December 2

Pre-1600

• 1244 – Pope Innocent IV arrives at Lyon for the First Council of Lyon.^[1]
• 1409 – The University of Leipzig opens.^[2]

1601–1900

• 1697 – St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London, is consecrated.^[3]
• 1763 – Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what will become the United States.^[4]
• 1766 – Swedish parliament approves the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act and implements it as a ground law, thus being first in the world with freedom of speech.
• 1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French.^[5]
• 1805 – War of the Third Coalition: Battle of Austerlitz: French troops under Napoleon decisively defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force.^[6]
• 1823 – Monroe Doctrine: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaims American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas.
• 1845 – Manifest Destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
• 1848 – Franz Joseph I becomes Emperor of Austria.
• 1851 – French President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic.
• 1852 – Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of the French as Napoleon III.
• 1859 – Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16 raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.^[7]
• 1865 – Alabama ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed by North Carolina, then Georgia; U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks.
• 1867 – At Tremont Temple in Boston, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
• 1899 – Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, known as the "Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.

1901–present

• 1908 – Puyi becomes Emperor of China at the age of two.
• 1917 – World War I: Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk begin.
• 1927 – Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.
• 1930 – Great Depression: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Herbert Hoover proposes a $150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.
• 1939 – New York City's LaGuardia Airport opens.
• 1942 – World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
• 1943 – World War II: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and transport ships, including the American SS John Harvey, which is carrying a stockpile of mustard gas.
• 1947 – Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Arabs riot in Jerusalem in response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
• 1949 – Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others is adopted.
• 1950 – Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with a decisive Chinese victory and UN forces are completely expelled from North Korea.
• 1954 – Cold War: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to censure Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute".
• 1954 – The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Taiwan, is signed in Washington, D.C.
• 1956 – The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente Province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.
• 1957 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 126 relating to the Kashmir conflict is adopted.
• 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba will adopt Communism.
• 1962 – Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to comment adversely on the war's progress.
• 1968 – Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 crashes into Pedro Bay, Alaska, killing all 39 people on board.^[8]
• 1970 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
• 1971 – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.
• 1975 – Laotian Civil War: The Pathet Lao seizes the Laotian capital of Vientiane, forces the abdication of King Sisavang Vatthana, and proclaims the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
• 1976 – Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.
• 1977 – A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Benghazi, Libya, killing 59.^[9]
• 1980 – Salvadoran Civil War: Four American missionaries are raped and murdered by a death squad.
• 1982 – At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.
• 1988 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state.
• 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.
• 1990 – Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-35, carrying the ASTRO-1 spacelab observatory.^[10]
• 1991 – Canada and Poland become the first nations to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union.
• 1993 – Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed by police in Medellín.
• 1993 – Space Shuttle program: STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
• 1999 – The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive following the Good Friday Agreement.
• 2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• 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.
• 2016 – Thirty-six people die in a fire at a converted Oakland, California, warehouse serving as an artist collective.
• 2020 – Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Pre-1600

• 503 – Emperor Jianwen of Liang, emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty (d. 551)
• 1501 – Queen Munjeong, Korean queen (d. 1565)
• 1578 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1641)
• 1599 – Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, Scottish nobleman (d. 1663)

