About the day » Thursday January 2, 1862Calender converter

• Abraham Pais, Amsterdam, NH, Nederland
• Aaltje Boterman, Avereest, Overijssel, Nederland
• Object 72
• Assendelft 76
• , Temse († 1934)
• Assendelft 311
• Smaal, 's-Gravendeel, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Assendelft 126
• Object 100
• Assendelft 333

• Andrew Francis McLain (88), Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States
• Antoinette Josephine van Geen (52), ‘s-Gravenhage,Gemeente ’s-Gravenhage,South Holland,Netherlands
• Adrianus van Putten (1), Leiden
• Antonius Wilhelmi Hoebergen (84), Nederweert, L. Nederland
• Antoinette Josephina van Geen (52), 's Gravenhage (Den Haag, The Hague, La Haye), Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
• Antonia Kipping (72), Baardwijk
• Anna Barbara Nijssen (51), Nachbarheid, Noordrijn-Westfalen, Duitsland
• Antonia Stevens (41), Alphen en Riel
• Antonius Willem Hoebergen (84), Nederweert
• Angenieta Jacoba van Dooren (39), Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Nederland

• 1857 » M. Carey Thomas, American educator and activist († 1935)
• 1860 » Dugald Campbell Patterson, Canadian engineer († 1931)
• 1860 » William Corless Mills, American historian and curator († 1928)
• 1866 » Gilbert Murray, Australian-English playwright and scholar († 1957)
• 1870 » Ernst Barlach, German sculptor and playwright († 1938)
• 1870 » Tex Rickard, American boxing promoter and businessman († 1929)
• 1873 » Antonie Pannekoek, Dutch astronomer and theorist († 1960)
• 1873 » Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint († 1897)
• 1878 » Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai, Indian activist, founded the Nair Service Society († 1970)
• 1884 » Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli historian and politician, 4th Israeli Minister of Education († 1973)

• 1850 » Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (b. 1789)
• 1861 » Frederick William IV of Prussia (b. 1795)
• 1892 » George Biddell Airy, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1801)
• 1904 » James Longstreet, American general and diplomat (b. 1821)
• 1913 » Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist (b. 1855)
• 1915 » Karl Goldmark, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1830)
• 1917 » Léon Flameng, French cyclist (b. 1877)
• 1920 » Paul Adam, French author (b. 1862)
• 1924 » Sabine Baring-Gould, English author and scholar (b. 1834)
• 1939 » Roman Dmowski, Polish politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1864)

• Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• From March 14, 1861 till January 31, 1862 the Netherlands had a cabinet Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt - Loudon with the prime ministers Mr. J.P.P. baron Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt (conservatief-liberaal) and Mr. J. Loudon (liberaal).
• In The Netherlands , there was from February 1, 1862 to February 10, 1866 the cabinet Thorbecke II, with Mr. J.R. Thorbecke (liberaal) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 3.6 million citizens.
• January 30 » The first American ironclad warship, the USSMonitor is launched.
• May 31 » American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
• August 28 » American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas. The battle ends on August 30.
• September 18 » The Confederate States celebrate for the first and only time a Thanksgiving Day.
• November 14 » American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, leading to the Battle of Fredericksburg.
• December 1 » In his State of the Union Address President Abraham Lincoln reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery as ordered ten weeks earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation.

The temperature on January 2, 1862 was about 1.4 °C. The airpressure was 77 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 93%.