On this day in history

January 2

26 births · 9 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

2022 Kazakh unrest

4 years ago

Born this day

1920

Isaac Asimov

Would be 106

Photo (modified): Phillip Leonian [ 1 ] from New York World-Telegram & Sun. [ 2 ] · Public domain

Oldest record

564th

Piero di Cosimo

birth anniversary

View profile

Famous births26

1462 · 564 yrs

Piero di Cosimo

Piero di Cosimo (2 January 1462 – 12 April 1522), also known as Piero di Lorenzo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, who continued to use an essentially Early Renaissance style into the 16th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 60

View profile Photo (modified): Giorgio Vasari · Public domain

1642 · 384 yrs

Mehmed IV

Mehmed IV (Ottoman Turkish: محمد رابع, romanized: Meḥmed-i rābi; Turkish: IV. Mehmed; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693), nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter (Turkish: Avcı Mehmed), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 51

View profile Photo (modified): Unidentified painter · Public domain

1699 · 327 yrs

Osman III

Osman III (Ottoman Turkish: عثمان ثالث Osmān-i sālis;‎ 2 January 1699 – 30 October 1757) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1754 to 1757.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 58

View profile Photo (modified): Abdulcelil Levni · CC0

1822 · 204 yrs

Rudolf Clausius

Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius (German pronunciation:; 2 January 1822 – 24 August 1888) was a German physicist and mathematician and is considered one of the central founding fathers of the science of thermodynamics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 66

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown · Public domain

1870 · 156 yrs

Ernst Barlach

Ernst Heinrich Barlach (2 January 1870 – 24 October 1938) was a German expressionist sculptor, medallist, printmaker and writer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 68

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown · Public domain

1873 · 153 yrs

Thérèse of Lisieux

Thérèse of Lisieux (born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin; 2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), religious name Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face was a French Discalced Carmelite.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 24

View profile Photo (modified): Céline Martin · Public domain

1891 · 135 yrs

Osip Mandelstam

Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (Russian: Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам, IPA:; 14 January 1891 – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 135

View profile Photo (modified): Photographer unknown, uploader Koperczak ( talk ) 18:30, 4 April 2009 (UTC) · Public domain

1895 · 131 yrs

Folke Bernadotte

Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (Swedish:; 2 January 1895 – 17 September 1948) was a Swedish nobleman and diplomat. In World War II, he negotiated the release of about 450 Danish Jews and 30,550 non-Jewish prisoners of many nations from the Nazi German Theresienstadt Ghetto.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 131

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1903 · 123 yrs100 Club

Kane Tanaka

Kane Tanaka (田中カ𛄧, Tanaka Kane; née Ōta (太田); 2 January 1903 – 19 April 2022) was a Japanese supercentenarian who, until her death at the age of 119 years, 107 days, was the world's oldest verified living person, following the death of Chiyo Miyako on 22 July 2018.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

BusinessWould be 123

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1920 · 106 yrs

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov ( AZ-im-ov; c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 106

View profile Photo (modified): Phillip Leonian [ 1 ] from New York World-Telegram & Sun. [ 2 ] · Public domain

1931 · 95 yrs

Toshiki Kaifu

Toshiki Kaifu (海部俊樹, Kaifu Toshiki; 2 January 1931 – 9 January 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1989 to 1991. Born in Nagoya, Kaifu graduated from Waseda University and was first elected to the Diet in 1960 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 95

View profile Photo (modified): 内閣官房内閣広報室 · CC BY 4.0

1945 · 81 yrs

Slobodan Praljak

Slobodan Praljak (Croatian pronunciation:; 2 January 1945 – 29 November 2017) was a Bosnian Croat general found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of committing violations of the laws of war, crimes against humanity, and breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryWould be 81

View profile Photo (modified): Zoran Lesic · CC BY 2.0

Showing 12 of 26

Famous deaths9

1833 · 193 yrs

Seraphim of Sarov

Seraphim of Sarov (Russian: Серафим Саровский; 30 July 1754 or 1759 – 14 January 1833), born Prókhor Isídorovich Moshnín (Mashnín), is one of the most renowned Russian saints and is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 78

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · CC BY-SA 4.0

1861 · 165 yrs

Frederick William IV of Prussia

Frederick William IV (German: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 1795 – 2 January 1861) was King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 until his death in 1861. Also referred to as the "romanticist on the throne", he was deeply religious and believed that he ruled by divine right.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 65

View profile Photo (modified): Hermann Biow · Public domain

1892 · 134 yrs

George Biddell Airy

Sir George Biddell Airy (27 July 1801 – 2 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, as well as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1826 to 1828 and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 90

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1917 · 109 yrs

Edward Burnett Tylor

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (2 October 1832 – 2 January 1917) was an English anthropologist, and professor of anthropology. Tylor's ideas typify 19th-century cultural evolutionism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 84

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1950 · 76 yrs

Emil Jannings

Emil Jannings (born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz; 23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a Swiss-born German actor who was popular in Hollywood films in the 1920s. He was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for starring in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 142

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1960 · 66 yrs

Fausto Coppi

Angelo Fausto Coppi (Italian pronunciation:; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo ("Champion of Champions").

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 107

View profile Photo (modified): J.D. Noske (Anefo) · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

1995 · 31 yrs

Siad Barre

Mohammed Siad Barre (Somali: Maxamed Siyaad Barre; Arabic: محمد زياد بري; c. 6 October 1919 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali military officer, politician, and revolutionary who served as the third president of Somalia from 21 October 1969 to 26 January 1991.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 107

View profile Photo (modified): Government of Somalia · Public domain

2016 · 10 yrs

Nimr al-Nimr

Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr (21 June 1959 – 2 January 2016), commonly referred to as Sheikh Nimr, was a Saudi Shia sheikh from Al-Awamiyah in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. His arrest and execution were widely condemned by various governments and human rights organizations.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleWould be 67

View profile Photo (modified): ABNA · CC BY 4.0

2022 · 4 yrs

Richard Leakey

Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (19 December 1944 – 2 January 2022) was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. Leakey held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife conservation.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 81

View profile Photo (modified): Rob Bogaerts / Anefo · CC BY 4.0

Events5

1947 · 79 yrs

Milch Trial

The United States of America vs. Erhard Milch, commonly known as the Milch Trial, was the second of the twelve "subsequent Nuremberg trials" for war crimes and crimes against humanity after the end of World War II between 1946 and 1947.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

1963 · 63 yrs

Battle of Ap Bac

The Battle of Ấp Bắc was a major battle fought on 2 January 1963 during the Vietnam War in Định Tường Province, South Vietnam.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

2022 · 4 yrs

2022 Kazakh unrest

The 2022 Kazakh unrest, also known as January Events, Bloody January, or the January Tragedy, was a series of mass protests and civil unrest that began in Kazakhstan on 2 January 2022 after a sudden sharp increase in liquefied petroleum gas prices following the lifting of a government-enforced price cap on 1 January.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2024 · 2 yrs

2024 Haneda Airport runway collision

On 2 January 2024, a runway collision occurred at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, involving an Airbus A350, operating as Japan Airlines Flight 516, and a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 operated by the Japan Coast Guard (JA722A).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

2024 · 2 yrs

Stabbing of Lee Jae-myung

On 2 January 2024, then Democratic Party of Korea leader and future president of South Korea Lee Jae Myung was stabbed while visiting the construction site of Gadeok Island Airport in Gadeokdo, Busan.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

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