January 2: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – January 2 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. In the year 366 AD the Roman Empire was invaded by The Alamanni who crossed the frozen river Rheine in large numbers.
2. In 533 AD John II became the Catholic Pope.
3. In 1570 Tsar Ivan the Terrible starts his march to Novgorod.
18th Century – What Happened on January 2 – The 1700s
4. In 1757 Calcutta in India was occupied by British troops.
5. On this day in 1758 French troops began a bombardment of Madras.
6. On this day in 1776, the first US revolutionary flag was displayed.
7. In 1788 Georgia became the 4th state to ratify the US Constitution.
19th Century – January 2 This Day That Year – The 1800s
8. The US Congress was petitioned to abolish the slave trade by the Free African-American community of Philadelphia in the year 1800.
9. On 2nd January 1807 the bill for the “abolition of slave trade” was presented in the British Parliament by Lord Granville. He presented it directly in the House of Lords. It was cleared by the House of Lords first and then was cleared by the House of Commons.
10. The head of the Russian Army M. Kutuzov announced the end of the Russian War on 2nd January 1813 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
11. The British Institute of Civil Engineers was founded in the year 1818.
12. The Orchard Lake Curling Club, which was the first curling club opened in the year 1832.
13. The year 1833 marked the re-establishment of British Rule on the Falklands.
14. The first wire suspension bridge was opened to traffic in the US in the year 1842.
15. The year 1863 marks the end of the Battle of Murfreesboro.
16. 1879 marks the explosion of a British battleship killing nine people.
17. In the year 1879 Dr. Benjamin Mays became the president of the Atlanta Board of Education.
18. Fred Spofforth becomes the first bowler to take a hat-trick in a test match at MCG in the year 1879.
19. On 2nd January 1882, prompted by the monopoly laws, Standard Oil formed a trust. A board of trustees was formed and the assets of Standard Oil were placed in their hands.
20. Standard Oil was organized as a trust in 1882 because of anti-monopoly laws.
21. The last distress signal from General Gordon in Khartoum was received by General Wolseley in 1885.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day January 2nd – The 1900s
22. In the year 1900 the open-door policy to promote trade with China was announced by John Hay.
23. The year 1900 marked the beginning of the manufacture of 7” single-sided records by E. Verlinger.
24. The Premier of Gustave Charpentier’s opera “Louise” was held in Paris in the year 1900.
25. The post office in Indianola Miss, refuses to accept the appointment of the postmistress as she was black and therefore was ordered to be closed by President T. Roosevelt in 1903.
26. On 2nd January 1904, U.S. Marines were sent to Santo Domingo to aid the government in fighting the rebels.
27. On this day in 1905, Russians surrendered Port Arthur to Japan after a month’s siege.
28. 1905 marks the formation of the union known as Industrial Workers of the World by the American anarcho-syndicalists union.
29. In 1905 the national morale of Russia got a beating when Japanese troops captured Port Arthur from Russia. This caused more discontent within Russia.
30. A satellite of Jupiter, Elara was discovered in 1905 by Charles Dillon Perrine in San Jose, California.
31. Willis Carrier, an engineer received the US patent for the first air-conditioner in the year 1906.
32. In 1908, Canada opened its branch of the Royal Mint in Ottawa.
33. 1910 marks the opening of the 1st Junior high school in the US, at Berkeley, California.
34. Mahatma Gandhi leaves Tolstoy Farm, which was the headquarters of the Satyagraha movement in Transvaal, South Africa in 1913.
35. 1913 marks the formation of the National Women’s Party.
36. In 1914 research department was installed by Philips in Eindhoven.
37. Quebec Bank was taken over by the Royal Bank of Canada in 1917.
38. There was an anti-British uprising in Ireland on this day in the year 1919.
39. In 1919, the New York Stock Market installed a separate ticker for trading bonds via the New York Stock Market.
40. On this day in the year 1920, US Attorney General Palmer authorized raids across the country on unionists and socialists, in response to global fear of communism caused by the Russian Revolution.
41. In 1921 on this day religious service was broadcast on the radio in the US
42. On this day in 1923, Irving Fish spoke strongly in favor of capitalism and using capitalism to prevent the country from being devoured by socialism.
43. In 1923, a black residential area in Rosewood was attacked by the Ku Klux Klan, killing eight people.
44. The record of 8 hour flight for endurance of a female pilot was shattered by Evelyn “Bobby” Trout who flew for 12 hours and 11 minutes on 2nd January 1929.
45. In 1929 an agreement was signed by Canada and the United States to protect Niagara Falls.
46. On this day in 1932, six policemen were shot dead in Springfield Missouri by the Young gang.
47. US troops vacate Nicaragua on this day in 1933.
48. Don Bradman scores 103 not out against the body line attack of England in the 2nd test match on 2nd Jan 1933.
49. On this day in 1934, Pennsylvania opened its first state liquor shop. On this day in 1935, the trial of Bruno Richard Hauptman, for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindberg Jr. began.
50. On this day in 1936, Nazi officials claimed that how they treated Jews was not any of the business of the League of Nations.
51. On 2nd January 1936 the first electron tube to enable night vision was described in St Louis, Mo.
52. On 2nd January 1941, the US government, decided to build freighters to support the war effort and announced its Liberty ship program.
53. The song “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, which became a World War II hit was recorded by the Andrew sisters on 2nd January 1941.
54. On this day in 1941, the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Whales was heavily damaged by German bombing.
55. 2nd January 1942 marks the occupation of Manila in the Philippines by the Japanese troops.
