January 2: What Happened on This Day in History (Elementary Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 533 - Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
2. 1788 - Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
3. 1860 - The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France.
4. 1959 - Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
5. 2004 - Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
6. Famous Birthdays: Rudolf Clausius (German physicist), Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky (Russian geographer and statistician), Lawrence Wackett (Australian engineer), S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan (Indian-American mathematician), Ernst Barlach (German sculptor)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: January 1

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: January 3

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.