December 2
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December 2 is the 336th day of the year (337th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 29 days remaining until the end of the year.
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Events [change]
- 1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years.
- 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: French troops under Napoleon defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force.
- 1823 – US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts.
- 1845 – US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
- 1867 – In a New York City theater, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
- 1908 – Child Emperor Pu Yi ascends the Chinese throne at the age of two
- 1930 – Great Depression: US President Herbert Hoover goes before the United States Congress and asks for a US$150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.
- 1942 – Manhattan Project: A team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
- 1943 – A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks an American ship with a mustard gas stockpile.
- 1954 – The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
- 1961 – In a nationally-broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
- 1971 – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm Al Quwain form the United Arab Emirates. Ras Al Khaimah joins in February 1972.
- 1971 – The Communist political party Pathet Lao takes power in Laos, creating the Lao People's Democratic Republic, with Souphanouvong as its first leader.
- 1972 – Gough Whitlam becomes Prime Minister of Australia
- 1976 – Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.
- 1988 – Benazir Bhutto becomes Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- 1990 – A coalition led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins the first free all-German elections since 1932.
- 1993 – Drug dealer Pablo Escobar is shot dead by Colombian police.
- 1999 – The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive.
- 2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- 2008 – Somchai Wongsawat resigns as Prime Minister of Thailand.
- 2010 – Russia and Qatar are announced as hosts of the FIFA World Cup, for 2018 and 2022 respectively.
Births [change]
- 1578 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and music theorist (d. 1640)
- 1694 – William Shirley, colonial Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1771)
- 1760 – John Breckinridge, American politician (d. 1806)
- 1825 – Pedro II of Brazil (d. 1891)
- 1846 – Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French statesman (d. 1904)
- 1859 – Georges Seurat, French painter (d. 1891)
- 1885 – George Richards Minot, American physician (d. 1950)
- 1891 – Otto Dix, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1969)
- 1897 – Hovhannes Bagramyan, Soviet politician (d. 1982)
- 1899 – John Barbirolli, English conductor (d. 1970)
- 1899 – John Cobb, British racing driver (d. 1952)
- 1901 – Raimundo Orsi, Argentine-Italian footballer (d. 1986)
- 1914 – Ray Walston, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Prince Mikasa, Japanese royal
- 1923 – Maria Callas, Greek-American soprano (d. 1977)
- 1924 – Alexander Haig, American politician, United States Secretary of State (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Julie Harris, American actress
- 1930 – Gary Becker, American economist
- 1934 – Sissela Bok, Swedish philosopher and ethicist
- 1939 – Harry Reid, American politician
- 1944 – Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (d. 2006)
- 1946 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer (d. 1997)
- 1947 – Rudolf Scharping, German politician
- 1948 – Antonin Manenka, Czechoslovakian footballer
- 1960 – Rick Savage, British musician (Def Leppard)
- 1968 – David Batty, English footballer
- 1968 – Nate Mendel, American musician (Foo Fighters)
- 1968 – Lucy Liu, American actress
- 1971 – Francesco Toldo, Italian footballer
- 1972 – Sergei Zholtok, Latvian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
- 1973 – Monica Seles, Yugoslavian-born tennis player
- 1973 – Jan Ullrich, German cyclist
- 1978 – Maelle Ricker, Canadian snowboarder
- 1978 – Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1978 – Chris Wolstenholme, English bassist (Muse)
- 1979 – Yvonne Catterfeld, German singer and actress
- 1981 – Britney Spears, American singer
- 1983 – Chris Burke, Scottish footballer
- 1983 – Aaron Rodgers, American Football player
Deaths [change]
- 1348 – Emperor Hanazano of Japan (b. 1297)
- 1469 – Piero di Cosimo de' Medici of Florence (b. 1416)
- 1547 – Hernán Cortés, Spanish explorer (b. 1485)
- 1594 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mapmaker (b. 1512)
- 1794 – Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost, German physician and theologian (b. 1715)
- 1810 – Philipp Otto Runge, German painter (b. 1777)
- 1814 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher (b. 1740)
- 1815 – Jan Potocki, Polish writer and historian (b. 1761)
- 1849 – Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen Consort of William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
- 1859 – John Brown, American abolitionist (b. 1800)
- 1863 – Jane Pierce, American First Lady, wife of Franklin Pierce (b. 1806)
- 1943 – Nordahl Grieg, Norwegian author and journalist (b. 1902)
- 1944 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian writer (b. 1876)
- 1974 – Max Weber, Swiss politician (b. 1897)
- 1980 – Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1905)
- 1980 – Romain Gary, Lithuanian-born French writer (b. 1914)
- 1982 – Marty Feldman, British-American actor and director (b. 1934)
- 1982 – Giovanni Ferrari, Italian footballer (b. 1907)
- 1985 – Philip Larkin, English poet (b. 1922)
- 1986 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born actor and bandleader (b. 1917)
- 1987 – Luis Federico Leloir, French-Argentine chemist (b. 1906)
- 1990 – Aaron Copland, American composer (b. 1900)
- 1993 – Pablo Escobar, Colombian druglord (b. 1949)
- 1999 – Charlie Byrd, American jazz musician (b. 1925)
- 2004 – Alicia Markova, British ballet dancer (b. 1910)
- 2005 – Kenneth Lee Boyd, American convicted murderer (b. 1948)
- 2009 – Eric Woolfson, British musician and producer (b. 1945)
- 2010 – Ron Santo, American baseball player (b. 1940)
- 2011 – Chiyono Hasegawa, Japanese supercentenarian (b. 1896)
- 2011 – Bill Tapia, American musician (b. 1908)
Holidays and observances [change]
- Laos – National Day
- United Arab Emirates – National Day (independence from Britain, 1971)
- International Day for the Abolition of Slavery – United Nations
