This Day in History
02 Dec 1620
English language newspaper Namloos begins publishing in Amsterdam
02 Dec 1682
English Earl of Shaftesbury flees to Amsterdam
02 Dec 1755
The second Eddystone Lighthouse on Eddystone Rocks off English southern coast is destroyed by fire
02 Dec 1763
Touro shul of Newport Rhode Island dedicated (oldest existing US synagogue)
More History
Napoleon crowned emperor
In Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned Napoleon I the first Frenchman to hold the title of emperor in a thousand years. Pope Pius VII ...
John Brown hanged
In Charles Town Virginia militant abolitionist John Brown is executed on charges of treason murder and insurrection.Brown born in Connecticut in 1800 firs...
Monroe Doctrine declared
During his annual address to Congress President James Monroe proclaims a new U.S. foreign policy initiative that becomes known as the Monroe Doctrine....
McCarthy condemned by Senate
The U.S. Senate votes 65 to 22 to condemn Senator Joseph R. McCarthy for conduct unbecoming of a senator. The condemnation which was equivalent to a censure r...
Enron files for bankruptcy
On this day in 2001 the Enron Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York court sparking one of the largest corporate scandals in U.S...
Fermi produces the first nuclear chain reaction
On this day Enrico Fermi the Italian-born Nobel Prize-winning physicist directs and controls the first nuclear chain reaction in his laboratory beneath the b...
South Vietnamese leaders order a temporary halt to the strategic hamlet program
The military junta which took control of the South Vietnamese government following the November coup that resulted in the death of President Ngo Dinh Diem ord...
Senator Mansfield pronounces American aid to South Vietnam wasted
Following a trip to Vietnam at President John F. Kennedys request Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-Montana) becomes the first U.S. official to ...
Archie Griffin wins second consecutive Heisman Trophy
On December 2 1975 Ohio State University running back Archie Griffin becomes the first player in history to win the Heisman Trophy two years in a row. Followi...
Monroe introduces bold new foreign policy
On this day in 1823 President James Monroe delivers his annual message to Congress and calls for a bold new approach to American foreign policy that eventually...
Polk affirms Monroe Doctrine
Making his first annual address to Congress President James K. Polk belligerently reasserts the 1823 Monroe Doctrine and calls for aggressive American expansio...
Coleridge joins the cavalry
Fleeing his debtors 21-year-old Samuel Taylor Coleridge enlists in the Light Dragoons an English cavalry unit on this day in 1793.Coleridge had fallen into d...
Affleck and Damon’s Good Will Hunting debuts
On this day in 1997 Good Will Hunting a movie that will earn childhood friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon a Best Screenplay Oscar and propel them to Hollywood...
Dam collapses in France, killing 412
The Malpasset Dam in France collapses on this day in 1959 and the resulting flood kills more than 400 people. The city of Frejus dating back to Caesars...
Kennedy cousin rape trial begins
Opening testimony takes place in the highly publicized rape trial of William Kennedy Smith a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Jean Kennedy Smith...
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