2 January

Events

Pre-1600

* 69 – The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor.
* 366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.
* 533 – Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
* 1492 – Reconquista: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.

1601–1900

*1680 – Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram and his bodyguards execute the rebel leader Trunajaya.
*1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces under the command of George Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey.
*1788 – Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
* 1791 – Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, North America, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War.
*1818 – The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded by a group of six engineers; Thomas Telford would later become its first president.
* 1865 – Uruguayan War: The Siege of Paysandú ends as the Brazilians and Coloradans capture Paysandú, Uruguay.
*1900 – American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
*1900 – Chicago Canal opens.

1901–present

* 1920 – The second Palmer Raid, ordered by the US Department of Justice, results in 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists being arrested and held without trial.
* 1921 – World premiere of the science fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek R.U.R. in theater in Hradec Králové.Jarka M. Burien, "Čapek, Karel" in Gabrielle H. Cody, Evert Sprinchorn (eds.) ''The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama'', Volume One. Columbia University Press, 2007. , (pp. 224–225).
*1941 – World War II: The Cardiff Blitz severely damages the cathedral in Cardiff, Wales.
*1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtains the conviction of 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history; Also known as the Duquesne Spy Ring.
* 1942 – World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces, enabling them to control the Philippines.
*1949 – Luis Muñoz Marín is inaugurated as the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
* 1954 – India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.
* 1955 – Following the assassination of the Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera, his deputy, José Ramón Guizado, takes power, but is quickly deposed after his involvement in Cantera's death is discovered.
* 1959 – '' Luna 1'', the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
*1963 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.
*1967 – Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.
*1971 – The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers- Celtic association football (soccer) match.
*1974 – United States President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
*1975 – At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.
* 1975 – The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by the United States Congress.
*1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, affecting countries from Ireland to Yugoslavia and causing at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.
* 1978 – On the orders of the President of Pakistan, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.
*1981 – One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
* 1988 – Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 crashes near Seferihisar, Turkey, killing 16 people.
*1991 – Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.
*1993 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.
*2004 – ''Stardust'' successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.

Births

Pre-1600

* 869 – Yōzei, Japanese emperor (d. 949)
* 1462 – Piero di Cosimo, Italian painter (d. 1522)
*1509 – Henry of Stolberg, German nobleman (d. 1572)

1601–1900

* 1642 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (d. 1693)
*1647 – Nathaniel Bacon, English-American rebel leader (d. 1676)
*1699 – Osman III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1757)
*1713 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d. 1803)
*1727 – James Wolfe, English general (d. 1759)
* 1732 – František Brixi, Czech organist and composer (d. 1771)
*1777 – Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor and educator (d. 1857)
* 1803 – Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1869)
*1822 – Rudolf Clausius, Polish-German physicist and mathematician (d. 1888)
*1827 – Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, Russian geographer and statistician (d. 1914)
*1833 – Frederick A. Johnson, American banker and politician (d. 1893)
* 1836 – Mendele Mocher Sforim, Russian author (d. 1917)
* 1836 – Queen Emma of Hawaii (d. 1885)
* 1837 – Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1910)
* 1857 – M. Carey Thomas, American educator and activist (d. 1935)
* 1860 – Dugald Campbell Patterson, Canadian engineer (d. 1931)
* 1860 – William Corless Mills, American historian and curator (d. 1928)
*1866 – Gilbert Murray, Australian-English playwright and scholar (d. 1957)
*1870 – Ernst Barlach, German sculptor and playwright (d. 1938)
* 1870 – Tex Rickard, American boxing promoter and businessman (d. 1929)
*1873 – Antonie Pannekoek, Dutch astronomer and theorist (d. 1960)
* 1873 – Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (d. 1897)
* 1878 – Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai, Indian activist, founded the Nair Service Society (d. 1970)
* 1884 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli historian and politician, 4th Israeli Minister of Education (d. 1973)
*1885 – Gordon Flowerdew, Canadian lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
*1886 – Apsley Cherry-Garrard, English explorer and author (d. 1959)
* 1889 – Bertram Stevens, Australian accountant and politician, 25th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1973)
*1891 – Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect and urban planner, designed the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station (d. 1990)
* 1892 – Seiichiro Kashio, Japanese tennis player (d. 1962)
* 1895 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (d. 1948)
* 1896 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (d. 1954)
* 1896 – Lawrence Wackett, Australian commander and engineer (d. 1982)
*1897 – Theodore Plucknett, English legal historian (d. 1965)
*1900 – Una Ledingham, British physician, known for research on diabetes in pregnancy (d. 1965)

