On This Day
What Happened on January 2 in History
9 events that happened on January 2, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
Colonial America and the Revolution
1492 (Julian calendar)
Granada surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella, ending the last Moorish kingdom in Spain.
Granada had been the final refuge of Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula since 1238. Its fall completed the centuries-long Christian Reconquest of Spain.
Source: history.com
1777
George Washington's army held off a British attack along Assunpink Creek in Trenton, New Jersey.
Charles Cornwallis pushed the Continentals back through Trenton but could not take the bridge over the creek. Expecting to finish the fight the next day, he paused for the night, and Washington slipped his army away under cover of darkness.
Source: battlefields.org
1788
Georgia ratified the U.S. Constitution, becoming the fourth state.
The colony had been founded in 1733 when James Oglethorpe led a group of British settlers up the Savannah River and established the town of Savannah. It was named after King George II.
Source: history.com; history.com
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1905
Russia's commander at Port Arthur offered to surrender the besieged base to Japan.
Russian General Stoessel sent Japan's General Nogi a letter formally offering surrender. The fall of Port Arthur was the first in a series of Russian defeats that turned the Russo-Japanese War against Russia.
Source: history.com; archive.nytimes.com
1920
Federal agents carried out a second, larger wave of Palmer Raids against suspected radicals.
Justice Department agents raided targets in 33 cities and arrested about 3,000 people, often without warrants. The raids were part of the Red Scare that followed the Russian Revolution.
Source: history.com; millercenter.org
The Cold War
1959
The Soviet Union launched Luna 1, the first probe of its Luna program, on a flight past the Moon.
Luna 1 flew past the Moon about two months before the American probe Pioneer 4 made its own lunar flyby in March 1959.
Source: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov
1963
A Viet Cong battalion inflicted heavy losses on South Vietnamese troops at the Battle of Ap Bac.
Government forces had a four-to-one advantage plus artillery, armor and helicopters, yet the Viet Cong escaped with minor losses. Three American advisers were killed and five helicopters were shot down.
Source: history.state.gov
1974
Richard Nixon signed a law setting a national highway speed limit of 55 mph.
The Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act responded to the Arab oil embargo that followed the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Slower driving was meant to save fuel and reduce American dependence on foreign oil.
Source: history.com; presidency.ucsb.edu
The Modern Era
2006
An explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia trapped 13 coal miners.
All but one of the trapped men died. False early reports that 12 miners had been rescued brought harsh scrutiny on the media, the mine's owner and federal mine safety oversight.
Source: history.com