| 136351 | December 2 | Event | 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism. |
| 136352 | December 2 | Event | 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. |
| 136353 | December 2 | Event | 1970 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations. |
| 136354 | December 2 | Event | 1971 – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain form the United Arab Emirates. |
| 136355 | December 2 | Event | 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. |
| 136356 | December 2 | Event | 1976 – Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado. |
| 136357 | December 2 | Event | 1980 – 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. |
| 136358 | December 2 | Event | 1982 – At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart. |
| 136359 | December 2 | Event | 1988 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state. |
| 136360 | December 2 | Event | 1991 – Canada and Poland become the first nations on earth to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union. |
| 136361 | December 2 | Event | 1993 – Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed in Medellín. |
| 136362 | December 2 | Event | 1993 – Space Shuttle program: STS-61 – NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. |
| 136363 | December 2 | Event | 1999 – Glenbrook rail accident: Seven passengers are killed when two trains collide near Sydney, New South Wales. |
| 136364 | December 2 | Event | 1999 – The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive. |
| 136365 | December 2 | Event | 2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. |
| 136366 | December 2 | Birth | 1578 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1641) |
| 136367 | December 2 | Birth | 1694 – William Shirley, English lawyer and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1771) |
| 136368 | December 2 | Birth | 1703 – Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian missionary and explorer (d. 1759) |
| 136369 | December 2 | Birth | 1710 – Bertinazzi, Italian actor and author (d. 1783) |
| 136370 | December 2 | Birth | 1738 – Richard Montgomery, Irish-American general (d. 1775) |
| 136371 | December 2 | Birth | 1754 – William Cooper, American judge and politician, founded Cooperstown, New York (d. 1809) |
| 136372 | December 2 | Birth | 1759 – James Edward Smith, English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society (d. 1828) |
| 136373 | December 2 | Birth | 1760 – John Breckinridge, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th United States Attorney General (d. 1806) |
| 136374 | December 2 | Birth | 1760 – Joseph Graetz, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1826) |
| 136375 | December 2 | Birth | 1810 – Henry Yesler, American businessman and politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (d. 1892) |
| 136376 | December 2 | Birth | 1811 – Jean-Charles Chapais, Canadian farmer and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1885) |
| 136377 | December 2 | Birth | 1817 – Heinrich von Sybel, German historian, academic, and politician (d. 1895) |
| 136378 | December 2 | Birth | 1825 – Pedro II of Brazil (d. 1891) |
| 136379 | December 2 | Birth | 1846 – Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French lawyer and politician, 68th Prime Minister of France (d. 1904) |
| 136380 | December 2 | Birth | 1859 – Georges Seurat, French painter (d. 1891) |