Date·Lore

On This Day · The 336th day of the year

December 2

As calendar dates go, December 2 keeps a short memory — its record stays close to the present. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

♐ZodiacSagittarius ◈BirthstoneTurquoise ❀Birth flowerHolly

Sagittarius is the sign for December 2 — read more on the Sagittarius page, or see December's birthstone & birth flower.

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on December 2?

December 2 is the 336th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1865 and 2016. Famous people born on December 2 include Stephen McGinn, Britney Spears and Georges Seurat.

Released on December 2

Movies, games, albums & shows

2025

  • Game Horses
  • Game Sleep Awake
  • Game She's Leaving

2022

  • Game Burnhouse Lane
  • Game Marvel's Midnight Suns
  • Game The Callisto Protocol

2021

  • Game Fights in Tight Spaces
  • Game Solar Ash
  • Game Century: Age of Ashes

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1865

    Alabama

  2. 1899

    Philippine–American War

  3. 1917

    World War I

  4. 1942

    World War II

  5. 1950

    Korean War

  6. 1961

    Cuba

  7. 1988

    Benazir Bhutto

  8. 1991

    Ukraine

  9. 1999

    Northern Ireland

  10. 2016

    Ghost Ship warehouse fire

Famous birthday twins

Born on December 2

Stephen McGinn

b. 1988

Britney Spears

b. 1981

Georges Seurat

b. 1859

Tarcisio Bertone

b. 1934

Matteo Darmian

b. 1989

Ivan Bagramyan

b. 1897

Jan Ullrich

b. 1973

Botho Strauss

b. 1944

Deaths

  • 2024Eminem
  • 2008Henry Molaison
  • 2002Arno Peters
  • 1995Mária Telkes
  • 1594Gerardus Mercator
  • 1547Hernán Cortés

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
  • —Christian feast day: Habakkuk
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Ivan Slezyuk
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Angela Astorch

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

Born on this day?

Make your birthday card.

Drop in your birth year and we'll work out your exact age, the day of the week you were born, your Chinese zodiac, your generation, and the countdown to your next candle.