1901–present

* 1901 – Bob Marshall, American activist, co-founded The Wilderness Society (d. 1939)
*1902 – Dan Keating, Irish Republican Army volunteer (d. 2007)
*1903 – Kane Tanaka, Japanese Supercentenarian, Oldest Japanese person ever, Second oldest verified person in world history (d. 2022)
* 1904 – Walter Heitler, German physicist and chemist (d. 1981)
* 1905 – Luigi Zampa, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1991)
* 1905 – Michael Tippett, English composer and conductor (d. 1998)
*1909 – Barry Goldwater, American politician, businessman, and author (d. 1998)
* 1909 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer and author (d. 2009)
*1913 – Anna Lee, English-American actress (d. 2004)
* 1913 – Juanita Jackson Mitchell, American lawyer and activist (d. 1992)
* 1917 – Vera Zorina, German-Norwegian actress and dancer (d. 2003)
*1918 – Willi Graf, German physician and activist (d. 1943)
*1919 – Ernest Bender, American Indologist (d. 1996)
* 1919 – Beatrice Hicks, American engineer (d. 1979)
* 1920(probable) – Isaac Asimov, American writer and professor of biochemistry (d. 1992)
* 1921 – Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
* 1926 – Gino Marchetti, American football player (d. 2019)
* 1928 – Dan Rostenkowski, American politician (d. 2010)
*1929 – Tellervo Koivisto, Finnish politician, former First Lady of Finland
*1931 – Toshiki Kaifu, Japanese lawyer and politician, 76th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
*1934 – John Hollowbread, English footballer, goalkeeper (d. 2007)
*1936 – Roger Miller, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 1992)
* 1938 – David Bailey, English photographer and painter
* 1938 – Lynn Conway, American computer scientist and electrical engineer
* 1938 – Robert Smithson, American sculptor and photographer (d. 1973)
* 1940 – Jim Bakker, American televangelist
* 1940 – Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian economist and politician, Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015)
*1942 – Dennis Hastert, American educator and politician, 59th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
* 1942 – Thomas Hammarberg, Swedish lawyer and diplomat
*1943 – Janet Akyüz Mattei, Turkish-American astronomer (d. 2004)
*1944 – Charlie Davis, Trinidadian cricketer
* 1944 – Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian field marshal and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia (d. 2021)
* 1944 – Péter Eötvös, Hungarian composer and conductor
*1947 – Calvin Hill, American football player
* 1947 – David Shapiro, American poet, historian, and critic
* 1947 – Jack Hanna, American zoologist and author
*1949 – Christopher Durang, American playwright and screenwriter
* 1949 – Iris Marion Young, American political scientist and academic (d. 2006)
* 1952 – Indulis Emsis, Latvian biologist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Latvia
* 1954 – Henry Bonilla, American broadcaster and politician
* 1954 – Évelyne Trouillot, Haitian playwright and author
*1961 – Craig James, American football player and sportscaster
* 1961 – Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
* 1961 – Paula Hamilton, English model
* 1961 – Robert Wexler, American lawyer and politician
*1963 – David Cone, American baseball player
*1964 – Pernell Whitaker, American boxer (d. 2019)
*1965 – Francois Pienaar, South African rugby player
*1967 – Jón Gnarr, Icelandic actor and politician; 20th Mayor of Reykjavík
* 1967 – Tia Carrere, American actress
*1968 – Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
* 1968 – Cuba Gooding, Jr., American actor and producer
* 1969 – Christy Turlington, American model
* 1969 – István Bagyula, Hungarian pole vaulter
* 1969 – William Fox-Pitt, English horse rider and journalist
*1970 – Eric Whitacre, American composer and conductor
*1971 – Renée Elise Goldsberry, American actress
* 1971 – Taye Diggs, American actor and singer
* 1972 – Mattias Norström, Swedish ice hockey player and manager
* 1972 – Rodney MacDonald, Canadian educator and politician, 26th Premier of Nova Scotia
* 1972 – Shiraz Minwalla, Indian theoretical physicist and string theorist
*1974 – Ludmila Formanová, Czech runner
* 1974 – Tomáš Řepka, Czech footballer
*1975 – Reuben Thorne, New Zealand rugby player
* 1975 – Dax Shepard, American actor
*1977 – Brian Boucher, American ice hockey player and sportscaster
* 1977 – Stefan Koubek, Austrian tennis player
*1979 – Jonathan Greening, English footballer
*1981 – Maxi Rodríguez, Argentinian footballer
* 1983 – Kate Bosworth, American actress
*1987 – Robert Milsom, English footballer
* 1988 – Damien Tussac, French-German rugby player
*1992 – Paulo Gazzaniga, Argentinian footballer
* 1992 – Korbin Sims, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
*1998 – Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Dutch footballer
*1999 – Fernando Tatís Jr., American baseball player

