Historical Events on January 2

  • 1777: General George Washington and American forces drive back a British attack at the Battle of Assunpink Creek during the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1788: The state of Georgia becomes the 4th state to ratify the Constitution of the U.S.
  • 1791: The Big Bottom Massacre begins in the Ohio Country. This would become known as the start of the Northwest Indian War.
  • 1863: After stopping for just one day, the Battle of Stones River starts up again during the American Civil War.
  • 1941: Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales is extremely damaged by Nazi bombing during WWII.
  • 1942: The FBI convicts over thirty members of a German spy ring. This spy ring was headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne and is known as one of the biggest cases of espionage in modern U.S history.
  • 1942: Japanese forces capture the city of Manila in the Philippines during WWII.
  • 1945: Allied forces drop an enormous amount of bombs on the city of Nuremberg in Germany during World War II.
  • 1959: The Soviet Union launches Luna 1.
  • 2004: The Stardust Spacecraft successfully completes its mission by flying past the Comet Wild 2. As it does so, it collects samples that are returned to NASA.
  • 2006: Twelve miners are trapped and killed in a Sago, West Virginia mine. 1 miner managers to survive.

Famous Birthdays on January 2

  • Russian-American author and chemist, Isaac Asimov is born in 1920.
  • American journalist and author Rober Goralski is born in 1928.
  • English author, poet and playwright, Peter Redgrove is born in 1932.
  • American singer-songwriter Roger Miller is born in 1936.
  • American computer scientists Dana Ulery is born in 1938.
  • American zoologist Jack Hanna is born in 1947.
  • American poet and historian, David Shapiro is born in 1947.
  • American journalist and author Judith Miller is born in 1948.
  • American actress Gabrielle Carteris is born in 1961.
  • American model Christy Turlington is born in 1969.
  • American actor Taye Diggs is born in 1971.
  • American actress Renee Elise Goldsberry is born in 1971.