History of 2nd December

1409 - The University of Leipzig opens.
1620 - English language newspaper "Namloos" begins publishing in Amsterdam
1682 - English earl of Shaftesbury flight to Amsterdam
1697 - St Paul's Cathedral opens in London
1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire.
1763 - Touro shul of Newport RI dedicated (oldest existing US synagogue)
1777 - British Gen Howe plots attack on Washington's army for Dec 4
1790 - Austrian army occupies Brussels
1802 - English sell Suriname to Dutch
1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte crowned emperor of France in Paris by Pope Pius VII
1805 - Napoleon defeats Russians & Austrians at Austerlitz
1812 - James Madison re-elected president of US, E Gerry vice-pres
1813 - Prince Willem Frederik accepts constitutional monarchy
1816 - 1st savings bank in US opens (Philadelphia Savings Fund Society)
1822 - In San Salvador, a congress proposes incorporation into US
1823 - President James Monroe declares his "Monroe Doctrine"
1840 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera "La Favorita," premieres in Paris
1840 - Opera "Die Favoritin" is produced (Paris)
1840 - William H Harrison elected president of US
1845 - Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
1848 - Franz Josef I becomes emperor of Austria & King of Hungary
1851 - Newly-elected French President Charles Louis Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic.
1852 - 2nd French empire established; Louis Napoleon becomes emperor
1864 - Skirmish at Rocky Creek Church, Georgia
1867 - In a New York City theater, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
1868 - 1st British government of Disraeli resigns
1877 - Camille Saint-Saëns' opera "Samson et Dalila," premieres in Weimar
1882 - Amsterdam Artis Zoo opens aquarium
1883 - John Brahms' 3rd Symphony in F, premieres
1885 - Opera "Regina di Saba," premieres in Vienna
1887 - Amsterdam's Oscar Carrés Circus Theater opens
1887 - French president Grevy (80) resigns
1891 - 52nd Congress (1891-93) convenes
1895 - 54th Congress (1895-97) convenes
1896 - Gerhart Hauptmann's "Die versunkene Glocke," premieres in Berlin
1899 - US & Germany agree to divide Samoa between them
1899 - Philippine-American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.
1900 - South African president Paul Kruger arrives in Germany
1901 - Gillette patents 1st disposable razor
1901 - King Camp Gillette begins selling safety razor blades
1902 - Soccer team Go Ahead forms in Deventer
1907 - English Professional Football Player's Association forms
1907 - Tommy Burns KOs Gunner Moir in 10 for heavyweight boxing title
1908 - Pu Yi (Hsuan-T'ung) became China's Last Emperor at age 3
1908 - Child Emperor Pu Yi ascends the Chinese throne at the age of two
1913 - Archdiocese of Managua created
1913 - Govt -Barthou falls due to overtime conscription
1914 - Austria army occupies Belgrade Serbia
1916 - Baseballers who are injured now get full pay for duration of contract
1917 - Han Yong-woon, found Zen awakening at Osean Monastery Korea
1922 - 10th CFL Grey Cup: Queen's University defeats Edmonton Eskimos, 13-1
1924 - British-German trade agreement signed
1927 - 1st Model A Fords sold, for $385
1928 - Cardinals 1B Jim Bottomley is voted NL MVP
1929 - 1st skull of Peking man found, 50 km out of Peking at Tsjoe Koe Tien
1932 - "Adv of Charlie Chan" 1st heard on NBC-Blue radio network
1933 - 1st transatlantic telephone wedding (Bertil Clason-Sigrid Carlson)
1933 - Fred Astaire's 1st film, "Dancing Lady," released
1934 - 5.08-m (200") Mt Palomar Observatory mirror is cast
1939 - British Imperial Airways & British Airways merge to form BOAC
1939 - NY's La Guardia Airport began operations as an airliner from Chicago lands, 1 minute after midnight
1941 - Largest roller skating rink (outside of NYC) opens in Peekskill NY
1941 - NY Giants name Mel Ott as player-manager, replacing Bill Terry
