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HISTORY & TIMELINE
2 December

A journey through
2 December in history

From the founding of Leipzig’s university in 1409 to the first permanent artificial heart in 1982, 2 December has seen battles won, nations formed and new frontiers in science crossed. This timeline follows the date across almost six centuries.

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JUMP THROUGH TIME
II
THE MIDDLE AGES

Medieval History

Kingdoms, conflict, faith, power and the changing medieval world.

1409
Leipzig University's Neues Augusteum and Paulinum on Augustusplatz, in 2014.Leipzig University’s Neues Augusteum and Paulinum on Augustusplatz, in 2014.Image: Wilhelm Thomas Fiege · CC BY-SA 3.0
culture · Europe

Leipzig University is founded

Leipzig University was founded on 2 December 1409 by German masters and students who had left the University of Prague after King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia gave the Czech ‘nation’ control of it. With the support of the Margraves of Meissen and papal approval, it became one of the oldest universities in Germany.

Source: Leipzig University: History ↗
III
A CHANGING WORLD

Early Modern Era

Exploration, political change, scientific development and expanding global connections.

1697
St Paul's Cathedral, London, from the air.St Paul’s Cathedral, London, from the air.Image: Mark Fosh · CC BY 2.0
culture · Europe

Wren’s St Paul’s holds its first service

More than thirty years after the Great Fire of London destroyed the old cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren’s new St Paul’s opened for worship on 2 December 1697, when its choir was formally opened with the first service. Only the eastern end was complete: the dome and the west front were still to come. Wren and his craftsmen had spent four and a half years on the choir alone. The cathedral was declared finished in 1711.

Source: St Paul’s Cathedral: The choir and Morning Prayer Chapel, 1693-97 ↗
IV
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The 1800s

Industry, empire, invention, reform and a century of enormous transformation.

1805
The Battle of Austerlitz, painted by François Gérard in 1810.The Battle of Austerlitz, painted by François Gérard in 1810.Image: François Gérard · Public domain
world · Europe

Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz

On 2 December 1805, a year to the day after he crowned himself Emperor of the French in Notre-Dame, Napoleon defeated the armies of Russia and Austria near Austerlitz in Moravia, in today’s Czech Republic. About 68,000 French troops beat an allied force of almost 90,000, and because Alexander I of Russia and Francis I of Austria were both present, it became known as the Battle of the Three Emperors. Napoleon drew the allies into attacking his deliberately weakened right, then broke their centre on the Pratzen Heights. Austria made peace at Pressburg weeks later, and the Third Coalition against France fell apart. Military historians still count it as Napoleon’s greatest victory.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Battle of Austerlitz ↗
1823
James Monroe, painted by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1819.James Monroe, painted by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1819.Image: Samuel Finley Breese Morse · Public domain
politics · Americas

President Monroe sets out his doctrine

In his annual message to Congress on 2 December 1823, President James Monroe warned the European powers that any attempt to extend their system to the Americas would be seen as dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States. Written with Spain’s former colonies in mind, the few paragraphs later known as the Monroe Doctrine became a lasting principle of American foreign policy.

Source: US National Archives: Monroe Doctrine (1823) ↗
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1942
Gary Sheahan's 1957 painting of the scene at 3.22 pm on 2 December 1942. No photographers were present.Gary Sheahan’s 1957 painting of the scene at 3.22 pm on 2 December 1942. No photographers were present.Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domain
science · Americas

The first nuclear reactor comes to life

In a squash court beneath the stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, a team led by Enrico Fermi achieved the world’s first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction on the afternoon of 2 December 1942. Their reactor, Chicago Pile-1, was a pile of graphite blocks studded with uranium, controlled by cadmium rods. When the last control rod was drawn out at 3.53 pm the reaction sustained itself, and Fermi let it run for a few minutes before ordering the rods back in. The experiment, part of the Manhattan Project, opened the atomic age, leading both to nuclear power and to the atomic bomb.

Source: US Department of Energy: 10 intriguing facts about the world’s first nuclear chain reaction ↗
1956
The Granma Memorial in Havana, the glass pavilion that houses the yacht today.The Granma Memorial in Havana, the glass pavilion that houses the yacht today.Image: Brian Snelson from Hockley, Essex, England · CC BY 2.0
politics · Americas

The Granma lands in Cuba

Early on 2 December 1956 the overloaded yacht Granma ran aground in mangroves near Las Coloradas in eastern Cuba, after a week at sea from Tuxpan in Mexico. On board were 82 armed men led by Fidel Castro, among them his brother Raúl and Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, who had come to overthrow the dictator Fulgencio Batista. The landing went badly: government troops scattered the rebels at Alegría de Pío three days later, and only about twenty regrouped in the Sierra Maestra mountains. From there they built the guerrilla army that took power in January 1959.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba: Expedición del yate Granma ↗
1971
Sheikh Zayed and the rulers of Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman and Fujairah at Union House in Dubai after the flag was raised on 2 December 1971.Sheikh Zayed and the rulers of Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman and Fujairah at Union House in Dubai after the flag was raised on 2 December 1971.Image: Noor Ali Rashid · Public domain
politics · Asia

The United Arab Emirates is born

On 2 December 1971, days after the end of Britain’s treaty relationship with the Gulf sheikhdoms, the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain and Fujairah raised a new flag at Union House in Dubai and founded the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, became its first president and held the post until his death in 2004. Ras al-Khaimah joined as the seventh emirate early in 1972. The country marks 2 December as its National Day.

Source: UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs: History of the UAE ↗
1971
A model of the Mars 3 lander at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow.A model of the Mars 3 lander at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow.Image: NASA · Public domain
science · Global

Mars 3 makes the first soft landing on Mars

On 2 December 1971 the Soviet probe Mars 3 released its lander, which touched down in the southern hemisphere of Mars and became the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the planet. It began to transmit, but fell silent after about 14.5 seconds. The lander had arrived during one of the largest dust storms ever recorded on Mars, and a likely explanation is that the fierce winds knocked it over. In 2013 NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed objects that may be its parachute and hardware.

Source: NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive: Mars 3 lander ↗
1975
Pha That Luang, the golden stupa in Vientiane that is the national symbol of Laos.Pha That Luang, the golden stupa in Vientiane that is the national symbol of Laos.Image: Mickstout · CC BY-SA 3.0
politics · Asia

Laos becomes a people’s republic

On 2 December 1975, after the communist Pathet Lao had taken control of the country during the year, King Savang Vatthana gave up the throne and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was proclaimed, ending a monarchy that traced its roots back six centuries. Kaysone Phomvihane became prime minister. The day is Laos’s National Day. The former king and queen were later sent to a re-education camp, where they are reported to have died.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: History of Laos ↗
1982
A diagram of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart and its external drive system.A diagram of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart and its external drive system.Image: Unknown · Public domain
science · Americas

The first permanent artificial heart

At the University of Utah, in an operation that began late on 1 December 1982 and ended in the early hours of 2 December, the surgeon William DeVries replaced the failing heart of Barney Clark, aged 62, with the Jarvik-7, the first artificial heart intended to be permanent. Made of aluminium and polyurethane and driven by an air compressor outside the body, it kept Clark alive for 112 days, all spent in hospital. His case, and the complications he suffered, shaped the development of mechanical heart devices that followed.

Source: University of Utah Health: The first artificial heart, 30 years later ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 2 December, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

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