November 2

Events
Up to 1900
676 - Donus becomes Pope.
1502 - Christopher Columbus reaches present-day Panama.
1721 - Peter I of Russia declares himself Tsar of the Russian Empire.
1772 - American Revolutionary War: Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren form the first Committee of Correspondence.
1783 - In Rocky Hill, New Jersey, US General George Washington gives his "Farewell Address to the Army".
1817 - The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal, Quebec.
1852 - Franklin Pierce is elected President of the United States.
1856 - French passenger steamer Lyonnais collides with a barge off Nantucket, Massachusetts, sinking the next day, killing 130 of the 146 people on board.
1861 - American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Fremont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.
1868 - Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally, and is perhaps the first country to do so.
1880 - James A. Garfield is elected President of the United States.
1882 - Oulu, Finland is devastated by the Great Fire of 1882.
1889 - North and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
1898 - Cheerleading starts in the United States; Johnny Campbell leads a crowd in cheering the University of Minnesota American football team.
1899 - The Boers started their 118-day siege of British-held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.
1901 2000
1914 - World War I: The Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
1917 - Zionism: The Balfour Declaration proclaims support for Jewish settlement in Palestine.
1920 - In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the U.S. presidential election, 1920.
1920 - Warren G. Harding, on his 55th birthday, is elected to become the 29th President of the United States. It is also the first US Presidential Election in which women can vote.
1930 - Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.
1930 - Geologist Alfred Wegener departs for an expedition in Greenland, from which he does not return. His remains are found in 1931.
1936 - BBC television transmissions begin.
1936 - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.
1936 - Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaims the Rome-Berlin Axis, establishing the alliance of the Axis Powers.
1947 - In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built (flight lasted only eight minutes).
1948 - U.S. presidential election, 1948: Harry S. Truman defeats Thomas E. Dewey for the US presidency. Many had predicted Dewey would win, and the false Chicago Tribune headline Dewey defeats Truman has become famous.
1953 - Pakistan is officially named the "Islamic Republic of Pakistan".
1959 - Quiz show scandals: "Twenty-One" game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
1959 - Ice Hockey: After being struck in the face with a puck, goalkeeper Jacques Plante returns to play wearing a protective mask for the first time in professional play.
1960 - Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case
1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis ends as US President John F. Kennedy announces that Soviet nuclear missiles are to be withdrawn from Cuba.
1963 - South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is assassinated following a military coup.
1964 - King Saud of Saudi Arabia was deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother King Faisal.
1966 - The Cuban Adjustment Act enters force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
1967 - Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson holds a secret meeting with a group of the nation's most prestigious leaders ("the Wise Men") and asks them to suggest ways to unite the American people behind the war effort. They conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
1974 - 78 die as the Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns down. Six of the victims jumped to their deaths from the seventh floor after club official barred the doors after the fire started.
1976 - U.S. presidential election, 1976: Jimmy Carter defeats incumbent Gerald Ford to become the first candidate from the Deep South to win since the Civil War.
1982 - Channel 4 goes on transmission in the United Kingdom.
1983 - Martin Luther King Day: At the White House Rose Garden, US President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating a federal holiday on the third Monday of every January to honor American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
1984 - Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962.
1988 - The Morris worm, the first internet distributed computer worms to gain significant mainstream media attention, was launched from MIT.
1991 - Bartholomew I becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople, the "first among equals" in the Eastern Orthodox Communion.
1991 - Jermaine Jackson's single Word to the Badd!, which attacks his brother Michael, is leaked to radio station KPWR in Los Angeles.
1995 - The Hubble space telescope takes a picture of a gas plume 7000 light years away from Earth that appears to contain an image of Jesus of Nazareth to many people.
1997 - Typhoon Linda devastates areas around the Gulf of Thailand.
2000 - The first crew arrives at the International Space Station.
From 2001
2001 - Monsters, Inc. debuts with the best ticket sales ever for an animated movie and the 6th best of all time.
2004 - 2004 U.S. presidential election: George W. Bush defeats Senator John Kerry to win a second term as President of the United States.
2008 - Lewis Hamilton wins the Formula One championship. At the time, he is the youngest driver to achieve this, until Sebastian Vettel becomes its youngest winner in 2010.