1941 - Naval Intelligence ceases bugging Japanese consul
1941 - Yamamoto sends his fleet to Pearl Harbor
1942 - 1st controlled nuclear chain reaction (Enrico Fermi-U of Chicago)
1943 - 1st RSHA transport out of Vienna reaches Birkenau camp
1944 - 10th Heisman Trophy Award: Les Horvath, Ohio State (QB)
1944 - General De Gaulle arrives in Moscow
1944 - German troops seize Betuwse dikes
1944 - US 95th Infantry division occupies bridge at Saar
1947 - 13th Heisman Trophy Award: John Lujack, Notre Dame (QB)
1948 - Stan Musial is picked NL MVP
1950 - Vic Toweel knocks down Danny O'Sullivan 14 times in a title fight
1951 - "Borscht Capades" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 90 performances
1951 - Phila sets NFL record of 25 1st-downs rushing
1952 - 18th Heisman Trophy Award: Billy Vessels, Oklahoma (HB)
1952 - 1st human birth televised to public (KOA-TV Denver, Colo)
1954 - "Hit the Trail" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 4 performances
1954 - Frank Selvy of Milwaukee sets then NBA record of 24 of 26 free throws
1954 - US Senate censures Joe McCarthy (Sen-R-Wisc) for "conduct that tends to bring Senate into dishonor & disrepute"
1956 - Fidel Castro lands with "Granma" on coast of Cuba
1957 - 1st US large scale nuclear power plant opens (Shippingport Penn)
1957 - Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" reaches #1
1958 - 24th Heisman Trophy Award: Pete Dawkins, Army (HB)
1958 - Benelux treaty signed by Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg
1958 - KNOP TV channel 2 in North Platte, NB (NBC) begins broadcasting
1959 - Malpasset dam collapses destroying French Riviera town of Frejus
1961 - Fidel Castro declares he's a Marxist, & will lead Cuba to Communism
1961 - Wind Bell, journal of SF Zen Center, begins publishing
1962 - 50th CFL Grey Cup: Winnipeg beats Hamilton, 28-27 at Toronto [OT]
1963 - 1st Dutch rocket launched/reaches height of 10 km
1963 - ML Rules Committee bans oversized catcher's mitts, effective in 1965
1964 - Ringo Starr's tonsils are removed
1966 - Love, Moby Grape & Lee Michaels perform at Fillmore East
1967 - 55th CFL Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeats Saskatchewan, 24-1
1968 - Pres Nixon names Henry Kissinger security advisor
1969 - "Buck White" opens at George Abbott Theater NYC for 7 performances
1969 - Boeing 747 jumbo jet 1st public preview (Seattle to NYC)
1970 - Environmental Protection Agency begins (Dir: William Ruckelshaus)

1970 - Tippetts Opera "Knot Garden," premieres in London
1971 - Soviet Mars 3 is 1st to soft land on Mars
1971 - United Arab Emirates, (Trucial States) declares independence from UK
1971 - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeira, Sharjah & Umm ak Qiwain form United Arab Emirates
1971 - Zayid bin Sultan Al Nuhayyan of Abu Dhabi becomes pres of UAE
1972 - "December Giant" largest sinkhole in US collapses (Alabama)
1972 - "Via Galactica" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 7 performances
1972 - 60th CFL Grey Cup: Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeats Saskatchewan, 13-10
1972 - In 1 of their worst trades Yanks get Rich McKinney for Stan Bahnsen
1973 - 62nd Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Cleveland (5-0)
1973 - Capital Centre (USAir Arena) in Wash DC opens
1973 - US Air Arena opens in Landover Maryland, Bullets beat Seattle, 98-96
1974 - Cowhide, rather than just horsehide, can be used to make baseballs
1974 - Giant Baba beats Jack Brisco in Kagoshimi, to become NWA champ
1974 - Soyuz 16 launched into Earth orbit for 6 days
1975 - 7 South Moluccans hijack train at Wijster Drente, 3 killed
1975 - G S Chappell gets ton in each inn of 1st Test Cricket as capt v WI
1975 - Laos king Sisavang Vatthana resigns, republic forms
1975 - Lao People's Democratic Republic founded (National Day)
1976 - Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.
1978 - Chanting "Allah is great," anti-Shah protesters poured through Tehran
1978 - Neil Diamond & Barbra Striesand's "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" hits #1
1978 - Streisand & Diamond's "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," goes #1
1979 - Crowds attack US embassy at Tripoli Libya
1979 - Foots Walker becomes 1st Cleve Cavalier to score a triple-double
1979 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1980 - 4 American Maryknoll nuns killed by death squads in El Salvador
1981 - Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers) wins NL Rookie of the Year
1981 - Moscone Convention Center, SF opens at 11:30 AM
1981 - Spanish government requests membership in NATO
1982 - 1st permanent artificial heart successfully implanted (U of Utah) in retired dentist Barney Clark; lived 112 days with Jarvic-7 heart
1984 - 4th meeting of Giants-Jets, Giants even series at 2 with 20-10 win
1984 - Bob Holland takes 9-83 for NSW against South Australia, SCG
1984 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1985 - "Mystery of Edwin Drood" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 608 perfs
1985 - Philipine Chief staff Gen Fabian speaks of B Aquino's murder
1985 - Rupert Holmes' musical "Mystery of Edwin Drood," premieres in NYC
1986 - Dow-Jones index hits record 1955.57
1987 - Chicago City Council elects Eugene Sawyer acting mayor
1987 - Jennifer Steele, 17, of Colo becomes Miss Teen of America [Approx]
1987 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1987 - "334" club forms as 334 brave Devil fans journey through 20" of snow to attend NJ Devils 7-5 victory over Calgary at Meadowlands
1988 - "Naked Gun" premieres, a movie based on TV's "Police Squad"
1988 - 5 gunmen who hijacked Soviet Aeroflot jet, surrender in Israel
1988 - STS-27 Atlantis launched (Secret military mission)
1988 - UN votes 151-2 (Isr & US) to move PLO debate to Geneva, Brit abstains
1989 - 55th Heisman Trophy Award: Andre Ware, Houston (QB)
1989 - KHJ-TV in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KCAL-TV
1989 - Vishwanath Pratap Singh sworn in as president of India
1990 - 1st parlimentary election in newly reunified Germany
1990 - 1st time 12 people in space
1990 - 79th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in St Petersburg (3-2)
1990 - Beth Daniel/Davis Love wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1990 - US 69th manned space mission STS 35 (Columbia 11) launches into orbit
1991 - Bobby Bonilla signs record $29 million-5 year pact with NY Mets
1991 - Muslim Shites release American held in Lebanon hostage Joseph Cicippio
1992 - WQEW-AM radio replaces WQXR on 1560 in NYC
1993 - A Websters musical "Sunset Promenade" premieres in LA
1993 - Dow-Jones hits record 3702.11
1993 - Houston Rockets tie NBA record of 15-0 start
1993 - Space shuttle STS-61 (Endeavour 5), launches
1994 - "Cobb" premieres
1994 - Achille Lauro (Willem Ruys) sinks off the coast of Somalia
1994 - Andrew Lloyd Webber admitted to the hospital for ulcer treatment
1994 - Jury finds Heidi Fleiss guilty of running a call girl ring
1995 - 17th ACE Cable Awards
1997 - MCI Center opens in Wash DC, Wizards vs SuperSonics
1999 - The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive.
2001 - Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
2005 - Van Tuong Nguyen is executed in Singapore for drug trafficking.
2008 - Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat resigns after the 2008 Thailand political crisis.