UK, 
US, 
Australia & 
IrelandAt A Glance
2 January 2012 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 2 January 2012 was a Monday.
- UK Number One
- The UK Number One single was “Paradise” by Coldplay.
- Top Film of 2012
- The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 2012 was The Avengers.
- Star sign
- The star sign for 2 January is Capricorn.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 2 January 2012 fell in the Year of the Rabbit.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for January is Garnet.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 2 January 2012 was Waxing Gibbous.
On this day: 2 January
- 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.
- 2004 Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
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 2012 in the United Kingdom
A selection from Wikipedia's '2012 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.
- 4 February – The Met Office issues a severe weather warning as heavy snow falls across much of the UK, disrupting road and air travel.
- 6 February – Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, marking sixty years on the throne; only the second British monarch to do so.
- 29 March – 2012 Bradford West by-election: Respect Party candidate George Galloway wins, taking the seat from the Labour Party with a majority of 10,140 votes.
Life in 2012
Prime Minister
David Cameron
Monarch
Elizabeth II
Pint of Beer
£3.05
Loaf of Bread
£1.35
Average House
£162,637
Weekly Wage
£723.00
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