THUNDER BAY – December 2nd today in history:
- 1409 – The University of Leipzig opens.
- 1697 – St Paul’s Cathedral is consecrated in London.
- 1755 – The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire.
- 1763 – Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what will become the United States.
- 1775 – The USS Alfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.
- 1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years.
- 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Austerlitz – French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force.
- 1823 – Monroe Doctrine: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaims American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas.
- 1845 – Manifest Destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
- 1848 – Franz Josef I becomes Emperor of Austria.
- 1851 – French President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic.
- 1852 – Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of the French as Napoleon III.
- 1859 – Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16 raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
- 1867 – At Tremont Temple in Boston, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
- 1899 – Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed “The Filipino Thermopylae”, is fought.
- 1908 – Puyi becomes Emperor of China at the age of two.
- 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.
- 1920 – Following more than a month of Turkish–Armenian War, the Turkish dictated Treaty of Alexandropol is concluded.
- 1927 – Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.
- 1930 – Great Depression: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Herbert Hoover proposes a US$150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.
- 1939 – New York City’s LaGuardia Airport opens.
- 1942 – World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
- 1943 – World War II: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and transport ships, including the American SS John Harvey, which is carrying a stockpile of World War I-era mustard gas.
- 1947 – Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Riots break out in Jerusalem in response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
- 1954 – Cold War: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to censure Joseph McCarthy for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute”.
- 1954 – The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Taiwan, is signed in Washington, D.C.
- 1956 – The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba’s Oriente Province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.
- 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
- 1962 – Vietnam 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.
- 1970 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
- 1971 – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.
- 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.
- 1976 – Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.
- 1980 – Salvadoran Civil War: Four U.S. nuns and churchwomen, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel, are murdered by a military death squad.
- 1982 – At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.
- 1988 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.
- 1991 – Canada and Poland become the first nations on earth to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union.
- 1993 – Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed in Medellín.
- 1993 – Space Shuttle program: STS-61 – NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
- 1999 – Glenbrook rail accident: Seven passengers are killed when two trains collide near Sydney, New South Wales.
- 1999 – The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive.
- 2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Source: Wikipedia
