At A Glance

2 January 1974 at a glance

Day of the week
2 January 1974 was a Wednesday.
Australian No. 1 (Kent retrospective)
“Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)” by Helen Reddy was No. 1 on David Kent's retrospective Australian chart. This chart was compiled later by David Kent from radio station charts.
Top Film of 1974
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1974 was The Towering Inferno.
Star sign
The star sign for 2 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 2 January 1974 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 2 January 1974 was First Quarter.

On this day: 2 January

  • 1954 India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.
  • 1959 Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
  • 1963 Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.
  • 1967 Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.
  • 1991 Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.

Famous people born on 2 January

  • Jim Bakker, American televangelist (1940–2026)
  • Kemi Badenoch, English politician (born 1980)
  • Dax Shepard, American actor (born 1975)
  • Kate Bosworth, American actress (born 1983)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1974 in Australia

A selection from Wikipedia's '1974 in Australia'. Not a complete list.

  • 24 January – Cyclone Wanda makes landfall near Double Island Point. Large parts of South East Queensland, particularly Brisbane, and northern New South Wales are flooded.
  • 26 February – Mungo Man, a human skeleton estimated to be 40,000 years old, uncovered at Lake Mungo
  • 25 March – The Liberal Party led by Charles Court wins the 1974 Western Australian state election.
More events of 1974 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in Australia in 1974

Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam

Monarch

Queen Elizabeth II

Petrol (per litre)

$0.09

Loaf of Bread

$0.31

Average House

$22,000

Weekly Wage

$110.00

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Heath Ledger4 April 1979ActorView their day →Patrick Brammall30 March 1976ActorView their day →Rose Byrne24 July 1979ActressView their day →Isla Fisher3 February 1976Actress & authorView their day →Sam Worthington2 August 1976ActorView their day →Toni Collette1 November 1972Actress & musicianView their day →Joel Edgerton23 June 1974ActorView their day →Natalie Imbruglia4 February 1975Singer & actressView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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