On this day: December 2

Events on December 2

• 1697 St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London, is consecrated. Wikipedia
• 1804 At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French. Wikipedia
• 1805 War of the Third Coalition: Battle of Austerlitz: French troops under Napoleon decisively defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force. Wikipedia
• 1823 U.S. president James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine, a proclamation of opposition to European colonialism in the New World. Wikipedia
• 1848 Franz Joseph I becomes Emperor of Austria. Wikipedia
• 1852 Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of the French as Napoleon III. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1899 Philippine–American War: A 60-man Filipino rearguard was defeated at the Battle of Tirad Pass, but delayed the American advance long enough to ensure President Emilio Aguinaldo's escape. Wikipedia
• 1908 Puyi becomes Emperor of China at the age of two. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1919 Ukrainian Bolsheviks led by Mykhailo Polonsky attempted to assassinate Nestor Makhno, as part of the Polonsky conspiracy. Wikipedia
• 1927 The Ford Motor Company introduced the second version of the Model A, its first new model in 18 years. Wikipedia
• 1942 Manhattan Project scientists led by Enrico Fermi initiated the first self-sustaining chain reaction in the experimental nuclear reactor Chicago Pile-1. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: The Luftwaffe conducted a surprise air raid on Allied ships in Bari, Italy, sinking twenty-eight vessels and releasing one ship's secret cargo of mustard gas. Wikipedia
• 1947 Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Arabs riot in Jerusalem in response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Wikipedia
• 1950 Korean War: UN forces began a retreat from North Korea following defeat at the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River. Wikipedia
• 1954 The United States Senate voted of 67 to 22 to approve a resolution condemning Senator Joseph McCarthy who continued to serve in the Senate until his death two and a half years later. Wikipedia
• 1956 Cuban Revolution: The yacht Granma, carrying Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement, reached the shores of Cuba. Wikipedia
• 1961 In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba will adopt Communism. Wikipedia
• 1962 Returning from a fact-finding mission, U.S. senator Mike Mansfield became the first American official to comment adversely on the progress of the Vietnam War. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1988 Benazir Bhutto took office as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state. Wikipedia
• 1989 The Malayan Communist Party and the Malaysian government signed a peace accord to end a 21-year communist insurgency. Wikipedia
• 2001 Less than two months after disclosing accounting violations, the Texas-based energy firm Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, evaporating nearly $11 billion in shareholder wealth. Wikipedia
• 2015 In San Bernardino, California, a married couple carried out a mass shooting at a Christmas party before fleeing and dying in a shootout with police. Wikipedia
• 2016 Thirty-six people died when a fire broke out at an illegally converted warehouse in Oakland, California, the deadliest U.S. building fire since 2003. Wikipedia

Born on December 2

• 1825 Pedro II of Brazil (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1859 Georges Seurat, French painter (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1885 George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1950) Wikipedia
• 1891 Otto Dix, German painter and illustrator (died 1969) Wikipedia
• 1897 Ivan Bagramyan, Russian general (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1923 Maria Callas, American-Greek soprano and actress (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1925 Julie Harris, American actress (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1930 Gary Becker, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1934 Tarcisio Bertone, Italian cardinal Wikipedia
• 1939 Harry Reid, American lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1944 Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovan journalist and politician, 1st President of Kosovo (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1946 Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer, founded Versace (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1948 Antonín Panenka, Czech footballer Wikipedia
• 1968 Lucy Liu, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1971 Francesco Toldo, Italian footballer Wikipedia
• 1973 Monica Seles, Serbian-American tennis player Wikipedia
• 1973 Jan Ullrich, German cyclist Wikipedia
• 1978 Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Britney Spears, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress Wikipedia
• 1989 Matteo Darmian, Italian footballer Wikipedia
• 1991 Charlie Puth, American singer-songwriter and pianist Wikipedia
• 1998 Juice Wrld, American rapper, singer and songwriter (died 2019) Wikipedia

Died on December 2

• 537 Pope Silverius Wikipedia
• 1547 Hernán Cortés, Spanish general and explorer (born 1485) Wikipedia
• 1594 Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (born 1512) Wikipedia
• 1814 Marquis de Sade, French philosopher, author, and politician (born 1740) Wikipedia
• 1859 John Brown, American abolitionist (born 1800) Wikipedia
• 1918 Edmond Rostand, French poet and playwright (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1944 Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Egyptian-Italian poet and composer (born 1876) Wikipedia
• 1969 Kliment Voroshilov, Ukrainian-Russian marshal and politician, 3rd Head of State of The Soviet Union (born 1881) Wikipedia
• 1980 Romain Gary, Lithuanian-French author, director, and screenwriter (born 1914) Wikipedia
• 1987 Luis Federico Leloir, French-Argentinian physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1990 Aaron Copland, American composer and conductor (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 1993 Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (born 1949) Wikipedia
• 2002 Ivan Illich, Austrian priest and philosopher (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2024 Debbie Mathers, Mother of Eminem (born 1955) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day (Cuba) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Avitus of Rouen Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bibiana Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Channing Moore Williams (Anglicanism) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Chromatius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Habakkuk Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Ivan Slezyuk Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Angela Astorch Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (United Nations) Wikipedia
• Lao National Day Wikipedia
• National Day (United Arab Emirates) Wikipedia
• Chichibu Night Festival Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “December 2” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/December 2” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 2” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for December 2 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.