1601–1900

• 1629 – Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg, Catholic cardinal (d. 1704)
• 1694 – William Shirley, English-American lawyer and politician, Governor of the province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1771)
• 1703 – Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian missionary and explorer (d. 1759)
• 1738 – Richard Montgomery, Irish-American general (d. 1775)
• 1754 – William Cooper, American judge and politician, founded Cooperstown, New York (d. 1809)
• 1759 – James Edward Smith, English botanist and mycologist, founded the Linnean Society (d. 1828)
• 1760 – John Breckinridge, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th United States Attorney General (d. 1806)
• 1760 – Joseph Graetz, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1826)
• 1798 – António Luís de Seabra, 1st Viscount of Seabra, Portuguese magistrate and politician (d. 1895)
• 1810 – Henry Yesler, American businessman and politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (d. 1892)
• 1811 – Jean-Charles Chapais, Canadian farmer and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1885)
• 1817 – Heinrich von Sybel, German historian, academic, and politician (d. 1895)
• 1825 – Pedro II of Brazil (d. 1891)
• 1827 – William Burges, English architect and designer (d. 1881)^[15]
• 1846 – Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French lawyer and politician, 68th Prime Minister of France (d. 1904)
• 1847 – Deacon White, American baseball player and manager (d. 1939)
• 1859 – Georges Seurat, French painter (d. 1891)
• 1860 – Charles Studd, England cricketer and missionary (d. 1931)
• 1863 – Charles Edward Ringling, American businessman, co-founded the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1926)
• 1866 – Harry Burleigh, American singer-songwriter (d. 1949)
• 1876 – Yusuf Akçura, Tatar-Turkish activist and ideologue of Turanism (d. 1935)
• 1877 – Cahir Healy, Northern Irish Anti Partitionist, writer and politician (d. 1970)^[16]
• 1884 – Erima Harvey Northcroft, New Zealand soldier, lawyer, and judge (d. 1953)
• 1884 – Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Turkish poet and author (d. 1958)
• 1885 – George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
• 1891 – Otto Dix, German painter and illustrator (d. 1969)
• 1891 – Charles H. Wesley, American historian and author (d. 1987)
• 1894 – Warren William, American actor (d. 1948)
• 1895 – Harriet Cohen, English pianist (d. 1967)
• 1897 – Ivan Bagramyan, Russian general (d. 1982)
• 1897 – Rewi Alley, New Zealand writer and political activist (d. 1987)^[17]
• 1898 – Indra Lal Roy, Indian lieutenant and first Indian fighter aircraft pilot (d. 1918)
• 1899 – John Barbirolli, English cellist and conductor (d. 1970)
• 1899 – John Cobb, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1952)
• 1899 – Ray Morehart, American baseball player (d. 1989)
• 1900 – Elisa Godínez Gómez de Batista, former First Lady of Cuba (d. 1993)
• 1900 – Herta Hammerbacher, German landscape architect and professor (d. 1985)

