December 02

Friday 02, 2005:

Microsoft releases its Xbox 360 video game console in Europe.

Thursday 02, 2004:

Brian Williams succeeds Tom Brokaw as host of NBC Nightly News.

Sunday 02, 2001:

Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Saturday 02, 2000:

The Smashing Pumpkins play their final gig.

Thursday 02, 1999:

The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to a the Northern Ireland Executive.

Thursday 02, 1993:

NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

Monday 02, 1991:

The first version of QuickTime was released.

Sunday 02, 1990:

A coalition led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins the first free all-German elections since 1932.

Friday 02, 1988:

Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.

Thursday 02, 1982:

At the University of Utah, Barney Clark, becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.

Tuesday 02, 1975:

The communist Pathet Lao seizes power in Laos, and establishes the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Saturday 02, 1972:

Gough Whitlam becomes the first Australian Labor Party Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years.

Thursday 02, 1971:

The United Arab Emirates is formed.

Wednesday 02, 1970:

The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.

Sunday 02, 1962:

Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of US President John F. Kennedy, US Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to not make an optimistic public comment on the war's progress.

Saturday 02, 1961:

Cold War: In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba was going to adopt Communism.

Thursday 02, 1954:

Red Scare: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."

Wednesday 02, 1942:

Manhattan Project: A team led by Enrico Fermi initiate the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

Saturday 02, 1939:

La Guardia Airport opens for business in New York City.

Tuesday 02, 1930:

Great Depression: US President Herbert Hoover goes before Congress and asks for a US$150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.

Friday 02, 1927:

Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.

Thursday 02, 1915:

Albert Einstein publishes the general theory of relativity.

Saturday 02, 1899:

Philippine-American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.

Monday 02, 1867:

In a New York City theater, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.

Friday 02, 1859:

Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16th raid on Harper's Ferry.

Thursday 02, 1852:

Napoleon III becomes Emperor of France.

Tuesday 02, 1851:

Newly-elected French President Charles Louis Bonaparte violently overthrows the Second Republic.

Saturday 02, 1848:

Franz Josef I becomes Emperor of Austria.

Tuesday 02, 1845:

Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.

Tuesday 02, 1823:

US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts (later be called the Monroe Doctrine).

Monday 02, 1805:

French troops under Napoleon decisively defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force.

Sunday 02, 1804:

At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned as the first Emperor of France in a thousand years.

Tuesday 02, 1755:

The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire.

Saturday 02, 1409:

The University of Leipzig opens.

More on December, 02

• People Born on December, 02
• They left us on December, 02