968 - Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion 1968 - Evan Parke, Jamaican actor 1968 - Goichi Suda, Japanese video game developer 1969 - Karl-Heinz Grasser, Austrian politician 1969 - Patrick Huard, Quebec actor and comedian 1969 - Glen Johnson, Jamaican boxer 1969 - Tommy Morrison, American boxer 1969 - Róbert Å vehla, Slovak ice hockey player 1969 - Christy Turlington, American model 1969 - Robby Gordon, American racing driver 1970 - Royce Clayton, American baseball player 1970 - Robert Fertitta, American opera singer 1970 - Sanda LadoÅŸi, Romanian singer 1971 - Taye Diggs, American actor 1971 - Renee Elise Goldsberry, American actress and singer 1971 - Lisa Harrison, American basketball player 1972 - Adam Elliot, Australian animator 1972 - Christopher Lennertz, American composer 1972 - Hristos Meletoglou, Greek triple jumper 1973 - Lucy Davis, British actress 1973 - Will Kirby, American actor 1975 - Chris Cheney, Australian musician (The Living End) 1975 - Doug Robb, American singer (Hoobastank) 1975 - Dax Shepard, American actor 1975 - Reuben Thorne, New Zealand rugby union player 1976 - Hrysopiyi Devetzi, Greek triple jumper 1976 - Danilo Di Luca, Italian cyclist 1976 - Cletidus Hunt, American football player 1976 - Mahée Paiement, Canadian actress 1976 - Paz Vega, Spanish actress 1977 - Ales Pisa, Czech ice hockey player 1977 - Scott Proctor, American baseball player 1978 - Toyoguchi Megumi, Japanese seiyuu (voice actress) 1979 - Suranne Jones, British actress 1979 - Jonathan Greening, British footballer 1980 - Mac Danzig, American Mixed martial arts combatant 1981 - Hanno Balitsch, German footballer 1981 - Ryan Garko, American baseball player 1981 - Kirk Hinrich, American basketball player 1981 - Maxi RodrÃguez, Argentine footballer 1982 - Athanasia Tsoumeleka, Greek race walker 1983 - Kate Bosworth, American actress 1984 - Colleen Taylor, American journalist 1985 - Heather O'Reilly, American soccer player 1987 - Loui Batley, British actress 1987 - Syesha Mercado, American singer 1988 - Jonny Evans, Northern Irish footballer
[edit] Deaths
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) 1861 - King Frederick William IV of Prussia (b. 1795) 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) 1915 - Carl Goldmark, Hungarian composer (b. 1830) 1917 - Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (b. 1832) 1920 - Paul Adam, French novelist (b. 1862) 1924 - Sabine Baring-Gould, English composer and novelist (b. 1834) 1936 - Sir Francis Newdegate, Governor of Tasmania, Western Australia (b. 1862) 1939 - Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864) 1941 - Mischa Levitzki, Russian-American pianist (b. 1898) 1945 - Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, British naval commander (b. 1883) 1946 - Joe Darling, Australian cricketer (b. 1870) 1950 - James Dooley, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1877) 1950 - Emil Jannings, Swiss actor and the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor (b. 1884) 1951 - Sir William Campion, Governor of Western Australia (b. 1870) 1959 - Chris van Abkoude, Dutch-American writer and novelist (b. 1880) 1960 - Paul Sauvé, Canadian politician (b. 1907) 1960 - Fausto Coppi, Italian cyclist (b. 1919) 1963 - Dick Powell, American actor (b. 1904) 1963 - Jack Carson, American actor (b. 1910) 1971 - Willard Maas, American educator and experimental filmmaker (b. 1906) 1974 - Tex Ritter, American actor (b. 1905) 1977 - Errol Garner, American musician (b. 1921) 1983 - Dick Emery, English comedian (b. 1915) 1986 - Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903) 1986 - Bill Veeck, American baseball executive (b. 1914) 1986 - Dick James, English music publisher (Northern Songs) (b. 1920) 1990 - Alan Hale Jr., American actor (b. 1918) 1994 - Dixy Lee Ray, American politician (b. 1914) 1994 - Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (b. 1915) 1995 - Siad Barre, President of Somalia (b. 1919) 1995 - Nancy Kelly, American actress (b. 1921) 1996 - Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist (b. 1915) 1997 - Randy California, American guitarist & songwriter (Spirit) (b. 1951) 1998 - Frank Muir, English writer, raconteur (b. 1920) 1999 - Sebastian Haffner, German journalist and author (b. 1907) 2000 - Patrick O'Brian, British novelist (b. 1914) 2000 - Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., U.S. admiral (b. 1920) 2000 - Nat Adderley, American musician and composer (b. 1931) 2001 - William P. Rogers, American politician (b. 1913) 2001 - Teri Diver, American actress (b. 1971) 2002 - Armi Aavikko, Finnish singer (b. 1958) 2003 - Eric Jupp, British-Australian pianist, composer, arranger (b. 1922) 2004 - Jess Collins, American artist (b. 1923) 2004 - Lynn Cartwright, American actress (b. 1927) 2005 - Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist (b. 1911) 2005 - Cyril Fletcher, British comedian (b. 1913) 2005 - Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (b. 1921) 2005 - Frank Kelly Freas, American artist (b. 1922) 2005 - Ronald 'Bo' Ginn, American politician (b. 1934) 2006 - Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, first female Philippine Supreme Court Justice (b. 1913) 2007 - Teddy Kollek, Austrian-born mayor of Jerusalem (b. 1911) 2007 - David Perkins, Stanford University geneticist (b. 1919) 2007 - Mauno Jokipii, Finnish professor and World War II researcher (b. 1924) 2007 - Paek Nam-sun, North Korean Foreign Affairs minister (b. 1929) 2007 - Sergio Jiménez, Mexican actor (b. 1937) 2007 - Don Massengale, American PGA Tour golf player (b. 1937) 2007 - Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, American historian (b. 1941) 2007 - Robert C. Solomon, American scholar of continental philosophy (b. 1942) 2007 - Dan Shaver, NASCAR driver and ARCA race car driver/owner (b. 1950) 2007 - Richard Newton, Australian-born technology pioneer and professor (b. 1951) 2007 - Garry Betty, American CEO of Earthlink (b. 1957) 2008 - Gerry Staley, American baseball player (b. 1920) 2008 - Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krommaluang Narathiwat Rajanagarindra, elder sister of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand (b. 1923) 2008 - George MacDonald Fraser, British author (b. 1925) 2008 - Lee S. Dreyfus, American politician (b. 1926)
[edit] Holidays and observances
Second day of the Hogmanay Bank Holiday, Scotland Second day of New Year, Slovenia - Public holidays in Slovenia Second day of New Year, Serbia - Public holidays in Serbia Day after New Year's Day, New Zealand - Public holidays in New Zealand The eighth day of Christmas (and ninth night of same) in Western Christianity. Basil the Great Caspar del Bufalo Gregory of Nazianzus Macarius the Younger Seraphim of Sarov Saint Defendens of Thebes January 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)