1901–present

• 1901 – Raimundo Orsi, Argentinian-Italian footballer (d. 1986)
• 1906 – Peter Carl Goldmark, Hungarian-American engineer (d. 1977)
• 1909 – Arvo Askola, Finnish runner (d. 1975)
• 1909 – Walenty Kłyszejko, Estonian–Polish basketball player and coach (d. 1987)
• 1909 – Joseph P. Lash, American activist and author (d. 1987)
• 1910 – Russell Lynes, American photographer, historian, and author (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Taisto Mäki, Finnish runner (d. 1979)
• 1912 – George Emmett, English cricketer and coach (d. 1976)
• 1913 – Marc Platt, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2014)
• 1914 – Bill Erwin, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Adolph Green, American playwright and composer (d. 2002)
• 1915 – Takahito, Prince Mikasa of Japan (d. 2016)
• 1916 – Howard Finster, American minister and painter (d. 2001)
• 1917 – Sylvia Syms, American singer (d. 1992)
• 1921 – Carlo Furno, Italian cardinal (d. 2015)
• 1922 – Iakovos Kambanelis, Greek author, poet, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
• 1923 – Maria Callas, American-Greek soprano and actress (d. 1977)^[18]
• 1924 – Jonathan Frid, Canadian actor (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (d. 2010)^[18]
• 1924 – Else Marie Pade, Danish composer (d. 2016)
• 1924 – Vilgot Sjöman, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Julie Harris, American actress (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Ralph Beard, American basketball player (d. 2007)^[19]
• 1928 – Guy Bourdin, French photographer (d. 1991)
• 1929 – Dan Jenkins, American journalist and author (d. 2019)
• 1929 – Leon Litwack, American historian and author (d. 2021)
• 1930 – Gary Becker, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
• 1930 – David Piper, English race car driver
• 1931 – Nigel Calder, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Masaaki Hatsumi, Japanese martial artist and educator, founded Bujinkan
• 1931 – Wynton Kelly, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)
• 1931 – Edwin Meese, American lawyer, 75th United States Attorney General^[18]
• 1931 – Gareth Wigan, British film studio executive (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Peter Robin Harding, English marshal and pilot (d. 2021)
• 1933 – Mike Larrabee, American sprinter and educator (d. 2003)
• 1934 – Tarcisio Bertone, Italian cardinal
• 1935 – David Hackett Fischer, American historian, author, and academic
• 1937 – Manohar Joshi, Indian lawyer and politician, 15th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2024)
• 1939 – Yael Dayan, Israeli journalist, author, and politician
• 1939 – Francis Fox, Canadian lawyer and politician, 48th Secretary of State for Canada
• 1939 – Harry Reid, American lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada (d. 2021) ^[20]
• 1940 – Willie Brown, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 2019)
• 1941 – Mike England, Welsh footballer and manager
• 1941 – Tom McGuinness, English guitarist, songwriter, author, and producer
• 1942 – Anna G. Jónasdóttir, Icelandic political scientist and academic
• 1943 – Wayne Allard, American veterinarian and politician
• 1944 – Cathy Lee Crosby, American actress and tennis player^[21]
• 1944 – Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovan journalist and politician, 1st President of Kosovo (d. 2006)
• 1944 – Dionysis Savvopoulos, Greek singer-songwriter
• 1944 – Botho Strauß, German author and playwright
• 1945 – Penelope Spheeris, American director, producer, and screenwriter^[21]
• 1945 – Alan Thomson, Australian cricketer
• 1946 – John Banks, New Zealand businessman and politician, 38th Mayor of Auckland City
• 1946 – David Macaulay, English-American author and illustrator
• 1946 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer, founded Versace (d. 1997)^[18]
• 1947 – Isaac Bitton, Moroccan-French drummer and songwriter
• 1947 – Tommy Jenkins, English footballer and manager
• 1947 – Ivan Atanassov Petrov, Bulgarian neurologist and author
• 1948 – Elizabeth Berg, American nurse and author
• 1948 – T. Coraghessan Boyle, American novelist and short story writer
• 1948 – Patricia Hewitt, Australian-English educator and politician, English Secretary of State for Health
• 1948 – Toninho Horta, Brazilian guitarist and composer
• 1948 – Antonín Panenka, Czech footballer
• 1950 – John Wesley Ryles, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist^[21]
• 1950 – Amin Saikal, Afghan-Australian political scientist and academic
• 1950 – Benjamin Stora, Algerian-French historian and author
• 1950 – Paul Watson, Canadian activist, founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
• 1952 – Carol Shea-Porter, American social worker, academic, and politician
• 1952 – Keith Szarabajka, American actor^[21]
• 1954 – Dan Butler, American actor, director, and screenwriter^[21]
• 1956 – Steven Bauer, Cuban-American actor and producer^[21]
• 1957 – Dagfinn Høybråten, Norwegian political scientist and politician, Norwegian Minister of Health
• 1958 – Randy Gardner, American figure skater^[18]
• 1958 – Andrew George, English politician
• 1958 – Vladimir Parfenovich, Belarusian canoe racer and politician
• 1958 – George Saunders, American short story writer and essayist
• 1959 – Kelefa Diallo, Guinean general (d. 2013)
• 1960 – Peter Blakeley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1960 – Deb Haaland, American politician, 54th United States Secretary of the Interior^[18]
• 1960 – Razzle, English rock drummer (d. 1984)
• 1960 – Rick Savage, English singer-songwriter and bass player^[21]
• 1960 – Silk Smitha, Indian film actress^[22]
• 1962 – John Dyegh, Nigerian businessman and politician