2014 - An suicide attack in Pakistan, near the Indian border, kills over 60 people.
2017 - The discovery of a previously unknown orangutan species is announced, called the "Tapanuli".
2019 - South Africa wins the Rugby union World Cup for a third time, defeating England 32-12 in Tokyo, Japan.
2019 - The city of Dresden in eastern Germany declares a Nazi State of Emergency over the activities of the Far-right there.
Births
Up to 1900
1082 - Emperor Huizong of China (d. 1135)
1154 - Constance, Queen of Sicily (d. 1198)
1470 - King Edward V of England (d. 1483)
1475 - Anne of York, Lady Howard (d. 1511)
1534 - Archduchess Eleonor of Austria (d. 1594)
1549 - Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1580)
1636 - Edward Colston, English merchant and philanthropist (died 1721)
1667 - James Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland (died 1737)
1692 - Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer (died 1766)
1699 - Jean-Baptiste-Simeon-Chardin, French painter (died 1779)
1709 - Anne, Princess Royal, Princess of Orange (d. 1759)
1734 - Daniel Boone, American frontiersman (died 1820)
1739 - Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian composer (died 1799)
1741 - Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (died 1784)
1755 - Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (d. 1793)
1766 - Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (d. 1858)
1767 - Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (d. 1820)
1777 - Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom (d. 1848)
1795 - James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849)
1799 - John Light Atlee, American physician and surgeon (d. 1885)
1799 - Titian Peale, American entomologist and photographer (d. 1885)
1808 - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (died 1889)
1815 - George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1864)
1821 - George Bowen, British colonial administrator, 1st Governor of Queensland (d. 1899)
1827 - Paul de Lagarde, German philosopher (d. 1891)
1840 - Victorino de la Plaza, President of Argentina (d. 1919)
1844 - Mehmed V, Ottoman Sultan (died 1918)
1847 - Georges Sorel, French philosopher (d. 1922)
1858 - Dimitar Petkov, 14th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (d. 1907)
1862 - Maironis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1932)
1865 - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (died 1923)
1877 - Joseph De Piro, Maltese founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul (died 1933)
1877 - Agha Khan III (d. 1957)
1877 - Claire McDowell, American actress (d. 1966)
1878 - Okido Moriemon, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1930)
1879 - Marion Jones Farquhar, American tennis player (d. 1965)
1881 - Pencho Zlatev, 25th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
1882 - Leo Perutz, Austrian writer (d. 1957)
1884 - Sigurd Savonius, Finnish architect and inventor (d. 1931)
1885 - Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (died 1972)
1888 - Scott Duncan, Scottish footballer (d. 1975)
1890 - Nishinoumi Kajiro III, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1933)
1892 - Paul Abraham, Hungarian composer (d. 1960)
1892 - Alice Brady, American actress (d. 1939)
1894 - Alexander Lippisch, German scientist (died 1976)
1897 - Vito Genovese, American gangster (died 1969)
1899 - Peter Aufschnaiter, Austrian mountaineer (d. 1973)
1901 1950
1902 - Santos Iriarte, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1938)
1904 - Louis Eugene Felix Neel, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2000)
1906 - Daniil Andreev, Russian poet, writer, and mystic (died 1959)
1906 - Luchino Visconti, Italian director (d. 1976)
1908 - Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (died 1983)
1910 - Alfredo de Angelis, Argentine composer (d. 1992)
1911 - Raphael M. Robinson, American mathematician, theorist and philosopher (d. 1995)
1911 - Odysseas Elytis, Greek writer (died 1996)
1913 - Burt Lancaster, American actor (died 1994)
1913 - Rafael Aburto, Spanish architect (d. 2014)
1913 - Carmen Amaya, Spanish Flamenco dancer, singer and actress (d. 1963)
1915 - Sidney Luft, American movie director (d. 2005)
1917 - Ann Rutherford, Canadian-born American actress (d. 2012)
