January 2

January 2 is the 2nd day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1777 to 1991 — a span of 214 years. The entry that anchors it: American Revolutionary War, 1777.

In the years around independence, the date turns political. In 1777, American Revolutionary War — American forces under the command of George Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey. Then, in 1788, Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the date carries heavier freight. In 1863, American Civil War — the three-day Battle of Stones River ends in a Union victory when the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg are repulsed for the final time by the Army of the Cumberland under General William S. Rosecrans.

In the first half of the twentieth century the date turns technological. In 1920, under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, U.S. Department of Justice agents launched a series of raids against radical leftists and anarchists in more than 30 cities and towns across 23 states. Then, in 1942, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtains the conviction of 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history; Also known as the Duquesne Spy Ring. Two years on, in 1944, World War II — United States and Australian forces successfully landed in Papua New Guinea in an attempt to cut off a Japanese retreat.

The postwar entries show a nation both expanding and contesting itself. In 1967, Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.

Closer to the present, the date is still accumulating. In 1991, Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as the mayor of Washington, D.C., becoming the first African-American woman to hold the position.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on January 2: Nathaniel Bacon (1647), English-American rebel leader; Frederick A. Johnson (1833), American banker and politician; M. Carey Thomas (1857), American educator and activist; William Corless Mills (1860), American historian and curator; and Tex Rickard (1870), American boxing promoter and businessman.

January 2 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: James Longstreet (1904), American general and diplomat; Mischa Levitzki (1941), Russian-American pianist and composer; Dick Powell (1963), American actor, singer, and director; and Jack Carson (1963), Canadian-American actor.

January 2 carries 8 entries spread across 214 years. None of the people in them knew they were sharing a date; that is a pattern only visible looking back.