• 1963 – Brendan Coyle, English actor^[21]
• 1963 – Ann Patchett, American author^[18]
• 1963 – Rich Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and scout
• 1963 – Ron Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1965 – Shane Flanagan, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1966 – Philippe Etchebest, French chef and television host
• 1966 – Jinsei Shinzaki, Japanese wrestler and promoter, co-founded Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling
• 1967 – Mary Creagh, English scholar and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
• 1968 – David Batty, English footballer
• 1968 – Jiří Dopita, Czech ice hockey player^[23]
• 1968 – Darryl Kile, American baseball player (d. 2002)
• 1968 – Lucy Liu, American actress and producer^[21]
• 1968 – Nate Mendel, American singer-songwriter and bass player^[21]
• 1968 – Rena Sofer, American actress^[21]
• 1969 – Ulrika Bergquist, Swedish journalist
• 1969 – Chris Kiwomya, English footballer
• 1969 – Pavel Loskutov, Estonian runner
• 1969 – Tanya Plibersek, Australian journalist and politician, 45th Australian Minister of Health
• 1970 – Joe Lo Truglio, American actor and comedian^[21]
• 1970 – Maksim Tarasov, Russian pole vaulter
• 1970 – Treach, American rapper and actor^[21]
• 1971 – Wilson Jermaine Heredia, American actor and singer
• 1971 – Rachel McQuillan, Australian tennis player
• 1971 – Jüri Reinvere, Estonian-German composer and poet
• 1971 – Francesco Toldo, Italian footballer
• 1971 – Mine Yoshizaki, Japanese illustrator
• 1972 – Alan Henderson, American basketball player^[24]
• 1972 – Sergei Zholtok, Latvian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
• 1973 – Graham Kavanagh, Irish footballer and manager
• 1973 – Monica Seles, Serbian-American tennis player^[21]
• 1973 – Lee Steele, English footballer
• 1973 – Jan Ullrich, German cyclist
• 1975 – Mark Kotsay, American baseball player and manager
• 1976 – Masafumi Gotoh, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1977 – Siyabonga Nomvethe, South African footballer
• 1978 – Jarron Collins, American basketball player and coach
• 1978 – Jason Collins, American basketball player
• 1978 – Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress^[21]
• 1978 – Luigi Malafronte, Italian footballer
• 1978 – Peter Moylan, Australian baseball player
• 1978 – Maëlle Ricker, Canadian snowboarder
• 1978 – David Rivas, Spanish footballer
• 1978 – Andrew Ryan, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
• 1978 – Christopher Wolstenholme, English singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1979 – Yvonne Catterfeld, German singer-songwriter and actress
• 1979 – Michael McIndoe, Scottish footballer
• 1979 – Abdul Razzaq, Pakistani cricketer
• 1980 – Adam Kreek, Canadian rower
• 1980 – Darryn Randall, South African cricketer (d. 2013)
• 1980 – Joel Ward, Canadian ice hockey player^[25]
• 1981 – Maria Ferekidi, Greek canoe racer
• 1981 – Eric Jungmann, American actor
• 1981 – Thomas Pöck, Austrian ice hockey player^[26]
• 1981 – Danijel Pranjić, Croatian footballer
• 1981 – Britney Spears, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress^[21]
• 1982 – Christos Karipidis, Greek footballer
• 1982 – Matt Walsh, American basketball player^[27]
• 1983 – Action Bronson, American rapper, songwriter, chef, and television host^[28]
• 1983 – Chris Burke, Scottish footballer
• 1983 – Bibiana Candelas, Mexican volleyball player
• 1983 – Jaime Durán, Mexican footballer
• 1983 – Eugene Jeter, American-Ukrainian basketball player, coach, and executive^[29]
• 1983 – Jana Kramer, American actress and singer^[21]
• 1983 – Aaron Rodgers, American football player
• 1983 – Daniela Ruah, Portuguese-American actress^[21]
• 1984 – Péter Máté, Hungarian footballer
• 1985 – Amaury Leveaux, French swimmer
• 1985 – Dorell Wright, American basketball player
• 1986 – Song Ha-yoon, South Korean actress
• 1986 – Claudiu Keșerü, Romanian footballer
• 1986 – Renee Montgomery, American basketball player and executive^[30]
• 1986 – Tal Wilkenfeld, Australian bass player and composer
• 1988 – Alfred Enoch, English actor^[21]
• 1988 – Stephen McGinn, Scottish footballer
• 1989 – Etta Bond, English singer-songwriter
• 1989 – Matteo Darmian, Italian footballer
• 1989 – Cassie Steele, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1989 – Robert Turbin, American football player^[31]
• 1990 – Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Ghanaian footballer
• 1990 – Gastón Ramírez, Uruguayan footballer
• 1991 – Chloé Dufour-Lapointe, Canadian skier
• 1991 – Brandon Knight, American basketball player^[32]
• 1991 – Charlie Puth, American singer-songwriter and pianist^[21]
• 1992 – Sim Bhullar, Canadian basketball player^[33]
• 1992 – Gary Sánchez, Dominican baseball player^[34]
• 1993 – Haruka Ishida, Japanese singer and actress
• 1993 – Kostas Stafylidis, Greek footballer
• 1994 – Zach Cunningham, American football player^[35]
• 1994 – Aaron Jones, American football player^[36]
• 1994 – Elias Lindholm, Swedish ice hockey player^[37]
• 1994 – Fumika Shimizu, Japanese actress and model
• 1994 – Tomokaze Yūta, Japanese sumo wrestler
• 1995 – Uladzislau Hancharou, Belarusian trampolinist
• 1995 – Inori Minase, Japanese actress, voice actress and singer
• 1996 – Jake Doran, Australian cricketer^[38]
• 1997 – De'Andre Hunter, American basketball player^[39]
• 1998 – Annalise Basso, American actress^[18]
• 1998 – Anna Kalinskaya, Russian tennis player^[40]
• 1998 – Juice Wrld, American rapper, singer and songwriter (d. 2019)^[41]
• 2003 – Neil Erasmus, South African-Australian footballer^[42]
• 2004 – Ilia Malinin, American competitive figure skater^[43]

