January 2

Events

• 366 - Alamanni cross frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading Roman Empire.
• 1492 - Reconquista: Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
• 1757 - The United Kingdom captures Calcutta, India
• 1788 - Georgia becomes the 4th state to ratify the United States Constitution.
• 1815 - Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke, Seaham, County Durham
• 1818 - British Institution of Civil Engineers formed
• 1859 - Erastus Beadle publishes The Dime Book of Practical Etiquette.
• 1870 - Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins
• 1871 - Amadeus I becomes King of Spain
• 1872 - Brigham Young is arrested for bigamy (25 wives).
• 1882 - John D. Rockefeller unites his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust
• 1890 - Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer for the White House.
• 1900 - John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
• 1900 - Chicago Canal opens.
• 1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian fleet surrenders at Port Arthur, China
• 1917 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank.
• 1921 - The first religious radio broadcast (KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• 1921 - DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park San Francisco opens.
• 1923 - U.S. Interior Secretary Albert Fall resigns due to 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 the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.
• 1942 - World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces.
• 1942 - The United States Navy opens a blimp base at Lakehurst, New Jersey
• 1955 - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated.
• 1957 - San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge.
• 1959 - CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Backstage Wife Our Gal Sunday, Road of Life, and This is Nora Drake.
• 1968 - Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant.
• 1971 - 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland.
• 1974 - Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum US speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
• 1979 - Sid Vicious goes on trial for the murder of Nancy Spungen
• 1981 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is arrested
• 1983 - The musical Annie is performed for the last time after after 2,377 shows (Uris Theatre on Broadway, New York City).
• 1991 - Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first African American woman to lead a city of that size and importance.
• 1993 - Leaders of the three warring factions in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans.
• 1998 - Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.

Births

• 1727 - James Wolfe, British general in French & Indian War
• 1777 - Christian Daniel Rauch, sculptor, (d. 1857)
• 1822 - Rudolf Clausius, physicist, contributions to thermodynamics, (d. 1888)
• 1836 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, writer, (d. 1917)
• 1859 - Anna Sacher, hotelier, Sacher cake, (d. 1930)
• 1870 - Ernst Barlach, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet, (d. 1938)
• 1886 - Florence Lawrence, Hollywood's first "star", (d. 1938)
• 1896 - Dziga Vertov, filmmaker, (d. 1954)
• 1904 - Sally Rand, fan dancer, (d. 1979)
• 1905 - Michael Tippett, composer, (d. 1998)
• 1912 - Renato Guttuso, painter, (d. 1987)
• 1917 - Vera Zorina, dancer, actress
• 1920 - Isaac Asimov, science fiction author, (d. 1992)
• 1936 - Roger Miller, country music singer, (d. 1992)
• 1939 - Jim Bakker, televangelist
• 1939 - Konstanze Vernon, dancer
• 1949 - Christopher Durang, playwright
• 1954 - Dawn Silva, singer (The Brides of Funkenstein, P-Funk)
• 1963 - David Cone, baseball star
• 1965 - Diane Lane, actress
• 1966 - Tia Carrere, actress
• 1968 - Cuba Gooding Jr., actor
• 1969 - Christy Turlington, fashion model
• 1972 - Taye Diggs, actor

Deaths

• 1904 - James Longstreet, Confederate general, (b. 1821)
• 1917 - Edward Burnett Tylor, anthropologist, (b. 1832)
• 1924 - Sabine Baring-Gould, composer, novelist, (b. 1834)
• 1939 - Roman Dmowski, politician
• 1963 - Dick Powell, actor, (b. 1904)
• 1974 - Tex Ritter, actor, singer, (b. 1905)
• 1977 - Erroll Garner, jazz musician
• 1990 - Alan Hale, actor
• 1995 - Mohammed Siyad Barre, President of Somalia
• 2000 - Patrick O'Brian, novelist, (b. 1914)

Holidays and observances

• The ninth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• Catholicism - Feast day of St. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen.

January 1 - January 3 - December 2 - February 2 -- listing of all days

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