On This Day — 2 January

2024

Two aircraft collide on a runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, killing 5 and injuring 18.

2024 Haneda Airport runway collision

2022

Massive nationwide protests and unrest break out in Kazakhstan over the sudden increase of liquefied petroleum gas prices, leading to 238 people dead and thousands injured by January 11.

2022 Kazakh unrest

2004

Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.

Stardust (spacecraft)

1993

Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.

Sri Lankan civil war

1991

Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.

Sharon Pratt

1988

Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 crashes near Seferihisar, Turkey, killing 16 people.

Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782

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.

United Kingdom

1978

On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.

President of Pakistan

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.

Gale of January 1976

1975

At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.

Samastipur

1971

The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football match.

1971 Ibrox disaster

1967

Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.

Ronald Reagan

1963

Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.

Vietnam War

1959

Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.

Luna 1

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.

Panama

1954

India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.

India

1949

Luis Muñoz Marín is inaugurated as the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.

Luis Muñoz Marín

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.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

1942

World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces, enabling them to control the Philippines.

Manila

1941

World War II: The Cardiff Blitz severely damages the cathedral in Cardiff, Wales.

World War II

1932

The Young Brothers engaged in a gun battle resulting in the deaths of six law enforcement officers; the worst single killing of US police officers in the 20th century.

Young Brothers massacre

1921

World premiere of the science fiction play R.U.R. by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a theater in Hradec Králové.

R.U.R.

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.

Palmer raids

1900

American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.

John Hay

1900

Chicago Canal opens.

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal

1865

Uruguayan War: The Siege of Paysandú ends as the Brazilians and Coloradans capture Paysandú, Uruguay.

Uruguayan War

1863

American Civil War: The three-day Battle of Stones River ends in a Union victory when the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg are repulsed for the final time by the Army of the Cumberland under General William S. Rosecrans.

American Civil War

1818

The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded by a group of six engineers; Thomas Telford would later become its first president.

Institution of Civil Engineers

1791

Northwest Indian War: The Big Bottom massacre is committed by Lenape and Wyandot warriors in the Ohio Country, North America.

Northwest Indian War

1788

Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

Georgia (U.S. state)

1777

American Revolutionary War: American forces under the command of General George Washington repulse a British attack led by General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey.

American Revolutionary War

1776

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria amends the Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana to include the abolition of torture throughout the Habsburg-ruled countries of Austria and Bohemia.

Maria Theresa

1680

Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram and his bodyguards execute the rebel leader Trunajaya.

Trunajaya rebellion

1492

Reconquista: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.

Reconquista

1444

Christian forces defeat the Turks in the battle of Kunovica.

Battle of Kunovica

533

Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.

Pope John II

366

The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.

Alemanni

69

The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor.

AD 69