January 2

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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).

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

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: 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 Marín 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.

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, five-term United States Senator from Arizona (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, also known as Sri Sri, Famous Modern Telugu Poet (d. 1983)
1913 - Anna Lee, English actress (d. 2004)
1917 - Vera Zorina, German dancer (d. 2003)
1918 - Willi Graf, member of the White Rose (Weiße Rose) resistance group in Nazi Germany (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)
1928 - Robert Goralski, American journalist (d. 1988)
1928 - Avie Bennett, Canadian philanthropist
1928 - Daisaku Ikeda, Japanese writer, president of SGI
1930 - Julius LaRosa, American singer
1931 - Toshiki Kaifu, Japanese Prime Minister 1989-91
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, composer, television producer and celebrity (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 "Shirley" Strachan, Australian rocker, lead singer with 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
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 Martínez, 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 Union player
1968 - Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor
1968 - Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
1968 - Evan Parke, Jamaican actor
1968 - Goichi Suda, CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture
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 Švehla, Slovak ice hockey player
1969 - Christy Turlington, American model
1970 - Royce Clayton, American baseball player
1970 - Robert Fertitta, American opera singer
1970 - Sanda Ladoşi, 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 jump & long jump athlete
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 Rodríguez, 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
1988 - Jonny Evans, Northern Irish footballer

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)