WHAT HAPPENED ON 2. DECEMBER
Want to find out what all happened on 2. December

New York City's La Guardia Airport opens. (2. December 1939)

World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. (2. December 1942)

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 World War I-era mustard gas. (2. December 1943)

Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Riots break out in Jerusalem in response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. (2. December 1947)

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". (2. December 1954)

The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Taiwan, is signed in Washington, D.C.. (2. December 1954)

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. (2. December 1956)

In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism. (2. December 1961)

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. (2. December 1962)

The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations. (2. December 1970)

Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm Al Quwain form the United Arab Emirates. (2. December 1971)

The Pathet Lao seizes the Laotian capital of Vientiane, forces the abdication of King Sisavang Vatthana, and proclaims the Lao People's Democratic Republic. (2. December 1975)

Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado. (2. December 1976)

Salvadoran Civil War: Four U.S. nuns and churchwomen, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel, are murdered by a military death squad. (2. December 1980)

At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart. (2. December 1982)

Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state. (2. December 1988)

Canada and Poland become the first nations on earth to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union. (2. December 1991)

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed in Medellín. (2. December 1993)

Space Shuttle program: STS-61 – NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. (2. December 1993)

Glenbrook Rail Accident: Seven passengers are killed when two trains collide near Sydney, New South Wales. (2. December 1999)