January 2

2024 Calendar

January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 363 days remaining until the end of the year (364 in leap years).

Events

Up to 1900

1512 – Svante, Regent of Sweden (b. 1460)
1514 – William Smyth, English bishop and statesman (b. 1460)
1557 – Pontormo, Italian painter (b. 1494)
1665 – Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician (b. 1601)
1726 – Domenico Zipoli, Italian composer (b. 1688)
1850 – Manuel de la Pena y Pena, President of Mexico (b. 1789)
1861 – Frederick William IV of Prussia (b. 1795)
1879 – Caleb Cushing, United States Attorney General (b. 1800)
1892 – George Biddell Airy, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1801)

1901 – 1950

1904 – Walter Heitler, German physicist (d. 1981)
1904 – Sally Rand, American fan dancer (d. 1979)
1905 – Michael Tippett, English composer (d. 1998)
1905 – Luigi Zampa, Italian movie director and screenwriter (d. 1991)
1908 – Lawrence Wetherby, American politician, Governor of Kentucky (d. 1994)
1909 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer (d. 2009)
1909 – Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
1912 – Renato Guttuso, Italian painter (d. 1987)
1913 – Anna Lee, English actress (d. 2004)
1917 – Vera Zorina, dancer, actress (d. 2003)
1918 – Willi Graf, German activist (d. 1943)
1918 – Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse, German type designer
1919 – William Needles, Canadian theatre actor (d. 2016)
1920 – Isaac Asimov, Russian-born American science fiction writer (d. 1992)
1920 – Bob Feerick, American basketball player (d. 1976)
1920 – George Herbig, American astronomer (d. 2013)
1920 – Anna Langfus, Polish-French writer (d. 1966)
1922 – Maurice Faure, French diplomat and politician (d. 2014)
1925 – Irina Arkhipova, Russian opera singer (d. 2010)
1925 – Giacomo Furia, Italian actor (d. 2015)
1925 – Larry Harmon, American entertainer and television producer (d. 2008)
1927 – Gino Marchetti, American football player
1928 – Daisaku Ikeda, Japanese writer
1928 – Alberto Zedda, Italian conductor and musicologist (d. 2017)
1930 – Julius La Rosa, American singer (d. 2016)
1931 – Toshiki Kaifu, former Prime Minister of Japan
1931 – James D. Murray, English mathematician
1933 – Richard Riley, 111th Governor of North Carolina
1935 – Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian geographer, stepfather of Barack Obama (d. 1987)
1936 – Roger Miller, American country music singer (d. 1992)
1936 – Kjell Opseth, Norwegian politician (d. 2017)
1937 – Martin Lauer, German athlete and Schlager singer
1938 – Goh Kun, 31st Prime Minister of South Korea
1938 – Ian Brady, British serial killer (d. 2017)
1938 – Hans Herbjørnsrud, Norwegian writer
1939 – Jim Bakker, American televangelist
1939 – Konstanze Vernon, dancer
1940 – Saud bin Faisal, Saudi royal and politician (d. 2015)
1942 – Dennis Hastert, American politician, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
1942 – Hugh Shelton, American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1943 – Baris Manco, Turkish musician (d. 1999)
1944 – Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
1944 – Péter Eötvös, Hungarian composer and conductor
1945 – Slobodan Praljak, Croatian-Bosnian general and politician (d. 2017)
1946 – Sonny Ruberto, American baseball player (d. 2014)
1947 – Alexander Yakushev, Russian ice hockey player
1947 – Calvin Hill, American football player
1947 – Jack Hanna, American zoologist
1947 – David Shapiro, American poet
1947 – Calvin Hill, American football player
1947 – Alexander Yakushev, Russian ice hockey player
1948 – Deborah Watling, British actress (d. 2017)
1948 – Tony Judt, British historian (d. 2010)
1948 – Judith Miller, American journalist
1949 – Christopher Durang, American playwright

1951 – 2000

1955 – Panamanian president José Antonio Remon is assassinated.
1955 – The lost Inca city of Paititi is re-discovered by Hans Ertl.
1957 – San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge.
1959 – The Soviet Union launches the Luna 1 spacecraft.
1959 – CBS Radio cancels four soap operas: Backstage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Road of Life, and This is Nora Drake.
1963 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory in the Battle of Ap Bac.
1967 – Ronald Reagan becomes Governor of California.
1968 – Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the second 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 miles per hour in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, causing flooding on southern North Sea coasts. 82 people are eventually killed.
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 ends its first Broadway run after 2,377 shows at the Uris Theatre.
1991 – Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C. becoming the first African American woman to lead a city of that size and importance.
1992 – Paraguay becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
1993 – Leaders of the three warring groups in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans.
1996 – The Akademia Nauk stratovolcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula erupts.
1998 – Russia begins to circulate new rubles to slow inflation and promote confidence.
1999 – A major snowstorm hits the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (360 mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (480 mm) at Chicago. In Chicago, temperatures drop to −13 °F (−25 °C), and 68 deaths are reported.