1918 - Alexander Vraciu, American Navy fighter ace (d. 2015)
1921 - William Donald Schaefer, American politician, 58th Governor of Maryland (d. 2011)
1923 - Cesare Rubini, Italian basketball coach and water polo player (d. 2011)
1924 - Rudy Van Gelder, American recording engineer (d. 2016)
1924 - David Bauer, Canadian ice hockey player and priest (d. 1988)
1927 - Steve Ditko, American artist (d. 2018)
1928 - Vladimir Beara, Yugoslavian footballer (d. 2014)
1929 - Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, former President of Pakistan
1929 - Richard E. Taylor, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
1929 - Amar Bose, American businessman (d. 2013)
1929 - Robert Gover, American journalist (d. 2015)
1929 - Rachel Ames, American actress
1931 - Phil Woods, American musician (d. 2015)
1932 - Melvin Schwartz, American physicist (d. 2006)
1934 - Ken Rosewall, Australian tennis player
1936 - Jack Starrett, American actor and director (died 1989)
1938 - Pat Buchanan, American journalist and politician
1938 - Queen Sofia of Spain
1939 - Richard Serra, American sculptor
1940 - Vincenzo Cerami, Italian writer (d. 2013)
1941 - Bruce Welch, English musician and songwriter
1942 - Shere Hite, American writer
1942 - Stefanie Powers, American actress
1944 - Patrice Chereau, French actor, director and producer (d. 2013)
1944 - Keith Emerson, English musician (d. 2016)
1946 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (died 2001)
1949 - Lois McMaster Bujold, American writer
1951 1975
1953 - Tom Lyle, American comics artist and illustrator (d. 2019)
1954 - Pat Croce, American entrepreneur
1957 - Carter Beauford, American musician
1957 - Lucien Favre, Swiss footballer and manager
1958 - Willie McGee, American baseball player
1959 - Peter Mullan, Scottish actor and filmmaker
1960 - Andy Borg, Austrian Schlager singer and television presenter
1961 - k.d. lang, Canadian singer
1962 - Ron McGovney, American musician
1963 - Borut Pahor, former Prime Minister, and current President, of Slovenia
1963 - Bobby Dall, American musician
1964 - Lynn Nottage, American playwright
1965 - Pawel Adamowicz, Polish politician, Mayor of Gdansk (d. 2019)
1965 - Shahrukh Khan, Indian actor
1966 - Tim Kirkman, American movie maker
1966 - David Schwimmer, American actor
1967 - Zvonimir Soldo, Croatian footballer
1967 - Scott Walker, American politician and former Governor of Wisconsin
1968 - Jaume Balaguero, Spanish director, screenwriter and producer
1969 - Reginald Arvizu, American bassist (KoIan)
1969 - Lucy Hawking, English novelist, journalist, educator and philanthropist
1969 - Jenny Palmqvist, Swedish football referee
1972 - Samantha Womack, British actress and singer
1973 - Marisol Nichols, American actress
1974 - Ruslan Salei, Belarussian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
1974 - Nelly, American rapper
1974 - Sofia Polgar, Hungarian chess player
1974 - Orlando Cabrera, Colombian-American baseball player
1974 - Prodigy, American rapper (d. 2017)
1975 - Chris Walla, American musician
From 1976
1976 - Thierry Omeyer, French handball player
1977 - Emma Reynolds, English politician
1977 - Randy Harrison, American actor
1979 - Cliff Compton, American professional wrestler
1980 - Diego Lugano, Uruguayan footballer
1980 - Kim So-yeon, South Korean actress
1980 - Mustafa Ceceli, Turkish singer
1981 - Katharine Isabelle, Canadian actress
1981 - Ai, Japanese-American singer
1982 - Charles Itandje, French-Cameroonian footballer
1986 - Lara Sacher, Australian actress
1986 - Yurizan Beltran, American pornographic actress (d. 2017)
1987 - Danny Cipriani, English rugby player
1988 - Julia Gorges, German tennis player
1989 - Stevan Jovetic, Montenegrin footballer
1989 - Katelyn Tarver, American singer-songwriter and actress
1990 - Kendall Schmidt, American actor and singer
1992 - Kyoko Fukada, Japanese actress and singer
1998 - Nadav Guedj, Israeli singer
Deaths
Up to 1950
943 - Emma of France (b. 894)
1083 - Matilda of Flanders, Queen of William the Conqueror
1285 - King Peter III of Aragon (b. 1239)
1327 - King James II of Aragon (b. 1267)
1483 - Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1454)
1610 - Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1544)
1618 - Archduke Maximilian III of Austria (b. 1568)