Pre-1600

• 537 – Pope Silverius
• 930 – Ma Yin, Chinese warlord, king of Chu (Ten Kingdoms) (b. 853)
• 949 – Odo of Wetterau, German nobleman
• 1022 – Elvira Menéndez, queen of Alfonso V of Castile (b. 996)
• 1255 – Muhammad III of Alamut, Nizari Ismaili Imam^[44]
• 1340 – Geoffrey le Scrope, Chief Justice of King Edward III of England
• 1348 – Emperor Hanazono of Japan (b. 1297)
• 1381 – John of Ruusbroec, Flemish priest and mystic (b. 1293)
• 1455 – Isabel of Coimbra, queen of Portugal (b. 1432)^[45]
• 1463 – Albert VI, Archduke of Austria (b. 1418)
• 1469 – Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, Italian banker and politician (b. 1416)
• 1510 – Muhammad Shaybani, Khan of Bukhara (b. 1451)
• 1515 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general (b. 1453)
• 1547 – Hernán Cortés, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1485)
• 1594 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (b. 1512)

1601–1900

• 1615 – Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, French general (b. 1541)
• 1665 – Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet, French author (b. 1588)
• 1694 – Pierre Puget, French painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1622)
• 1719 – Pasquier Quesnel, French theologian and author (b. 1634)
• 1723 – Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (b. 1674)
• 1726 – Samuel Penhallow, English-American historian and author (b. 1665)
• 1747 – Vincent Bourne, English poet and scholar (b. 1695)
• 1748 – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1662)
• 1774 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German organist and composer (b. 1720)
• 1814 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher, author, and politician (b. 1740)
• 1844 – Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko, Polish general and politician (b. 1768)
• 1849 – Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (b. 1792)
• 1859 – John Brown, American abolitionist (b. 1800)
• 1881 – Jenny von Westphalen, German author (b. 1814)
• 1885 – Allen Wright, Principal chief of the Choctaw Nation (1866-1870); proposed the name "Oklahoma", from Choctaw words okra and umma, meaning "Territory of the Red People." (b. 1826)
• 1888 – Namık Kemal, Turkish journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1840)
• 1892 – Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (b. 1836)
• 1899 – Gregorio del Pilar, Filipino general and politician, 1st Governor of Bulacan (b. 1875)

