Summary of the Day ✨ 2 January (02/01)
Tragedy strikes as five die in a runway collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport while Kazakhstan erupts in deadly protests over fuel price hikes claiming 238 lives, and Sri Lankan forces kill civilians during the civil war. Meanwhile, NASA’s Stardust spacecraft successfully collects comet samples and Sharon Pratt Dixon makes history as the first African American woman mayor of a major US city.
Historical Events 📜
- 2024: Two aircraft collide on a runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, killing 5 and injuring 18.
- 2022: Massive nationwide protests and unrest break out in Kazakhstan over the sudden increase of liquefied petroleum gas prices, leading to 238 people dead and thousands injured by January 11.
- 2004: Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
- 1993: Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.
- 1991: Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.
- 1988: Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 crashes near Seferihisar, Turkey, killing 16 people.
- 1981: One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the “Yorkshire Ripper”, is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
- 1978: On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.
- 1976: The Gale of January 1976 begins, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, affecting countries from Ireland to Yugoslavia and causing at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.
- 1975: At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.
- 1971: The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football match.
- 1967: Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.
- 1963: Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.
- 1959: Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
- 1955: Following the assassination of the Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera, his deputy, José Ramón Guizado, takes power, but is quickly deposed after his involvement in Cantera’s death is discovered.
Famous Births 👶
- 2006: Claudio Echeverri, Argentine footballer
- 2003: CJ Egan-Riley, English footballer
- 2003: Elye Wahi, French footballer
- 2001: Cole Caufield, American ice hockey player
- 2001: Luiz Henrique, Brazilian footballer
- 2000: Spencer Arrighetti, American baseball player
- 1999: Georgios Kalaitzakis, Greek basketball player
- 1999: Fernando Tatís Jr., Dominican baseball player
- 1999: Aaron Wiggins, American professional basketball player
- 1998: Tfue, American online streamer
- 1998: Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Dutch footballer
- 1997: Arshad Nadeem, Pakistani javelin thrower
- 1997: Carlos Soler, Spanish footballer
- 1996: Jonah Bolden, Australian-American basketball player
- 1994: Ronald Darby, American football player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Ágnes Keleti, Hungarian Olympic gymnast (born 1921)
- 2025: Francesc Antich, Spanish politician (born 1958)
- 2019: Daryl Dragon, American musician (born 1942)
- 2019: Julia Grant, British transgender activist (born 1954)
- 2019: Bob Einstein, American actor and comedian (born 1942)
- 2019: Gene Okerlund, American wrestling announcer (born 1942)
- 2018: Guida Maria, Portuguese actress (born 1950)
- 2018: Thomas S. Monson, American religious leader, 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (born 1927)
- 2017: Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (born 1933)
- 2017: John Berger, English art critic, novelist and painter (born 1926)
- 2016: Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1924)
- 2016: Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (born 1935)
- 2016: Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabian religious leader (born 1959)
- 2016: Gisela Mota Ocampo, mayor of Temixco, Morelos, Mexico, assassinated (born 1982)
- 2015: Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (born 1929)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Ancestry Day (Haiti)
- Berchtold’s Day (Switzerland)
- Christian feast day:
Basil the Great (Catholic Church and Church of England) - Christian feast day:
Gregory of Nazianzus (Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
John the Good - Christian feast day:
Macarius of Alexandria - Christian feast day:
Blessed Marie Anne Blondin - Christian feast day:
Seraphim of Sarov (Eastern Orthodox Church) - Christian feast day:
Theodore of Marseille - Christian feast day:
Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (Episcopal Church) - Christian feast day:
January 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Day after New Year’s Day (New Zealand)
- Kaapse Klopse (Cape Town, South Africa)
- The first day of Blacks and Whites’ Carnival, celebrated until January 7 (Colombia)
- The ninth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)