On This Day: 2 December

2 December in Indian history

• 1957United Nations Security Council Resolution 126 relating to the Kashmir conflict is adopted.India

2 December in world history

• 2020Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
• 2016Thirty-six people died when a fire broke out at an illegally converted warehouse in Oakland, California, the deadliest U.S. building fire since 2003.
• 2015In San Bernardino, California, a married couple carried out a mass shooting at a Christmas party before fleeing and dying in a shootout with police.
• 1999The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive following the Good Friday Agreement.
• 1993Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed by police in Medellín.
• 1993Space Shuttle program: STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
• 1990Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-35, carrying the ASTRO-1 spacelab observatory.
• 1975Laotian 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.
• 1972Gough Whitlam is elected the 21st Prime Minister of Australia in the 1972 Australian federal election, defeating William McMahon and leading the Australian Labor Party back into office after 23 years in Opposition.
• 1962Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to comment adversely on the war's progress.
• 1956Cuban Revolution: The yacht Granma, carrying Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement, reached the shores of Cuba.
• 1950Korean War: UN forces began a retreat from North Korea following defeat at the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River.
• 1943World 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.
• 1942Manhattan Project scientists led by Enrico Fermi initiated the first self-sustaining chain reaction in the experimental nuclear reactor Chicago Pile-1.
• 1899Philippine–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.
• 1859Origins of the American Civil War: Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia).
• 1823U.S. president James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine, a proclamation of opposition to European colonialism in the New World.

Born on 2 December

• 1976Masafumi Gotoh, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1962John Dyegh, Nigerian businessman and politician
• 1960Silk Smitha, Indian film actressIndia
• 1937Manohar Joshi, Indian lawyer and politician, 15th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (died 2024)India
• 1898Indra Lal Roy, Indian lieutenant and first Indian fighter aircraft pilot (died 1918)India
• 503Emperor Jianwen of Liang, emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty (died 551)

Died on 2 December

• 2014A. R. Antulay, Indian lawyer and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (born 1929)India
• 1987Luis Federico Leloir, French-Argentinian physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906)
• 1980Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Pakistan (born 1905)India
• 1953Reginald Baker, Australian rugby player (born 1884)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 2 December in history?

2020: Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. 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. 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. 1999: The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive following the Good Friday Agreement.

What happened on 2 December in Indian history?

1957: United Nations Security Council Resolution 126 relating to the Kashmir conflict is adopted.

Which famous people were born on 2 December?

Masafumi Gotoh, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (1976); John Dyegh, Nigerian businessman and politician (1962); Silk Smitha, Indian film actress (1960); Manohar Joshi, Indian lawyer and politician, 15th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (died 2024) (1937).

Which day is observed on 2 December?

National Pollution Control Day; Armed Forces Day (Cuba); International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (United Nations); Lao National Day; National Day (United Arab Emirates).