December 2

Historic Events

2020

Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. ›

2016

Thirty-six people die in a fire at a converted Oakland, California, warehouse serving as an artist collective. ›

2015

San Bernardino attack: Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik kill 14 people and wound 22 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. ›

2001

Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. ›

1999

The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive following the Good Friday Agreement. ›

1993

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed by police in Medellín. ›

1993

Space Shuttle program: STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. ›

1992

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-53 for the United States Department of Defense. ›

1991

Canada and Poland become the first nations to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union. ›

1990

Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-35, carrying the ASTRO-1 spacelab observatory. ›

1989

The Peace Agreement of Hat Yai is signed and ratified by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the governments of Malaysia and Thailand, ending the over two-decade-long communist insurgency in Malaysia. ›

1988

Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state. ›

1988

Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-27, a classified mission for the United States Department of Defense. ›

1982

At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart. ›

1980

Salvadoran Civil War: Four American missionaries are raped and murdered by a death squad. ›

1977

A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Benghazi, Libya, killing 59. ›

1976

Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado. ›

1975

Laotian Civil War: The Pathet Lao seizes the Laotian capital of Vientiane, forces the abdication of King Sisavang Vatthana, and proclaims the Lao People's Democratic Republic. ›

1972

Gough Whitlam is elected the 21st Prime Minister of Australia in the 1972 Australian federal election, defeating William McMahon and leading the Australian Labor Party back into office after 23 years in Opposition. ›

1971

Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain form the United Arab Emirates. ›

1970

The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations. ›

1968

Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 crashes into Pedro Bay, Alaska, killing all 39 people on board. ›

1962

Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to comment adversely on the war's progress. ›

1961

In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba will adopt Communism. ›

1957

United Nations Security Council Resolution 126 relating to the Kashmir conflict is adopted. ›

1956

The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente Province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution. ›

1954

Cold War: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to censure Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute". ›

1954

The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Taiwan, is signed in Washington, D.C. ›

1950

Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with a decisive Chinese victory and UN forces are completely expelled from North Korea. ›

1949

Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others is adopted. ›

1947

Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Arabs riot in Jerusalem in response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. ›

1943

World War II: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and transport ships, including the American SS John Harvey, which is carrying a stockpile of mustard gas. ›

1942

World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. ›

1939

New York City's LaGuardia Airport opens. ›

1930

Great Depression: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Herbert Hoover proposes a $150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy. ›

1927

Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile. ›

1919

Ukrainian War of Independence: Ukrainian Bolsheviks attempt to assassinate Nestor Makhno as part of the Polonsky conspiracy. ›

1917

World War I: Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk begin. ›

1908

Puyi becomes Emperor of China at the age of two. ›

1899

Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, known as the "Filipino Thermopylae", is fought. ›

1867

At Tremont Temple in Boston, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States. ›

1865

Alabama ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed by North Carolina, then Georgia; U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks. ›

1859

Origins of the American Civil War: Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). ›

1852

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of the French as Napoleon III. ›

1851

French President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic. ›

1848

Franz Joseph I becomes Emperor of Austria. ›

1845

Manifest Destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West. ›

1823

Monroe Doctrine: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaims American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas. ›

1805

War of the Third Coalition: Battle of Austerlitz: French troops under Napoleon decisively defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force. ›

1804

At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French. ›

1766

Swedish parliament approves the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act and implements it as a ground law, thus being first in the world with freedom of speech. ›

1763

Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what will become the United States. ›

1697

St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London, is consecrated. ›

1409

The University of Leipzig opens. ›

1244

Pope Innocent IV arrives at Lyon for the First Council of Lyon. ›