On this day: 2 December
Events, births and deaths on 2 December. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
Nothing recorded for that year.
10 years ago2016
- Events · 2016 Oakland warehouse fire
100 years ago1926
Within 10 years of that
- 1923 · Births · Maria Meneghini Callas
- 1930 · Births · Gary S. Becker
- 1918 · Deaths · Edmond Rostand
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1022 · Deaths · Elvira Mendes
- 930 · Deaths · Ma Yin
Events · 15
- 1409(Julian date)Leipzig University — university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany (1409-)
- 1804coronation of Napoleon I — French royal event
- 1805Battle of Austerlitz — 1805 battle during the War of the Third Coalition
- 1852Second French Empire — government of France under Napoleon III, from 1852 to 1870
- 1899Battle of Tirad Pass — 1899 battle of the Philippine–American War
- 1943Air Raid on Bari — attack by German bombers on Allied forces in Bari, Italy in WW II
- 19471947 Jerusalem riots — civil unrest following adoption of the UN Partition Plan
- 1970Environmental Protection Agency — U.S. federal government agency
- 19721972 Australian federal election — election
- 19771977 Benghazi Libyan Arab Airlines Tu-154 crash — 1977 aviation accident over Libya
- 1989Communist insurgency in Malaysia — armed conflict in Malaysia from 1968 to 1989
- 1989Peace Agreement of Hat Yai 1989 — 1989 peace ending the Malaysian communist insurgency
- 1999Northern Ireland Executive — executive of the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly
- 20152015 San Bernardino shooting — December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California
- 20162016 Oakland warehouse fire — California underground warehouse party inferno
Births · 60
- 1759James Edward Smith — English botanist, founder of the Linnean Society of London (1759–1828)
- 1825Pedro II of Brazil — 2nd and final Emperor of Brazil (r. 1831–89)
- 1846Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau — Prime Minister of France (1846-1904)
- 1859Georges Seurat — French painter (1859-1891)
- 1876Yusuf Akçura — Turkish historian and writer (1876–1935)
- 1885George Minot — American physician (1885-1950)
- 1891Otto Dix — German painter and printmaker (1891–1969)
- 1897Ivan Bagramyan — Marshal of the Soviet Union (1897-1982)
- 1899John Barbirolli — British conductor and cellist (1899-1970)
- 1901Raimundo Orsi — Argentine-Italian footballer (1901-1986)
- 1915Takahito, Prince Mikasa — Japanese prince (1915–2016)
- 1923Maria Meneghini Callas — American-Greek operatic soprano (1923–1977)
- 1924Alexander Haig — former U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Army general (1924-2010)
- 1924Vilgot Sjöman — Swedish writer and film director (1924-2006)
- 1925Julie Harris — American actress (1925–2013)
- 1930Gary S. Becker — American economist (1930-2014)
- 1934Tarcisio Bertone — cardinal of the Catholic Church
- 1939Harry Reid — American politician (1939–2021)
- 1944Ibrahim Rugova — President of Kosovo (1944-2006)
- 1944Botho Strauss — German playwright, novelist, and essayist
- 1946Gianni Versace — Italian fashion designer (1946–1997)
- 1948Antonín Panenka — Czech footballer
- 1950Paul Watson — Canadian environmental activist
- 1954Dan Butler — American actor
- 1956Steven Bauer — Euro-Indigenous Cuban-American character actor, producer, musician, and entrepreneur
Deaths · 60
- 1348(Julian date)Emperor Hanazono — 95th emperor of Japan (r. 1308–1318)
- 1381(Julian date)John of Ruysbroeck — Brabantian mystic and writer (1293–1381)
- 1455(Julian date)Isabella of Coimbra — queen consort of Portugal
- 1463(Julian date)Albert VI, Archduke of Austria — Austrian archduke and duke
- 1469(Julian date)Piero di Cosimo de' Medici — Italian nobleman, father of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1416-1469)
- 1510Muhammad Shaybani — The founder of Shaybanid Dynasty, Khanate of Bukhara
- 1515Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba — Spanish general (1453-1515)
- 1547(Julian date)Hernán Cortés — Spanish conquistador
- 1594Gerardus Mercator — Flemish geographer, cosmographer and cartographer (1512–1594)
- 1694Pierre Puget — French painter, sculptor, architect and engineer (1620–1694)
- 1719Pasquier Quesnel — French theologian
- 1723Philippe II, Duke of Orléans — member of the royal family of France, Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723 (1674–1723)
- 1774Johann Friedrich Agricola — German composer
- 1814Marquis de Sade — French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer of erotic works
- 1849Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen — Queen consort of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 1830 to 1837
- 1859John Brown — American abolitionist
- 1881Jenny von Westphalen — German theatre critic and political activist (1814–1881)
- 1888Nâmık Kemâl — Ottoman writer (1840-1888)
- 1892Jay Gould — American railroad magnate and financier (1836-1892)
- 1918Edmond Rostand — French poet and dramatist (1868–1918)
- 1919Henry Clay Frick — American industrialist (1849-1919)
- 1924Kazimieras Būga — Lithuanian linguist (1879-1924)
- 1931Vincent d'Indy — French composer and teacher
- 1943Nordahl Grieg — Norwegian author (1902–1943)
- 1944Filippo Tommaso Marinetti — Italian poet and editor, founder of the Futurist movement (1876-1944)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.