2 November in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 2 November is the birth anniversary of Aga Khan III, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Arun Shourie, and Shah Rukh Khan.
2 November is also observed as the death anniversary of Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu, and Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar.
Birth Anniversary
2 November in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III (2 November 1877 – 11 July 1957) was the 48th Imam of the Nizari Ismaili sect of Islam. He was one of the founders and the first permanent president of the All-India Muslim League (AIML). His goal was the advancement of Muslim agendas and the protection of Muslim rights in British India.
Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay (born 2 November 1935) is a Bengali author from India. He has written stories for both adults and children. He is known for creating the relatively new fictional sleuths Barodacharan and Shabor Dasgupta.
Arun Shourie (born 2 November 1941) is an Indian economist, journalist, author and politician. He has worked as an economist with the World Bank, a consultant to the Planning Commission of India, an editor of the Indian Express and The Times of India, and a Minister of Communications and Information Technology in the Vajpayee Ministry. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1982 and the Padma Bhushan in 1990.
Shah Rukh Khan (pronounced (born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the “Baadshah of Bollywood” and “King Khan.”
Death Anniversary
2 November in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu (23 February 1957 – 2 November 2012) was an Indian politician. He served as the Union Minister in H. D. Deve Gowda and I. K. Gujral Cabinets. Formerly, He was the Legislator of Andhra Pradesh and won four times from the Harishchandrapuram.
Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar (22 July 1930 – 2 November 2012) was an Indian American mathematician known for his contributions to algebraic geometry. He, at the time of his death, held the Marshall Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Chair at Purdue University and was also a professor of computer science and industrial engineering.
Notable events on 2 November in Indian and World History
2 November 1675 – Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow leads a colonial militia against the Narragansett during King Philip’s War.
2 November 1795 – The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.
2 November 1815 – George Boole was born.
2 November 1868 – Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally.
2 November 1882 – The great fire destroys a large part of Oulu’s city center in Oulu Province, Finland.
2 November 1889 – North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
2 November 899 – The Boers begin their 118-day siege of British-held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.
2 November 1912 – Bulgaria defeats the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lule Burgas, the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War, which opens her way to Constantinople.
2 November 1914 – World War I: The Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles is subsequently closed.
2 November 1917 – The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” with the clear understanding “that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities”.
2 November 1917 – The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of preparation and carrying out the Russian Revolution, holds its first meeting.
2 November 1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the 1920 United States presidential election.
2 November 1929 – Richard E. Taylor, a Canadian physicist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
2 November 1936 – The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world’s first regular, “high-definition” (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day.
2 November 1940 – World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians.
2 November 1947 – In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules (also known as the “Spruce Goose”), the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built until Scaled Composites rolled out their Stratolaunch in May 2017.
2 November 1949 – The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ends with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia.
2 November 1951 – Canada in the Korean War: A platoon of The Royal Canadian Regiment defends a vital area against a full battalion of Chinese troops in the Battle of the Song-gok Spur. The engagement lasts into the early hours the next day.
2 November 1956 – Hungarian Revolution: Nikita Khrushchev meets with leaders of other Communist countries to seek their advice on the situation in Hungary, selecting János Kádár as the country’s next leader on the advice of Josip Broz Tito.
2 November 1956 – Suez Crisis: Israel occupies the Gaza Strip.
2 November 1959 – Quiz show scandals: Twenty-One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
2 November 1959 – The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway.
2 November 1963 – South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup.
2 November 1964 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal.
2 November 1965 – Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.
2 November 1966 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
2 November 1967 – Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and “The Wise Men” conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
2 November 1982 – Channel 4 starts broadcasting.
2 November 1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
2 November 1984 – Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962.
2 November 1986 – Lebanon hostage crisis: U.S. hostage David Jacobsen is released in Beirut after 17 months in captivity.
2 November 1988 – The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
2 November 1988 – LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703 crashes in Białobrzegi, Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland, killing one person and injuring several more.
2 November 1990 – British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television plc merge to form BSkyB as a result of massive losses.
2 November 1997 – Tropical Storm Linda makes landfall in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, causing more than 3,000 deaths.
2 November 1999 – Honolulu shootings: In the worst mass murder in the history of Hawaii, a gunman shoots at eight people in his workplace, killing seven.
2 November 2000 – Expedition 1 arrived at the International Space Station for the first long-duration stay onboard. From this day to present, a continuous human presence in space on the station remains uninterrupted.
2 November 2008 – Lewis Hamilton secured his maiden Formula One Drivers’ Championship Title by one point ahead of Felipe Massa at the Brazilian Grand Prix, after a pass for fifth place against the Toyota of Timo Glock on the final lap of the race.
2 November 2016 – The Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series, ending the longest Major League Baseball championship drought at 108 years.
2 November 2022 – A peace agreement is signed between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, ending the Tigray War.
2 November Historical Significance
On November 2nd, numerous significant events have unfolded throughout history. In 1917, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, expressing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. This declaration played a pivotal role in the eventual creation of the state of Israel. In 1947, the Hughes H-4 Hercules, famously known as the “Spruce Goose,” completed its first and only flight. Designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company, it remains one of the largest flying boats ever constructed. Additionally, in 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday in the United States, honoring the civil rights leader’s legacy. November 2nd marks a day of historical significance, encapsulating political declarations, technological achievements, and strides towards social justice.
Important Days of 2 November in History
All Souls’ Day: also called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by certain Christian denominations on 2 November.
International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists: This day aims to draw attention to the issue of impunity for crimes against journalists worldwide and to demand justice for those who have been targeted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead): Although primarily celebrated on November 1st and 2nd in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere, the festivities often extend into November 2nd. It’s a time to remember and honor deceased loved ones through various rituals and celebrations.