From 2001

2001 – William P. Rogers, United States Secretary of State (b. 1913)
2002 – Armi Aavikko, Finnish singer (b. 1958)
2006 – Lidia Wysocka, Polish actress (b. 1916)
2007 – Teddy Kollek, Austrian-born Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (b. 1911)
2008 – Galyani Vadhana, Thai princess, sister of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (b. 1923)
2008 – George MacDonald Fraser, British writer (b. 1925)
2008 – Lee S. Dreyfus, 40th Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1926)
2009 – Ryuzo Hiraki, Japanese footballer (b. 1931)
2009 – Maria de Jesus, Portuguese supercentenarian (b. 1893)
2011 – Anne Francis, American actress (b. 1930)
2011 – Pete Postlethwaite, British actor (b. 1946)
2011 – Richard Winters, American paratrooper (b. 1918)
2012 – William P. Carey, American investment banker and philanthropist (b. 1930)
2013 – Teresa Toranska, Polish journalist and writer (b. 1944)
2013 – Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1945)
2013 – Mamie Rearden, American supercentenarian (b. 1898)
2013 – Ned Wertimer, American actor (b. 1923)
2014 – Elizabeth Jane Howard, English novelist (b. 1923)
2014 – Dirk Sager, German journalist (b. 1940)
2014 – Thomas Kurzhals, German keyboardist and songwriter (b. 1953)
2014 – Bernard Glasser, American director and producer (b. 1924)
2015 – Lam Po-chuen, Hong Kong dubbing artist (b. 1951)
2015 – Arthur A. Neu, American politician (b. 1933)
2015 – Little Jimmy Dickens, American country music singer (b. 1920)
2015 – Noel Cobb, British philosopher, psychologist and author (b. 1938)
2015 – Tihomir Novakov, American physicist (b. 1929)
2015 – Abu Anas al-Libi, Libyan Al-Qaeda member (b. 1964)
2015 – Basil Hansen, Australian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
2015 – Danny Dunton, English speedway rider and promoter (b. 1924)
2015 – Roger Kitter, English actor (b. 1949)
2016 – Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi cleric (b. 1959)
2016 – Michel Delpech, French singer (b. 1946)
2016 – Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian politician (b. 1924)
2016 – Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (b. 1935)
2016 – Gisela Mota Ocampo, Mexican politician (b. 1982)
2016 – Marcel Barbeau, Canadian artist (b. 1925)
2016 – Shigeji Kaneko, Japanese boxer (b. 1931)
2016 – Matt Hobden, English cricketer (b. 1993)
2017 – John Berger, English art critic, writer and painter (b. 1926)
2017 – Viktor Tsaryov, Russian footballer (b. 1931)
2017 – Albert Brewer, American politician, 47th Governor of Alabama (b. 1928)
2017 – Jean Vuarnet, French skier (b. 1933)
2017 – François Chérèque, French trade unionist (b. 1956)
2017 – Richard Machowicz, American navy SEAL (b. 1965)
2017 – René Ballet, French journalist and author (b. 1928)
2017 – Tom Harpur, Canadian classicist, journalist, theologian an priest (b. 1929)
2018 – Frank Buxton, American actor (b. 1930)
2018 – Rick Hall, American songwriter and recording producer (b. 1932)
2018 – Ferdinando Imposimato, Italian judge and politician (b. 1936)
2018 – Lawal Kaita, Nigerian politician (b. 1932)
2018 – Ali Akbar Moinfar, Iranian politician (b. 1928)
2018 – Thomas S. Monson, American religious leader, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1927)
2019 - Daryl Dragon, American songwriter (Captain & Tennille) (b. 1942)
2019 – Bob Einstein, American actor and comedian (b. 1942)
2022 - Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician (b. 1944)

