January 2: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 363 days (364 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

• 366 - Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading Roman Empire.
• 533 - Mercurius became 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 4th state to ratify the United States Constitution.
• 1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland.
• 1818 - British Institution of Civil Engineers formed.
• 1860 - The discovery of the planet Vulcan was announced at a meeting of the Académie des Sciences in Paris.
• 1870 - Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
• 1871 - Amadeus I becomes King of Spain.
• 1872 - Brigham Young is arrested for bigamy (25 wives).
• 1879 - Fred Spofforth claims the first Hat-trick in test cricket on the Sydney Cricket Ground against England.
• 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.
• 1893 - Introduction by Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America: Railroad chronometers.
• 1900 - John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
• 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 AM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) .
• 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 Charles Lindbergh Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.
• 1941 - WWII: German bombing severely damaged the Llandaff Cathedral, built in 1290 on the bank of the River Taff in Cardiff, Wales.
• 1941 - The U.S. government announces its Liberty ship program with a stated goal of building 200 freighters. Over 2,700 ships will eventually be constructed by the end of the war.
• 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 his rule over Albania after World War II, King Zog abdicated but retained his claim to the throne.
• 1949 - Luis Muñoz Marín became the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
• 1955 - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated.
• 1957 - San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange and Los Angeles Oil Exchange merge.
• 1959 - The first artificial satellite to orbit the sun, Luna 1, was launched by the U.S.S.R.
• 1967 - Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the second successful heart transplant.
• 1969 - Luis Ferré becomes first statehooder Governor of Puerto Rico.
• 1971 - The second Ibrox disaster occurred.
• 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 2,377 shows at the Uris Theatre on Broadway.
• 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.
• 1991 - Linus Torvalds bought the computer which got Linux started.
• 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.
• 1999 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern USA, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487 mm) at Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C), and 68 deaths are reported.
• 2001 - Sila Calderón becomes first female Governor of Puerto Rico.
• 2002 - Levy Mwanawasa takes office as the third President of Zambia.
• 2004 - Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to Earth two years later.
• 2006 - An explosion in a coal mine leads to the death of 12 of 13 miners in the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia.
• 2006 - Fifteen die in the Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof collapse in Bavaria, Germany.
• 2006 - The Way of the Master radio show begins daily airing, hosted by actor Kirk Cameron, evangelist Ray Comfort, and veteran talk show personality Todd Friel.

• 1642 - Mehmed IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1693)
• 1713 - Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d. 1803)
• 1719 - Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (d. 1797)
• 1727 - James Wolfe, British general (d. 1759)
• 1777 - Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (d. 1857)
• 1822 - Rudolf Clausius, German physicist (d. 1888)
• 1836 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian writer (d. 1917)
• 1837 - Mily Balakirev, Russian composer (d. 1910)
• 1870 - Ernst Barlach, German sculptor, graphic artist, and poet (d. 1938)
• 1877 - Slava Raskaj, Croatian painter (d.1906)
• 1886 - Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (d. 1938)
• 1896 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (d. 1954)
• 1904 - Sally Rand, American fan dancer (d. 1979)
• 1905 - Michael Tippett, English composer (d. 1998)
• 1913 - Anna Lee, English actress (d. 2004)
• 1917 - Vera Zorina, German dancer and actress (d. 2003)
• 1920 - Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (d. 1992)
• 1930 - Julius LaRosa, American singer
• 1933 - Morimura Seiichi, Japanese novelist and author
• 1936 - Roger Miller, American singer (d. 1992)
• 1938 - Ian Brady, British serial killer
• 1938 - Hans Herbjørnsrud, Norwegian author
• 1939 - Jim Bakker, American televangelist
• 1942 - Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the US House
• 1942 - Hugh Shelton, American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• 1944 - Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
• 1947 - Jack Hanna, American zoologist
• 1947 - Calvin Hill, American football player
• 1949 - Christopher Durang, American playwright
• 1954 - Henry Bonilla, American politician
• 1954 - Dawn Silva, American singer (The Brides of Funkenstein and P-Funk)
• 1955 - Tex Brashear, American voice actor
• 1958 - Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian pianist
• 1960 - Christian Bartolf, Gandhi Information Center, author and scientist
• 1960 - Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga author and artist
• 1961 - Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
• 1961 - Todd Haynes, American film director
• 1963 - David Cone, baseball player
• 1963 - Edgar Martinez, baseball player
• 1964 - Pernell Whitaker, American boxer
• 1965 - Greg Swindell, baseball player
• 1967 - Tia Carrere, American actress
• 1968 - Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor
• 1968 - Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
• 1969 - Tommy Morrison, American boxer
• 1969 - Christy Turlington, American model
• 1971 - Lisa Harrison, American basketball player
• 1972 - Taye Diggs, American actor
• 1974 - Tricia Helfer, Canadian actress and model
• 1975 - Doug Robb, American singer (Hoobastank)
• 1976 - Paz Vega, Spanish actress
• 1983 - Kate Bosworth, American actress

• 1512 - Svante, Regent of Sweden (b. 1460)
• 1514 - William Smyth, English bishop and statesman
• 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)
• 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)
• 1917 - Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (b. 1832)
• 1924 - Sabine Baring-Gould, English composer and novelist (b. 1834)
• 1939 - Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864)
• 1960 - Fausto Coppi, Italian cyclist(b. 1919)
• 1963 - Dick Powell, American actor (b. 1904)
• 1974 - Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (b. 1905)
• 1977 - Errol Garner, American musician (b. 1921)
• 1986 - Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903)
• 1986 - Bill Veeck, baseball executive (b. 1914)
• 1990 - Alan Hale Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
• 1995 - Siad Barre, President of Somalia
• 1996 - Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1915)
• 2000 - Nat Adderley, American musician and composer (b. 1931)
• 2000 - Patrick O'Brian, British novelist (b. 1914)
• 2000 - Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., American admiral (b. 1920)
• 2001 - Teri Diver, American adult film actress (b. 1971)
• 2004 - Lynn Cartwright, American actress (b. 1927)
• 2004 - Jess Collins, American artist (b. 1923)
• 2005 - Cyril Fletcher, British comedian (b. 1913)
• 2005 - Frank Kelly Freas, American artist (b. 1922)
• 2005 - Ronald 'Bo' Ginn, U.S. Congressman from Georgia (b. 1934)
• 2005 - Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist (b. 1911)
• 2005 - Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (b. 1921)

• The eighth day of Christmas (and ninth night of same) in Western Christianity.
• Catholicism and Anglicanism — Feast day of St. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen.
• Scotland — Second day of the Hogmanay Bank Holiday.
• New Zealand — Statutory holiday, Second day of New Year.
• Slovenia — Second day of New Year.

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