January 2


January 2 is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are
363 days remaining (364 in leap years).

Events

   * 366 - Alamanni cross frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading Roman
     Empire.
   * 1492 - Reconquista: Boabdil, King of Granada, leader of the last
     Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
   * 1757 - The United Kingdom captures Calcutta, India
   * 1788 - Georgia becomes the 4th state of the United States to ratify the
     US Constitution.
   * 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.
   * 1919 - Lithuania gains its independence
   * 1921 - The first religious radio broadcast (KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh,
     Pennsylvania)
   * 1921 - DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park San Francisco opens.
   * 1923 - United States Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall resigns as
     the result of his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal
   * 1929 - Canada and the United States agree on a plan to preserve Niagara
     Falls.
   * 1935 - Bruno Hauptmann goes on trail for the murder of Charles
     Lindbergh Jr.
   * 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

   * 1777 - Christian Daniel Rauch, sculptor (+ 1857)
   * 1822 - Rudolf Clausius, physicist, contributions to thermodynamics (+
     1888)
   * 1859 - Anna Sacher, hotelier, Sacher cake (+ 1930)
   * 1870 - Ernst Barlach, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet (+ 1938)
   * 1886 - Florence Lawrence, Hollywood's first "star" (+ 1938)
   * 1896 - Dziga Vertov, filmmaker
   * 1904 - Sally Rand, fan dancer (+ 1979)
   * 1905 - Michael Tippett, composer (+ 1998)
   * 1912 - Renato Guttuso, painter (+ 1987)
   * 1920 - Isaac Asimov, science fiction author (+ 1992)
   * 1936 - Roger Miller, country music singer (+ 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
   * 1924 - Sabine Baring-Gould, composer, novelist
   * 1939 - Roman Dmowski, politician
   * 1963 - Dick Powell, actor
   * 1974 - Tex Ritter, actor, singer
   * 1977 - Erroll Garner, jazz musician
   * 1990 - Alan Hale, actor
   * 1995 - Mohammed Siyad Barre, President of Somalia
   * 2000 - Patrick O'Brian, novelist

Holidays and observances

   * Catholicism - Feast day of St. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen.