2 November

November 2, 2009, marks the first-ever World Pneumonia Day. Pneumonia is a preventable and treatable disease, but it still remains the number-one killer of children in the developing world. Pneumonia kills more than 2 million children under 5 each year – more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. The United States and countries around the world are observing this day as an opportunity to raise global awareness of pneumonia and reaffirm the commitment to save the lives of children.

On World Pneumonia Day, the United States unites with countries and communities across the globe in the fight against pneumonia. We commemorate World Pneumonia Day with the hope of a better future for all children. Celebrations of the Day will kick off with a Global Pneumonia Summit in New York City gathering scientists, political leaders, donors, and public health organizations to discuss pneumonia prevention, treatment, and other ways to protect children.

Events

1410 – The Peace of Bicêtre between the Armagnac and Burgundian factions is signed.
1570 – A tsunami in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1,000 people.
1675 – King Philip's War: A combined effort by the Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut colonies attacks the Great Swamp Fort, owned by the Narragansetts.
1769 – Don Gaspar de Portolà leads the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay.
1772 – American Revolutionary War: Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren form the first Committee of Correspondence.
1783 – In Rocky Hill, New Jersey, US General George Washington gives his "Farewell Address to the Army".
1795 – The French Directory succeeds the French National Convention as the government of Revolutionary France.
1861 – American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Fremont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.
1868 – Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally
1882 – Oulu, Finland is devastated by the Great Oulu Fire of 1882
1889 – North and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
1895 – The first gasoline-powered race in the United States. First prize: $2,000
1898 – Cheerleading is started at the University of Minnesota with Johnny Campbell leading the crowd in cheering on the football team.
1899 – The Boers begin their 118 day siege of British held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.
1909 – Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity is founded at Boston University.
1914 – Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
1917 – The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".
1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the U.S. presidential election, 1920.
1930 – Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.
1936 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.
1936 – Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaims the Rome-Berlin Axis, establishing the alliance of the Axis Powers.
1936 – The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, "high-definition" (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day.
1940 – World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians.
1947 – In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose or H-4 The Hercules; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.
1949 – The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ends with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia.
1953 – The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan names the country The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
1957 – The Levelland UFO Case in Levelland, Texas, generates national publicity.
1959 – Quiz show scandals: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
1959 – The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway
1960 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case
1963 – South Vietnamese President Ngô Ðình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup.
1964 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother King Faisal.
1965 – Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.
1966 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
1967 – Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
1973 – The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India form a 'United Front' in the state of Tripura.
1974 – 78 die when the Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns down. Six of the victims jumped to their deaths from the seventh floor after a club official barred the doors after the fire started.
1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
1984 – Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962.
1988 – The Morris worm, the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
2000 – The first resident crew to the ISS docked in November 2nd on the Soyuz TM-31.
2007 – 50,000–100,000 people demonstrate against the Georgian government in Tbilisi.

Holidays and observances

All Souls Day (Roman Catholic and Anglican Church), and its related observances:
Dia de Finados or Dia dos Fiéis Defuntos (Brazil and Portugal)
Christian Feast Day:
Victorinus of Pettau
Coronation of Haile Selassie (Rastafari movement)
All Souls Day or Day of the Dead is the Día de los Difuntos in Spain.
Day of the Dead, The second day of Day of the Dead or El Dia de los Muertos celebration. (Mexico)
Earliest day on which Election Day can fall, while November 8 is the latest; celebrated on Tuesday following the first Monday in November of every even numbered year (United States)
Indian Arrival Day (Mauritius)
Karatsu Kunchi (Karatsu, Saga)
Statehood Day (North Dakota and South Dakota)