Deaths

Pre-1600

* 951 – Liu Chengyou, Emperor Yin of the Later Han
* 951 – Su Fengji, Chinese official and chancellor
*1096 – William de St-Calais, Bishop of Durham and chief counsellor of William II of England
*1169 – Bertrand de Blanchefort, sixth Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1109)
*1184 – Theodora Komnene, Duchess of Austria, daughter of Andronikos Komnenos
*1298 – Lodomer, Hungarian prelate, Archbishop of Esztergom
*1470 – Heinrich Reuß von Plauen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
* 1512 – Svante Nilsson, Sweden politician (b. 1460)
*1514 – William Smyth, English bishop and academic (b. 1460)
*1543 – Francesco Canova da Milano, Italian composer (b. 1497)
* 1557 – Pontormo, Italian painter and educator (b. 1494)

1601–1900

*1613 – Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire (b. 1539)
*1614 – Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza, Spanish mystical poet and Catholic martyr (b. 1566)
*1726 – Domenico Zipoli, Italian organist and composer (b. 1688)
* 1763 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English statesman (b. 1690)
*1850 – Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (b. 1789)
*1861 – Frederick William IV of Prussia (b. 1795)
* 1892 – George Biddell Airy, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1801)

1901–present

* 1904 – James Longstreet, American general and diplomat (b. 1821)
*1913 – Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist (b. 1855)
*1915 – Karl Goldmark, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1830)
* 1917 – Léon Flameng, French cyclist (b. 1877)
* 1920 – Paul Adam, French author (b. 1862)
* 1924 – Sabine Baring-Gould, English author and scholar (b. 1834)
*1939 – Roman Dmowski, Polish politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1864)
*1941 – Mischa Levitzki, Russian-American pianist and composer (b. 1898)
* 1946 – Joe Darling, Australian cricketer and politician (b. 1870)
* 1950 – James Dooley, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of New South Wales (b. 1877)
*1951 – William Campion, English colonel and politician, 21st Governor of Western Australia (b. 1870)
* 1951 – Edith New, English militant suffragette (b. 1877)
* 1953 – Guccio Gucci, Italian businessman and fashion designer, founder of Gucci (b. 1881)
* 1960 – Paul Sauvé, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Quebec (b. 1907)
*1963 – Dick Powell, American actor, singer, and director (b. 1904)
* 1963 – Jack Carson, Canadian-American actor (b. 1910)
*1974 – Tex Ritter, American actor (b. 1905)
*1975 – Siraj Sikder, Bangladesh revolutionary leader (b. 1944)
*1977 – Erroll Garner, American pianist and composer (b. 1921)
* 1986 – Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903)
*1987 – Harekrushna Mahatab, Indian journalist and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Odisha (b. 1899)
*1989 – Safdar Hashmi, Indian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1954)
* 1990 – Alan Hale Jr., American film and television actor (b. 1921)
* 1990 – Evangelos Averoff, Greek historian and politician, Greek Minister for National Defence (b. 1910)
*1994 – Dixy Lee Ray, American biologist and politician; 17th Governor of Washington (b. 1914)
* 1994 – Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, French lawyer and businessman (b. 1915)
*1995 – Nancy Kelly, American actress (b. 1921)
* 1995 – Siad Barre, Somalian general and politician; 3rd President of Somalia (b. 1919)
*1999 – Rolf Liebermann, Swiss-French composer and manager (b. 1910)
* 1999 – Sebastian Haffner, German journalist and author (b. 1907)
*2000 – Elmo Zumwalt, American admiral (b. 1920)
* 2000 – Patrick O'Brian, English author and translator (b. 1914)