Births

1951 – 1975

1951 – Waldir Peres, Brazilian footballer (d. 2017)
1952 – Indulis Emsis, biologist and politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia
1952 – Christine Lavin, American singer-songwriter
1954 – Milovan Rajevac, Serbian footballer and coach
1954 – Henry Bonilla, American politician
1954 – Dawn Silva, singer (The Brides of Funkenstein, P-Funk)
1955 – Tex Brashear, American voice actor
1955 – Vivien Savage, French singer-songwriter
1959 – Kirti Azad, Indian cricketer
1960 – Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga artist
1961 – Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
1961 – Neil Dudgeon, British actor
1961 – Todd Haynes, American movie director
1963 – David Cone, American baseball pitcher
1964 – Luis Moro, Cuban-American actor, producer and screenwriter
1964 – Pernell Whitaker, American boxer
1967 – Tia Carrere, American actress
1967 – Jon Gnarr, Icelandic actor, comedian and politician, Mayor of Reykjavik
1967 – Francois Pienaar, South African rugby player
1968 – Goichi Suda, Japanese video game designer
1968 – Cuba Gooding, Jr., American actor
1968 – Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage competitor
1969 – William Fox-Pitt, English equestrian
1969 – Christy Turlington, American fashion model
1969 – Tommy Morrison, American boxer (d. 2013)
1969 – Karl-Heinz Grasser, Austrian politician
1969 – Robby Gordon, American racing driver
1971 – Renée Elise Goldsberry, American actress and singer
1972 – Taye Diggs, American actor
1972 – Rodney MacDonald, 26th Premier of Nova Scotia
1973 – Lucy Davis, English actress
1974 – Tricia Helfer, Canadian actress and model
1975 – Doug Robb, American singer (Hoobastank)
1975 – Dax Shepard, American actor, comedian, writer and director

From 1976

1976 – Paz Vega, Spanish actress
1976 – Phil Radford, Greenpeace Executive Director
1978 – Kjartan Sveinsson, Icelandic musician
1978 – Karina Smirnoff, Ukrainian-American dancer and actress
1979 – Jonathan Greening, English footballer
1980 – Paulo da Silva, Paraguayan footballer
1981 – Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
1981 – Maxi Rodriguez, Argentine footballer
1981 – Kirk Hinrich, American basketball player
1982 – Athanasia Tsoumeleka, Greek race walker
1983 – Kate Bosworth, American actress
1985 – Heather O'Reilly, American soccer player
1985 – Ivan Dodig, Croatian tennis player
1986 – Trombone Shorty, American jazz musician
1987 – Loïc Rémy, French footballer
1987 – Shelley Hennig, American model and actress
1988 – Jonny Evans, Northern Irish footballer
1989 – Bianca Knight, American sprinter
1991 – Davide Santon, Italian footballer
1991 – Luis Pedro Cavanda, Belgian footballer
1991 – Steele Sidebottom, Australian rules footballer
1993 – Bryson Tiller, American singer-songwriter
1995 – Renata Notni, Mexican actress and model

Deaths

1901 – 2000

1904 – James Longstreet, American Confederate general (b. 1821)
1913 – Léon-Philippe Teisserenc, French meteorologist (b. 1855)
1915 – Carl Goldmark, Hungarian composer (b. 1830)
1917 – Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (b. 1832)
1922 – Pope Benedict XV (b. 1854)
1936 – Francis Newdegate, Governor of Tasmania (b. 1862)
1939 – Roman Tmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864)
1941 – Mischa Levitzki, Russian-born pianist (b. 1898)
1945 – Bertram Ramsay, British naval commander (b. 1883)
1948 – Vicente Huidobro, Chilean poet (b. 1893)
1950 – James Dooley, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1877)
1950 – Theophrastos Sakellaridis, Greek composer and conductor (b. 1883)
1951 – William Campion, Governor of Western Australia (b. 1870)
1955 – José Antonio Remon, President of Panama (b. 1908)
1960 – Fausto Coppi, Italian composer (b. 1919)
1960 – Paul Sauvé, 17th Premier of Quebec (b. 1907)
1960 – Friedrich Adler, Austrian politician and assassin (b. 1897)
1961 – Daniel Chanis Pinzon, President of Panama (b. 1892)
1963 – Jack Carson, American actor (b. 1910)
1968 – Cuno Hoffmeister, German astronomer and geophysicist (b. 1892)
1974 – Tex Ritter, American actor (b. 1905)
1986 – Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903)
1987 – Harekrushna Mahatab, Indian journalist and politician (b. 1899)
1989 – Safdar Hashmi, Indian playwright, writer and director (b. 1954)
1990 – Alan Hale Jr., American actor (b. 1921)
1994 – Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (b. 1915)
1994 – Dixy Lee Ray, American politician and Governor of Washington (b. 1917)
1995 – Siad Barre, President of Somalia (b. 1919)
1997 – Randy California, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1951)
1999 – Sebastian Haffner, German journalist and writer (b. 1907)
2000 – Nat Adderley, American jazz musician and composer (b. 1931)

Observances

New Year's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland)
Ancestry Day (Haiti)
Berchtold's Day (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Alsace)