December 2

1244 – Pope Innocent IV arrives at Lyon for the First Council of Lyon. 1409 – The University of Leipzig opens. 1697 – St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London, is consecrated. 1763 – Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what will become the United States. 1766 – Swedish parliament approves the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act and implements it as a ground law, thus being first in the world with freedom of speech. 1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French. 1805 – War of the Third Coalition: Battle of Austerlitz: French troops under Napoleon decisively defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force. 1823 – Monroe Doctrine: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaims American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas. 1845 – Manifest Destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West. 1848 – Franz Joseph I becomes Emperor of Austria. 1851 – French President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic. 1852 – Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of the French as Napoleon III. 1859 – Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16 raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. 1865 – Alabama ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed by North Carolina, then Georgia; U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks. 1867 – At Tremont Temple in Boston, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States. 1899 – Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, known as the "Filipino Thermopylae", is fought. 1908 – Puyi becomes Emperor of China at the age of two. 1917 – World War I: Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk begin.