*2001 – William P. Rogers, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 55th United States Secretary of State (b. 1913)
*2005 – Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist and physician (b. 1911)
* 2006 – Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1913)
* 2006 – Osa Massen, Danish-American actress (b. 1914)
*2007 – A. Richard Newton, Australian-American engineer and academic (b. 1951)
* 2007 – Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, American historian and author (b. 1941)
* 2007 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (b. 1911)
*2008 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish journalist and author (b. 1925)
* 2008 – Lee S. Dreyfus, American sailor, academic, and politician, 40th Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1926)
*2009 – Inger Christensen, Danish poet and author (b. 1935)
* 2009 – Dnyaneshwar Agashe, Indian businessman and cricketer (b. 1942)
*2010 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (b. 1958)
* 2011 – Anne Francis, American actress (b. 1930)
* 2011 – Bali Ram Bhagat, Indian politician; 16th Governor of Rajasthan (b. 1922)
* 2011 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (b. 1946)
*2012 – Gordon Hirabayashi, American-Canadian sociologist and academic (b. 1918)
* 2012 – Silvana Gallardo, American actress and producer (b. 1953)
* 2012 – William P. Carey, American businessman and philanthropist, founded W. P. Carey (b. 1930)
*2013 – Gerda Lerner, Austrian-American historian, author, and academic (b. 1920)
* 2013 – Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and author (b. 1944)
*2014 – Bernard Glasser, American director and producer (b. 1924)
* 2014 – Elizabeth Jane Howard, English author and screenwriter (b. 1923)
*2015 – Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (b. 1929)
* 2016 – Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
* 2016 – Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (b. 1935)
* 2016 – Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabian religious leader (b. 1959)
* 2016 – Gisela Mota Ocampo, mayor of Temixco, Morelos, Mexico, assassinated (b. 1982)
*2017 – Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (b. 1933)
* 2017 – John Berger, English art critic, novelist and painter (b. 1926)
*2018 – Guida Maria, Portuguese actress (b. 1950)
* 2018 – Thomas S. Monson, American religious leader, 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1927)
*2019 – Daryl Dragon, American musician (b. 1942)
* 2019 – Bob Einstein, American actor and comedian (b. 1942)
* 2019 – Gene Okerlund, American wrestling announcer (b. 1942)
*2022 – Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist and politician (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances

* Ancestry Day (Haiti)
*Berchtold's Day ( Switzerland and Liechtenstein)
* Carnival Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
*Christian feast day:
**Basil the Great (Catholic Church and Church of England)
** Defendens of Thebes
**Earliest day on which the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is observed, while January 5 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday between January 2 and 5. (Roman Catholic Church, 1960 calendar)
**Gregory of Nazianzus (Catholic Church)
** Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe (Lutheran Church)
** Macarius of Alexandria
** Seraphim of Sarov (repose) (Eastern Orthodox Church)
**Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah ( Episcopal Church)
** January 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
* Nyinlong (Bhutan)
*The first day of Blacks and Whites' Carnival, celebrated until January 7. (southern Colombia)
*The first day of the Carnival of Riosucio, celebrated until January 8 every 2 years. ( Riosucio)
*The ninth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Chris