2 October

The International Day of Non-Violence is marked on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence.

According to General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness". The resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence".

Introducing the resolution in the General Assembly on behalf of 140 co-sponsors, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Anand Sharma, said that the wide and diverse sponsorship of the resolution was a reflection of the universal respect for Mahatma Gandhi and of the enduring relevance of his philosophy. Quoting the late leader’s own words, he said: "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man".

October 2 : World No Alcohol Day
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday sought the support of India's proposal for observing 2nd October every year as 'World No Alcohol Day'.

Dr. Ramadoss also called for an institution of a framework convention on Alcohol Control on the lines of framework convention on Tobacco Control.

DaanUstav
DaanUtsav (earlier called the Joy of Giving Week) is India's "festival of giving. Launched in 2009, the festival is celebrated every year, in the week including Gandhi Jayanti, i.e., October 2-8, and brings together Indians from all walks of life, to celebrate "giving".

No one owns DaanUtsav. It is designed as a festival of giving, and like Diwali or Dussera, the plan is for it to eventually have no owners! However, in the initial formative years, to give it a sense of shape, a group of core volunteers manages the DaanUtsav campaign, defines guidelines for participation and evangelises the effort.

Events
1187 – Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule.
1263 – The battle of Largs is fought between Norwegians and Scots.
1535 – Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Quebec.
1552 – Conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.
1780 – John André, British Army officer of the American Revolutionary War, is hanged as a spy by American forces.
1789 – George Washington sends the proposed Constitutional amendments (The United States Bill of Rights) to the States for ratification.
1814 – Battle of Rancagua: Spanish Royalists troops under Mariano Osorio defeated rebel Chilean forces of Bernardo O'Higgins and Jose Miguel Carrera.
1835 – The Texas Revolution begins with the Battle of Gonzales: Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas, but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Saltville – Union forces attack Saltville, Virginia, but are defeated by Confederate troops.
1889 – In Colorado, Nicholas Creede strikes it rich in silver during the last great silver boom of the American Old West.
1919 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.
1924 – The Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the League of Nations.
1925 – John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system.
1928 – The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá.
1937 – Dominican Republic strongman Rafael Trujillo orders the execution of the Haitian population living within the borderlands; approximately 20,000 are killed over the next five days.
1941 – World War II: In Operation Typhoon, Germany begins an all-out offensive against Moscow.
1944 – World War II: German troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
1950 – Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published
1958 – Guinea declares its independence from France.
1959 – The anthology series The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS television.
1967 – Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court.
1968 – A peaceful student demonstration in Mexico City culminates in the Tlatelolco massacre.
1970 – A plane carrying the Wichita State University football team, administrators, and supporters crashes in Colorado killing 31 people.
1990 – Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou, it crashes into two airliners on the ground, killing 132 people.
1992 – The Carandiru Massacre takes place after a riot in the Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil.
1996 – The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
1996 – Aeroperú Flight 603, a Boeing 757, crashes into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru, killing 70.
2001 – NATO backs U.S. military strikes following 9/11.
2001 – Swissair liquidates and the airline is replaced by SWISS.
2002 – The Beltway sniper attacks begin, extending over three weeks.
2005 – Aleksandër Moisiu University was open in Durrës, Albania.
2005 – Ethan Allen Boating Accident: The Ethan Allen tour boat capsizes on Lake George in Upstate New York, killing twenty people.
2006 – Five school girls are murdered by Charles Carl Roberts in a shooting at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania before Roberts commits suicide.
2007 – President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea walks across the Military Demarcation Line into North Korea on his way to the second Inter-Korean Summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Holidays and observances

Batik Day (Indonesia)
Christian Feast Day:
Feast of the Guardian Angels
Leodegar
October 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Gandhi's birthday-related observances:
Gandhi Jayanti (India)
International Day of Non-Violence (International)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guinea from France in 1958.
Mehregan, according to Iranian civil calendar. (Iran)