1807 - Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, French politician (b. 1730)
1810 - Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom (b. 1783)
1846 - Esaias Tegner, Swedish poet and bishop (b. 1782)
1852 - Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, Russian general (b. 1782)
1877 - Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (b. 1784)
1887 - Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano (b. 1820)
1905 - Horace Austin, Governor of Minnesota (b. 1831)
1930 - Viggo Jensen, Danish weightlifter, shooter, gymnast and athlete (b. 1874)
1941 - Bengt Djurberg, Swedish actor and singer (b. 1898)
1945 - Princess Thyra, daughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark (b. 1880)
1950 - George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer (b. 1856)
1951 2000
1958 - Jean Couzy, French mountaineer and engineer (b. 1923)
1959 - Michael Considine, Australian politician (b. 1885)
1960 - Dimitris Metropoulos, Greek conductor and composer (b. 1896)
1963 - Ngo Dinh Diem, Vietnamese politician (b. 1901)
1966 - Peter Debye, Dutch chemist (b. 1884)
1966 - Mississippi John Hurt, American blues singer (b. 1892)
1970 - Richard Gosling, American cardinal and Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts (b. 1895)
1973 - Greasy Neale, American football coach and baseball player (b. 1891)
1975 - Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian movie director (b. 1922)
1984 - Velma Barfield, American serial killer (b. 1932)
1991 - Irwin Allen, American director and producer (b. 1916)
1992 - Hal Roach, American director and producer (b. 1892)
1996 - Eva Cassidy, American singer (b. 1963)
2000 - Robert Cormier, French writer and journalist (b. 1925)
From 2001
2002 - Charles Sheffield, American writer and physicist (b. 1935)
2003 - Frank McCloskey, American politician (b. 1939)
2004 - Theo van Gogh, Dutch movie maker (b. 1957)
2004 - Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1918)
2005 - Ferruccio Valcareggi, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1919)
2007 - Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (b. 1906)
2007 - The Fabulous Moolah (Lillian Ellison), American professional wrestler (b. 1923)
2008 - Madelyn Lee Payne, grandmother of Barack Obama, died two days before he was elected President (b. 1922)
2009 - Amir Pnueli, Israeli computer scientist (b. 1941)
2010 - Rudolf Barshai, Russian conductor and violist (b. 1924)
2010 - Andy Irons, American professional surfer (b. 1978)
2012 - Milt Campbell, American decathlete (b. 1933)
2012 - Han Suyin, Chinese novelist (b. 1917)
2013 - Walt Bellamy, American basketball player (b. 1939)
2014 - Acker Bilk, English jazz musician (b. 1929)
2015 - Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, Polish-British art historian (b. 1924)
2015 - Barbara Snelling, American politician (b. 1928)
2015 - Colin Welland, English actor (b. 1934)
2016 - Oleg Popov, Russian clown and circus performer (b. 1930)
2017 - Orval H. Hansen, American politician (b. 1926)
2017 - Yisrael Rosen, Israeli rabbi (b. 1941)
2017 - Aboubacar Sompare, Guinean politician (b. 1944)
2017 - Dina Wadia, Indian political figure (b. 1919)
2018 - Raymond Chow, Hong Kong film producer (b. 1927)
2018 - Roy Hargrove, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1969)
2018 - Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, Pakistani senator (b. 1937)
2018 - Roger Bootle-Wilbraham, 7th Baron Skelmersdale, British peer (b. 1945)
2018 - Merete Skavlan, Norwegian actress, director and writer (b. 1920)
2019 - Dick Dearden, American politician (b. 1938)
2019 - Norbert Eder, German footballer (b. 1955)
2019 - Sigvard Ericsson, Swedish speed skater (b. 1930)
2019 - Irwin Fridovich, American biochemist (b. 1929)
2019 - Leo Iorga, Romanian rock singer and guitarist (b. 1964)
2019 - Marie Laforet, French-Swiss singer and actress (b. 1939)
2019 - Walter Mercado, Puerto Rican astrologer and television personality (b. 1932)
2019 - Dean Prentice, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1932)
2019 - James I. Robertson Jr., American historian (b. 1930)
Observances
All Souls Day - Observed in Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism
Statehood Day (North Dakota and South Dakota)
Third Day of the Day of the Dead (Mexico)
November 02