2 January 2026 (MIA)

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.

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, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War.

1818 – The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded.

1833 – Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

1860 – The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France.

1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River (a.k.a. Battle of Murfreesboro) resumes in central Tennessee after a day’s respite, resulting in a significant Union victory.

1865 – Uruguayan War: The Siege of Paysandú ends as Brazilian and Coloradans capture Paysandú, Uruguay.

1900 – American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.

1905 – Skopje’s branch of revolutionary organization TMORO held a five-day Congress in the village Knezhevo near the town of Kratovo.

1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian garrison surrenders at Port Arthur, China.

1911 – A gun battle in the East End of London left two dead and sparked a political row over the involvement of then-Home Secretary Winston Churchill.

1920 – The second Palmer Raid takes place with another 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial. These raids take place in several U.S. cities.

1941 – World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.

1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history—the Duquesne Spy Ring.

1942 – World War II: Manila, Philippines is captured by Japanese forces.

1945 – World War II: Nuremberg, Germany is severely bombed by Allied forces.

1946 – Macedonian political prisoners at the Kassandra prison in Greece sent an appeal to the USSR, Great Britain and USA governments.

1949 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.

1955 – Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera is assassinated.

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.

1967 – Ronald Reagan 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 – A bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways

1975 – Bangladeshi Marxist leader Siraj Sikder is arrested and dies in police custody.

1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, which results in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, resulting in at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.

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.

1992 – Leaders of armed opposition declare the President Zviad Gamsakhurdia deposed during a military coup in Georgia.

1993 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35-100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.

1999 – A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, where temperatures plunge to -13 °F (-25 °C); 68 deaths are reported.

2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.

2006 – An explosion in a coal mine in Sago, West Virginia traps and kills 12 miners, leaving only one survivor.

2016 – Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia, was executed by Saudi government along with 46 others.

2018 – WHO reveals it will classify gaming addiction as mental health condition in its next Classification of Diseases.

2021 – US President Donald Trump says to Georgia's secretary of state Brad Raffensperger "I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” in recording released by the Washington Post.

2022 – Israel becomes one of the first countries to offer a fourth vaccine dose against COVID-19 amid an Omicron surge.

2022 – US epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci says focus should be on hospitalizations not case numbers amid huge surge in Omicron COVID-19 cases. Cases up 202%, hospitalizations up 30% in US.