1901–present

• 1918 – Edmond Rostand, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
• 1924 – Kazimieras Būga, Lithuanian linguist and philologist (b. 1879)
• 1927 – Paul Heinrich von Groth, German scientist who systematically classified minerals and founded the journal Zeitschrift für Krystallographie und Mineralogie (b. 1843)
• 1931 – Vincent d'Indy, French composer and educator (b. 1851)^[46]
• 1936 – John Ringling, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Brothers Circus (b. 1866)
• 1943 – Nordahl Grieg, Norwegian journalist and author (b. 1902)
• 1944 – Josef Lhévinne, Russian pianist and educator (b. 1874)
• 1944 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Egyptian-Italian poet and composer (b. 1876)
• 1944 – Eiji Sawamura, Japanese baseball player and soldier (b. 1917)
• 1950 – Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist and composer (b. 1917)
• 1953 – Reginald Baker, Australian rugby player (b. 1884)
• 1953 – Trần Trọng Kim, Vietnamese historian, scholar, and politician, Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1883)
• 1957 – Harrison Ford, American actor (b. 1884)
• 1957 – Manfred Sakel, Ukrainian-American neurophysiologist and psychiatrist (b. 1902)
• 1966 – L. E. J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician and philosopher (b. 1881)
• 1966 – Giles Cooper, Irish author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
• 1967 – Francis Spellman, American cardinal (b. 1889).^[47]
• 1969 – José María Arguedas, Peruvian anthropologist, author, and poet (b. 1911)
• 1969 – Kliment Voroshilov, Ukrainian-Russian marshal and politician, 3rd Head of State of The Soviet Union (b. 1881)
• 1974 – Sylvi Kekkonen, Finnish writer and wife of President of Finland Urho Kekkonen (b. 1900)^[48]
• 1974 – Max Weber, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1897)
• 1976 – Danny Murtaugh, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
• 1980 – Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1905)
• 1980 – Romain Gary, Lithuanian-French author, director, and screenwriter (b. 1914)
• 1981 – Wallace Harrison, American architect, co-founded Harrison & Abramovitz (b. 1895)
• 1982 – Marty Feldman, English actor and comedian (b. 1933)
• 1982 – Giovanni Ferrari, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1907)
• 1983 – Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1904)
• 1985 – Philip Larkin, English poet, author, and librarian (b. 1922)
• 1986 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, businessman, and television producer (b. 1917)
• 1986 – John Curtis Gowan, American psychologist and academic (b. 1912)
• 1987 – Luis Federico Leloir, French-Argentinian physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1987 – Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Belarusian physicist, astronomer, and cosmologist (b. 1914)
• 1988 – Karl-Heinz Bürger, German colonel (b. 1904)
• 1988 – Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1922)
• 1990 – Aaron Copland, American composer and conductor (b. 1900)
• 1990 – Robert Cummings, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1908)
• 1993 – Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (b. 1949)
• 1995 – Robertson Davies, Canadian author, playwright, and critic (b. 1913)
• 1995 – Roxie Roker, American actress (b. 1929)
• 1995 – Mária Telkes, Hungarian–American biophysicist and chemist (b. 1900)
• 1997 – Shirley Crabtree, English wrestler (b. 1930)
• 1997 – Michael Hedges, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1953)
• 1999 – Charlie Byrd, American guitarist (b. 1925)
• 2000 – Gail Fisher, American actress (b. 1935)
• 2002 – Ivan Illich, Austrian priest and philosopher (b. 1926)
• 2002 – Arno Peters, German cartographer and historian (b. 1916)
• 2003 – Alan Davidson, British soldier, historian, and author (b. 1924)
• 2004 – Alicia Markova, English ballerina and choreographer (b. 1910)
• 2004 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet and academic (b. 1921)
• 2005 – William P. Lawrence, American admiral and pilot (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Van Tuong Nguyen, Australian convicted drug trafficker (b. 1980)
• 2006 – Mariska Veres, Dutch singer (b. 1947)
• 2007 – Jennifer Alexander, Canadian-American ballerina and actress (b. 1972)
• 2007 – Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1916)
• 2008 – Odetta, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (b. 1930)
• 2008 – Henry Molaison, American memory disorder patient (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian lawyer and businessman (b. 1933)
• 2008 – Renato de Grandis, Italian composer, musicologist, and writer (b. 1927)
• 2009 – Foge Fazio, American football player and coach (b. 1938)
• 2009 – Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1945)
• 2012 – Tom Hendry, Canadian playwright, co-founded the Manitoba Theatre Centre (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Ehsan Naraghi, Iranian sociologist and author (b. 1926)
• 2013 – William Allain, American soldier and politician, 58th Governor of Mississippi (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Jean-Claude Beton, Algerian-French engineer and businessman, founded Orangina (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Marcelo Déda, Brazilian lawyer and politician (b. 1960)
• 2013 – Junior Murvin, Jamaican singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
• 2014 – A. R. Antulay, Indian lawyer and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Jean Béliveau, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Josie Cichockyj, English basketball player and coach (b. 1964)
• 2014 – Bobby Keys, American saxophonist (b. 1943)
• 2014 – Don Laws, American figure skater and coach (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Sandy Berger, American lawyer and politician, 19th United States National Security Advisor (b. 1945)
• 2015 – Will McMillan, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1944)
• 2015 – George T. Sakato, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1921)
• 2020 – Pat Patterson, American wrestler (b. 1941) ^[49][50]

• Armed Forces Day (Cuba)
• Christian feast day:
  • Avitus of Rouen
  • Bibiana
  • Channing Moore Williams (Anglicanism)
  • Chromatius
  • Habakkuk (Eastern Orthodox)
  • December 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (United Nations)^[51]
• Lao National Day
• National Day (United Arab Emirates)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to December 2.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on December 2