more events on December 2
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2001
Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, one of the most complex bankruptcy cases in US history.
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1999
UK devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive, the administrative branch of the North Ireland legislature.
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1993
NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavor on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
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1982
Dentist Barney Clark receives the first permanent artificial heart, developed by Dr. Robert K. Jarvik.
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1981
Brittany Spears, singer, songwriter, actress; her … Baby One More Time (1999) became the best-selling album to date (2013) by a teenage solo artist.
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1980
A death squad in El Salvador murders four US nuns and churchwomen.
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1970
The U.S. Senate votes to give 48,000 acres of New Mexico back to the Taos Indians.
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1964
Brazil sends Juan Peron back to Spain, foiling his efforts to return to his native land.
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1963
Ann Patchett, author; her novel Bel Canto received the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award (2002).
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1954
Stone Phillips, Emmy-winning journalist; co-anchor of Dateline NBC.
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1948
T. Corgaghessan Boyle, novelist and short story writer (Water Music).
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1946
The United States and Great Britain merge their German occupation zones.
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1944
Ibrahim Rugova, first President of Kosovo (1992–2000) and was re-elected by parliament (2002–2006).
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General George S. Patton’s troops enter the Saar Valley and break through the Siegfried line.
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1942
The Allies repel a strong Axis attack in Tunisia, North Africa.
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1939
Harry Reid, politician; the Nevada Democrat served as Senate Majority Leader (2007– ).
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1932
Bolivia accepts Paraguay’s terms for a truce in the Chaco War.
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1927
The new Ford Model A is introduced to the American public.
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1925
Alexander Haig, American army general and Secretary of State for President Ronald Reagan.
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1921
The first successful helium dirigible, C-7, makes a test flight in Portsmouth, Va.
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1918
Armenia proclaims independence from Turkey.
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1914
Austrian troops occupy Belgrade, Serbia.
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1912
Henry Armstrong, the only boxer to hold three titles simultaneously.
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1909
J.P. Morgan acquires majority holdings in Equitable Life Co. This is the largest concentration of bank power to date.
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1907
Spain and France agree to enforce Moroccan measures adopted in 1906.
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1906
Peter Carl Goldmark, engineer, developed the first commercial color television and the long-playing phonograph record.
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1896
Georgi Zhukov, Soviet general who captured Berlin during World War II.
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1885
Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek writer and lawyer (Zorba the Greek).
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1884
Ruth Draper, actress and writer.
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1867
People wait in mile-long lines to hear Charles Dickens give his first reading in New York City.
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1864
Major General Grenville M. Dodge is named to replace General William Rosecrans as Commander of the Department of Missouri.
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1863
Charles Ringling, one of the seven Ringling brothers of circus fame.
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General Braxton Bragg turns over command of the Army of Tennessee to General William Hardee at Dalton, Ga.
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1859
Georges Seurat, French painter, founder and leader of the Pointilism style.
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1837
Dr. Joseph Bell, British physician believed to be the prototype of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective Sherlock Holmes.
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1823
President James Monroe proclaims the principles known as the Monroe Doctrine, "that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by European powers."
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1805
Napoleon Bonaparte celebrates the first anniversary of his coronation with a victory at Austerlitz over a Russian and Austrian army.
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1804
Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of France in Notre Dame Cathedral.