December 2
December 2 is the 337th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 29 days remain until the year's end. It falls in autumn (northern hemisphere) and under the astrological sign of Sagittarius.
External references
Curated jump-off points to the major almanacs, encyclopaedias and primary sources for this date.
Astronomy
On December 2 the Sun's declination is approximately -22.4°. At this latitude the Sun is south of the celestial equator, giving the Northern Hemisphere shorter days than nights.
For specific rise/set times at your location, see the U.S. Naval Observatory, or the NASA APOD archive for any imagery published on a December 2.
Position in the year
Holidays & observances
- Armed Forces Day (Cuba)
- Christian feast day: Avitus of Rouen
- Christian feast day: Bibiana
- Christian feast day: Channing Moore Williams (Anglicanism)
- Christian feast day: Chromatius
Events
A selection of widely-documented historical events that took place on this date. Years marked BCE follow standard astronomical convention.
2020 — Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. ↗(6 years ago)more
Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, weed, pot, Mary Jane, and ganja, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries.
2016 — Thirty-six people die in a fire at a converted Oakland, California, warehouse serving as an artist collective. ↗(10 years ago)more
On December 2, 2016, at about 11:20 p.m. PST, a fire started in a former warehouse that had been unlawfully converted into an artist collective with living spaces in Oakland, California, which was hosting a concert with 80–100 attendees.
- 2015 — San Bernardino attack: Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik kill 14 people and wound 22 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. ↗(11 years ago)
more
On December 2, 2015, an Islamic terrorist attack, consisting of a mass shooting and an attempted bombing, occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, United States. The perpetrators, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple living in the city of Redlands, targeted a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health...
2001 — Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. ↗(25 years ago)more
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies at the time of the merger.
1999 — The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive following the Good Friday Agreement. ↗(27 years ago)more
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares an open border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland.
1993 — Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed by police in Medellín. ↗(33 years ago)more
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country located in South America, with insular regions in North America. Colombia's mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east, Brazil to the southeast, Peru and Ecuador to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest.
1993 — Space Shuttle program: STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. ↗(33 years ago)more
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011.
1992 — Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-53 for the United States Department of Defense. ↗(34 years ago)more
Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984.
1991 — Canada and Poland become the first nations to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union. ↗(35 years ago)more
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the north; Poland and Slovakia to the west; Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast.
1990 — Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-35, carrying the ASTRO-1 spacelab observatory. ↗(36 years ago)more
Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on it...
1989 — The Peace Agreement of Hat Yai is signed and ratified by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the governments of Malaysia and Thailand, ending the over two-decade-long communist insurgency in Malaysia. ↗(37 years ago)more
The Hat Yai Peace Agreement marked the end of the Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–1989). It was signed and ratified by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), and the Malaysian and Thailand governments at the Lee Gardens Hotel in Hat Yai, Thailand, on 2 December 1989.
1988 — Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state. ↗(38 years ago)more
Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician and stateswoman who served as the prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was the first woman elected to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country.
Notable births
2005 — Learner Tien, American tennis player ↗(21 years ago)more
Learner Tien is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 21 achieved on March 16, 2026 and a best doubles ranking of No. 343, reached on August 18, 2025. His best achievement is reaching a major quarterfinal at the 2026 Australian Open. He is currently the No. 4 American singles player.
2004 — Ilia Malinin, American competitive figure skater ↗(22 years ago)more
Ilia Malinin, colloquially known as the Quad God, is an American figure skater. He is a 2026 Olympic Games team event gold medalist, three-time World champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion, seven-time Grand Prix gold medalist, four-time Challenger Series gold medalist, and four-time U.S. national champion (2023–26).
2003 — Neil Erasmus, South African-Australian footballer ↗(23 years ago)more
Neil Erasmus is an Australian rules football player who plays for Fremantle in the Australian Football League (AFL).
1998 — Annalise Basso, American actress ↗(28 years ago)more
Annalise Basso is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as LJ Folger in the post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller series Snowpiercer (2020–2022). She started her career as a child actress, appearing in the films Bedtime Stories (2008), Love Takes Wing (2009), Standing Up (2013) and Oculus (2013).
1998 — Anna Kalinskaya, Russian tennis player ↗(28 years ago)more
Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 11 in singles on 28 October 2024, and No. 37 in doubles on 11 August 2025. On the WTA Tour, she has won four doubles titles.
1998 — Juice Wrld, American rapper, singer and songwriter (died 2019) ↗(28 years ago)more
Jarad Anthony Higgins, known professionally as Juice Wrld, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He emerged as a leading figure in the emo and SoundCloud rap genres, which garnered mainstream attention during the mid-to-late 2010s.
Notable deaths
- 2024 — Ed Botterell, Canadian Olympic sailor (born 1931) ↗(2 years ago)
more
Edward Botterell was a Canadian sailor who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics.
2024 — Helmut Duckadam, Romanian footballer (born 1959) ↗(2 years ago)more
Helmut Duckadam was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
2024 — Neale Fraser, Australian tennis player (born 1933) ↗(2 years ago)more
Neale Andrew Fraser, was an Australian champion tennis player. Fraser is the most recent man to have completed the triple crown, which he did in 1959 and 1960 at the U.S. National Championships. He won the 1960 Wimbledon championships. Fraser was ranked world No. 1 amateur tennis player in 1959 and 1960 by Lance Tingay and Ned Potter.
2024 — Paul Maslansky, American film producer and writer (born 1933) ↗(2 years ago)more
Paul Marc Maslansky was an American film producer and writer best known for the Police Academy franchise, and directing the Blaxploitation horror film Sugar Hill (1974).
2024 — Debbie Mathers, Mother of Eminem (born 1955) ↗(2 years ago)more
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is often credited with popularizing hip-hop in Middle America and the acceptance of white rappers.
Numerical & calendrical curiosities
| Day-of-year (337) | 337 · prime |
|---|---|
| Days remaining (29) | 29 |
| Date code DDMMYYYY | 02122026 · next palindrome year: 2120 |
| Sun declination | -22.35° (Cooper approximation) |
| Distance from solstice | 18 days |