On This Day - What Happened On December 2 | Britannica

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1823 Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine, which declared that the U.S. would not interfere in European affairs but that its sphere of interest included the entire Western Hemisphere, was enunciated by President James Monroe this day in 1823. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1979.4.3

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Georges Seurat French painter bornDecember 2, 1859Paris, FrancediedMarch 29, 1891 (aged 31)Paris, FranceThe Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection, reference no. 1926.224 (CC0) 1983 Aaron Rodgers American football player 1981 Britney Spears American singer 1946 Gianni Versace Italian fashion designer 1939 Harry Reid United States senator 1923 Maria Callas American singer See All Biographies On This Day

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2014 Canadian ice hockey player Jean Béliveau, considered one of the game's greatest centres, noted for his prolific scoring, died at age 83. See if Béliveau made our list of the 10 best hockey players of all time 2001 Following revelations of massive accounting fraud, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection; the energy-trading company was once the seventh largest corporation in the United States.James Nielsen/Getty Images 1993 Colombian criminal Pablo Escobar—who, as head of the Medellín cartel, was arguably the world's most powerful drug trafficker in the 1980s and early '90s—was killed during a shoot-out with authorities. Discover eight interesting facts about Pablo EscobarAP Images 1983 The groundbreaking music video for Michael Jackson's song Thriller aired on MTV. Take our quiz about famous songsWhite House Photo/Ronald Reagan Library/The National Archives (ARC identifier # 198548 ) 1982 William C. DeVries implanted the first permanent artificial heart in Barney Clark; the aluminum and plastic device was called the Jarvik-7. Test your knowledge of the human bodyUniversity of Utah/National Institutes of Health 1981 American singer Britney Spears—who helped spark the teen-pop phenomenon in the late 1990s and later endured intense public scrutiny for her personal life—was born. Test your knowledge of pop musicKevin Kane—Wireimage/Getty Images 1971 The United Arab Emirates was formed by the union of six small emirates on the Arabian Peninsula; a seventh emirate joined in February 1972. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about the Middle EastEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1954 The U.S. Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph R. McCarthy for his conduct in the investigation of communism in the United States. Take our quiz about American politicsNational Archives, Washington, D.C. 1942 Scientists led by Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, at the University of Chicago. How much do you know about physics?Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com 1884 American monologuist and monodramatist Ruth Draper was born in New York City. Take our quick quiz about American playwrightsEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1859 Abolitionist John Brown was hanged following a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Watch an overview of John Brown's raid on the federal armoury at Harpers Ferry, VirginiaPrints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ61-127) 1804 Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France in the presence of Pope Pius VII. Find out if Napoleon was actually shortCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.15 SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.