Historical Events January 2.

1885: Establishment of Ferguson College in Pune.

1936: Establishment of Madhya Pradesh High Court.

1942: During World War II, the Japanese army captured Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

1951: Russia launched Luna-1 spacecraft towards the moon.

1954, 2nd Jan: 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.

1991: Thiruvananthapuram Airport of Kerala became an international airport.

2000: The Panama government took full control of the Panama Canal after 85 years.

2016: Noted Shia cleric Nimr al Nimr and 46 other associates of Saudi Arabia had hanged.

 

Famous Birthdays and birth Anniversaries January 2.

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.

1987: Kanhaiya Kumar, Indian politician and student activist.

Death Anniversaries – January 2.

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. 

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.

1989: Safdar Hashmi, a communist playwright and director.

2015: Vasant Gowarikar, an Indian scientist.