DECEMBER 2

1899 - Filipino revolutionary patriot Gen. Gregorio del Pilar was killed by American colonial forces during the Battle of Tirad Pass in Ilocos Sur.

1942 - Atomic Age began with the the first controlled nuclear reaction

1975 - The current flag of Laos is first flown when anticolonialist Pathet Lao forces were able to depose the US-backed monarcy.

1851 - Napoleon Bonaparte staged the French coup d'état

1990 - First parliamentary elections held in reunified Germany