January 2 Through History

Explanation: Jean Moulin was parachuted in the night of January 1st to 2nd, 1942, near Salon-de-Provence. His mission was to unite the various resistance movements in the South of France under the authority of General de Gaulle, which he accomplished by creating the National Council of the Resistance in May 1943.

Explanation: The Granada War began in 1482 and ended on January 2, 1492 with the surrender of Boabdil, the last Nasrid sultan. This victory of the Catholic Monarchs put an end to the Reconquista, representing roughly seven centuries of Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula. That same year, Christopher Columbus set off to explore the New World, funded by those same rulers.

Explanation: Captain Archibald Haddock, a gruff but big-hearted sailor, appears for the first time in the album «The Crab with the Golden Claws», published as a serial in the newspaper Vingtième Siècle. He goes on to become Tintin's best friend and one of the most popular characters in world comics, famous for his colorful curses like «Blistering barnacles!» or «Bashi-bazouk!».

Explanation: Luna 1 was the first man-made object to reach escape velocity and permanently escape Earth's gravitational pull. After missing the Moon by 6,000 km, it became the first artificial satellite of the Sun, orbiting around it. This Soviet mission was part of the space race between the USSR and the United States.

Explanation: Marlene Dietrich, an icon of cinema and song born in Berlin in 1901, received this French distinction at the age of 88. A fierce opponent of Nazism, she had obtained American citizenship in 1937 and actively supported the Allies during World War II, notably by performing for soldiers at the front. She would pass away two years later, in 1992.

Explanation: This law, the National Maximum Speed Law, was passed in response to the 1973 oil crisis, triggered by the OPEC Arab countries' embargo against the United States. Reducing speed helped cut gasoline consumption. This limit, which was unpopular, was gradually relaxed and then repealed in 1995, giving individual states the right to set their own limits.

Explanation: Isaac Asimov, born in Petrovichi in Soviet Russia, emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of three. A trained biochemist, he authored more than 500 works. Beyond the "Foundation" saga, he is famous for his "Laws of Robotics", which profoundly influenced the literature and philosophy of artificial intelligence.

Explanation: John II inaugurated a practice that would become a lasting tradition in the Catholic Church: changing one's name upon papal election. He chose not to keep his birth name, Mercurius, because it was the name of a pagan Roman god. To this day, an elected pope chooses a new symbolic name upon his accession, like John Paul II or Francis.

Explanation: The Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, signed on January 2, 1988, was a crucial step in North American economic integration. It was later expanded to include Mexico in 1994 to become NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement). In Canada, this agreement deeply divided public opinion during the November 1988 elections, which Mulroney ultimately won.

Explanation: The Reconquista is the process by which the Christian kingdoms of northern Iberia gradually reclaimed territories under Muslim rule, over a period of roughly seven centuries (711-1492). The fall of Granada, the last Muslim sultanate in Spain, marked its completion. Monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I were the architects of this final victory.