56. On this day in 1942, German troops surrendered in Bardia.
57. A blimp base was opened in Lakehurst New Jersey by the US Navy on this day in 1942.
58. On this day in 1943, Buna in New Guinea was captured by the Allies.
59. To protect the endangered population of Europe, a war refugee board was established by the United States of America on 2nd January 1944.
60. 2nd January 1944 marks the sailing of the first Atlantic convoy from New York to Liverpool. The convoy used the antisubmarine helicopter patrol capability. It had three such helicopters.
61. 2nd January 1944 British Atlantic patrol used helicopters for the first time in the war.
62. In 1945 Nuremburg was raided by the Allied forces destroying 90% of the city centre in one hour.
63. This day in 1947 marks the beginning of a peace march by Mahatma Gandhi in East Bengal.
64. On this day in 1949, Puerto Rico got its first democratically elected Governor Luis Munoz Martin.
65. In 1955 on this day the President of Panama Jose Antonio Remon was assassinated.
66. It was on 2nd January 1960 that Senator John F Kennedy of Massachusetts announced his candidature for the Democratic presidential nomination.
67. It was on 2nd January 1960, that a small town in South Australia, Oodnadatta, recorded a record temperature of 50.7°C.
68. On January 2nd, 1963 five US helicopters were shot down in the Mekong Delta, by the Viet Cong leaving 30 people dead.
69. On this day in 1963 in San Francisco gas pipeline leak at Nevada at Crescent Avenue in Bernal Heights caused an explosion killing nine firefighters.
70. This day in 1965 marked the beginning of the drive to register black voters by Martin Luther King.
71. 2nd January 1966 marks the birth of the first Jewish child in Spain after the expulsion of Jews in the year 1492.
72. On 2nd January 1968 Christen Bernard performed their second heart transplant surgery.
73. 2nd January 1969 marks the Premier in NYC of the play “To Be Young, Gifted & Black” by Lorraine Hansberry.
74. On 2nd January 1973 the US admitted that it accidentally bombed Hanoi Hospital.
75. On 2nd January 1974 President Nixon signed legislation that required states to limit highway speeds to 55 MPH. Earlier different states had different speed limits.
76. 2nd January 1978, Sri Lankan president Junius Richard Jayewerdene, became the first president to have true executive powers.
77. 2nd January 1981 a traffic violation resulted in the arrest of a Yorkshire ripper. He admitted to being the ripper on 4th January 1981. He was wanted for the murder of 13 women.
78. On 2nd January 1982 Somali National Movement launched its first military operation against the government, operating from bases established in Ethiopia.
79. January 2nd, 1988 marked the signing of the agreement between President Carter of the US and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to lift the trade restriction between the countries.
80. On 2nd January 1991, in Washington DC the first black woman as mayor when Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as Mayor.
81. On this day in 1991 US President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a strategic arms treaty in Moscow which the Russian President called “our joint gift to the people of the world.
82. On this day in 1995, Russian troops were driven out of the capital of Grozny by the Chechen defenders.
83. On 2nd January 1997, movie theaters in Bombay remained closed to protest against the doubling of the ticket tax by the state. The theater provides half the funding of about 120 films produced annually.
84. On 2nd January 1997, The Russian oil tanker Nakhodka broke into two about 90 miles off the coast of Japan causing a lot of oil spills. The bow of the tanker ran aground about 110 miles northwest of Tokyo five days later.
85. President Seiko’s 32,000 square miles of Kilomoto gold mining region was captured by Zaire rebel troops on 2nd January 1997.
86. On this day in 1997, President Milosevic and his government were accused of stealing elections and provoking bloodshed by the criticism issued by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
87. On this day in 1997, the ruling party in Singapore captured all but two seats in the parliamentary elections. Government-built apartments house more than 85% of the 3 million population in Singapore.
88. On January 2nd, 1998, Italy pledged to grant political asylum to genuine Kurdish immigrants. 1300 more immigrants were scheduled to arrive from Turkey.
89. 2nd January 1999 witnessed heavy snowfall in Chicago. 22” of snow fell on the city. In Detroit 4000 travelers were stranded in the planes on the tarmac for about 9 hours.
90. On this day in 1999, a UN plane was shot dead soon after takeoff from Huambo by Anglo rebel forces. 9 people were killed.
91. On this day in 1999, 71 suspected Muslim militants were arrested by the police in Egypt on suspicion of plotting to kill senior government officials.
21st Century – January 2 This Day In History – The 2000s
92. 2nd January 2001 witnessed the resignation of the Administrative Reforms Minister of Indonesia Ryaas Rasyid because the government was moving too slowly to decentralize Administrative Policies.
93. 2nd January 2001 marked the first legal and direct crossing of ships between China and Taiwan in more than half a century.
94. On 2nd January 2001 Cambodian legislature voted to create a special tribunal to try leaders of the 1970 Khmer Rouge regime.
95. On 2nd January 2002, the killing of Taliban’s intelligence chief Qari Ahmadullah in an American bombing was confirmed by the Afghan government.
96. On January 2nd, 2002, the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan shook hands at the regional summit in Nepal.
97. On this day in 2002, militants in Kashmir detonated 2 grenades near the legislature killing one police officer and wounding at least 24. Later at Darhal an Indian Military post, militants killed two soldiers.
98. 2nd January 2004, Argentina witnessed an explosion at a supermarket that sold illegal fireworks near Buenos Aires. It left five people dead and a dozen injured. A gas leak was blamed for the explosion.
99. On Jan 2nd, 2004, British flights to Washington and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia were canceled as a security precaution.
100. On 2nd January 2005, a suicide bomber in Bagdad detonated a car bomb killing 22 Iraqi soldiers. Ten Iraqi soldiers were killed elsewhere in Iraq.
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