December 2


December 2 is the 336th day (337th on leap years) of the year in the
Gregorian calendar. There are 29 days remaining.

Events

   * 1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte crowned Emperor of France
   * 1805 - Battle of Austerlitz
   * 1823 - James Monroe delivers speech to congress that would later be
     dubbed the Monroe Doctrine
   * 1848 - Franz Josef I becomes Emperor of Austria
   * 1852 - Napoleon III becomes Emperor of France
   * 1942 - First demonstration of a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction,
     at the University of Chicago by Enrico Fermi and colleagues.
   * 1954 - United States Senate condemns Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that
     tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."
   * 1958 - Benelux Economic Union formed
   * 1971 - United Arab Emirates formed
   * 1982 - First successful artificial heart transplant

Births

   * 1694 - William Shirley, Colonial Governor of Massachusetts (+ 1771)
   * 1738 - Richard Montgomery, Irish-American soldier
   * 1817 - Heinrich von Sybel, historian (+ 1895)
   * 1859 - Georges Seurat, painter (+ 1891)
   * 1891 - Otto Dix, painter and graphic artist (+ 1969)
   * 1899 - John Barbirolli, conductor (+ 1970)
   * 1899 - John R. Cobb, automobile racer (+ 1952)
   * 1906 - Peter Goldmark, inventor, engineer (+ 1977)
   * 1909 - Marion GrŠfin Dšnhoff, publisher (+ 2002)
   * 1914 - Ray Walston, actor (+ 2001)
   * 1914 - Adolph Green, composer (+ 2002)
   * 1923 - Maria Callas, opera singer (+ 1977)
   * 1924 - Alexander M. Haig, Jr., US politician
   * 1925 - Julie Harris, actress
   * 1930 - Gary Becker, economist
   * 1931 - Edwin Meese, American politician
   * 1944 - Botho Strau§, author
   * 1945 - Penelope Spheeris, director
   * 1946 - Gianni Versace, designer (+ 1997)
   * 1952 - Michael McDonald, musician
   * 1962 - Tracy Austin, tennis player
   * 1968 - Lucy Liu, actress
   * 1973 - Jan Ullrich, cyclist and winner of the 1997 Tour de France
   * 1973 - Monica Seles, tennis player
   * 1981 - Britney Spears, singer

Deaths

   * 1547 - Hern‡n Fernando CortŽs, Spanish explorer and conqueror
   * 1552 - Francis Xavier, Catholic missionary
   * 1594 - Gerardus Mercator, cartographer
   * 1814 - Marquis de Sade, writer
   * 1849 - Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen - queen consort of King William IV of
     the United Kingdom
   * 1859 - John Brown, militant abolitionist (hanged)
   * 1892 - Jay Gould, entrepreneur
   * 1969 - Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov, Russian politician
   * 1980 - Romain Gary, writer
   * 1982 - Marty Feldman, comedian
   * 1983 - Fifi D'Orsay, actress
   * 1986 - Desi Arnaz, actor, musician, band leader, composer
   * 1990 - Aaron Copland, composer
   * 1995 - Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist