This Day in History on 2 January
The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam.
On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 2 January. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.
Important Days
Ancestry Day (Haiti)
Berchtold’s Day (Switzerland and Liechtenstein)
Carnival Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
Important Events
1680 – Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram and his bodyguards execute the rebel leader Trunajaya a month after the rebel leader was captured by the Dutch East India Company.
1754: Robert Clive again attacked and annexed Calcutta from Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah.
1757: After the Battle of Plassey, Clive, Britisher, defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, Mir Jafar, Nawab of Bengal and re-captured Calcutta, after it had been seized by the Nawab of Bengal who had used the “Black Hole” to imprison British captives.
1791 – Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, North America, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War.
1885: Establishment of Ferguson College in Pune.
1899: Monks started living in Belur Math.
1936: Establishment of Madhya Pradesh High Court.
1942: During World War II, the Japanese army captured Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
1943: Vir Bhai Kotwal sacrificed his life.
1947: Mahatma Gandhi met Lord Bevin, the personal emissary of British Prime Minister Winston Churchil, in Delhi. Beven is reported to have told the great man, ”Eighteen languages, 500 dialects, some 30 religions, a million Gods and Goddesses, 300 million individuals, an infinity of castes and sub castes, and a population (that is) practically illiterate and half of which (are) beggars or thieves… Good luck, sir! Such a nation is ungovernable! It’d take you centuries to get anywhere!”. Gandhiji wrapped his large, white shawl a little more closely around him, and modestly replied, ‘India has eternity before her.. and “All around me is utter darkness”.
1948: Nehru threatens Indian action to stop Pakistani raids into Kashmir.
1951: Russia launched Luna-1 spacecraft towards the moon.
1953: Government set up a Board of Editors under Dr. Syed Mahmood to prepare a history of Freedom Movement in India.
1954: India established its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.
1975: Railway Minister Lalit Narayan Mishra had injured in a bomb blast in the Samastipur district of Bihar.
1989: Safdar Hashmi, a Marxist street playwright, writer, director, poet, and lyricist, was brutally murdered while performing a street play in New Delhi.
1990: Capt. Nivedita Bhasin, 26, becomes the youngest woman pilot in world civil aviation history to command a jet aircraft.
1990: Election panel made one member body again; Election Commissioners S. S. Dhanoa and V. S. Seigell removed.
1991: P. Shivshankar resigns as Opposition Leader in Rajya Sabha.
1991: Thiruvananthapuram Airport of Kerala became an international airport.
2000: The Panama government took full control of the Panama Canal after 85 years.
2016, 2nd Jan: Noted Shia cleric Nimr al Nimr and 46 other associates of Saudi Arabia had hanged.
Birth/ Birth Anniversary
1878: Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai, Indian activist, founded the Nair Service Society (d. 1970)[58]
1905: Jainendra Kumar, famous Hindi novelist and patriot, was born.
1917: K. M. Mathew, an Indian newspaper editor.
1920: Isaac Asimov, an American writer, and professor of biochemistry at Boston University.
1932: Harchand Singh Longowal, the former President of the Akali Dal.
1937: Chandrashekhara Kambara, a prominent Indian poet, playwright, folklorist, film director in the Kannada language.
1940: S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, an Indian American mathematician.
1959: Kirti Azad, an Indian politician and former cricketer.
1960: Raman Lamba, an Indian cricketer.
1972: Shiraz Minwalla, Indian theoretical physicist and string theorist
1987: Kanhaiya Kumar, Indian politician and student activist.
Death/ Death Anniversary
1316: Alauddin Khilji, the most powerful emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent.
1861: Frederick William III, King of Prussia.
1877: Alexander Bain, a Scottish Inventor, and engineer who was the first to invent and patent the electric clock.
1930: Mazharul Haque, greatest social worker, politician, nationalist, poet, journalist and writer, died.
1943: Virbhai Kotwal, an Indian social reformer and revolutionary from Neral, Maharashtra, India.
1949: Safdar Hashmi, a communist playwright, and director, best known for his work with street theatre in India.
1944: Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde, one of the most important social and religious reformers in Maharashtra, India.
1953: Guccio Gucci, an Italian businessman and fashion designer.
1964: Raichaudhary Ambikagiri, nationalist Asamia poet, died.
1967: University established at Berhampur in Orrisa State.
1973: General S. H. F. J. Manekshaw appointed as Field Marshall.
1979: Gavaskar gets twin tons for India for the third time (vs West Indies).
1987: Harekrushna Mahatab, Indian journalist and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Odisha (b. 1899)
1989 – Safdar Hashmi, Indian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1954)
2009: Dnyaneshwar Agashe, Indian businessman and cricketer (b. 1942)
2011: Bali Ram Bhagat, Indian politician; 16th Governor of Rajasthan (b. 1922)
2015: Vasant Gowarikar, an Indian scientist.
2016: Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)