Today in History: January 2, ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ captured in England
Today is Friday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2026. There are 363 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Jan. 2, 1981, British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, aka the “Yorkshire Ripper,” was captured after a series of killings bred fear across northwest England between 1975 and 1980. Subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the killings of 13 women, he died in 2020 at the age of 74.
Also on this date:
In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Alice Sanger as the first female White House staffer at a time of a growing movement for women’s rights.
In 1942, the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II.
In 1959, the Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 launched, becoming the first spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity.
In 1971, 66 people were killed in a crush of spectators leaving a soccer match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 mph as a way of conserving gasoline during an OPEC oil embargo. (The 55 mph limit was effectively phased out in 1987; federal speed limits were abolished in 1995.)
In 2016, a heavily armed group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, beginning a 41-day standoff to protest the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on public land and to demand the federal government turn over public lands to local control.
In 2023, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after making a tackle during the first quarter of an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals, requiring life-saving treatment on the field. The game was canceled; Hamlin would recover fully and return to play the following season.
In 2024, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned amid plagiarism accusations and a backlash over her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus. She was the Ivy League institution’s first Black president.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Filmmaker Todd Haynes is 65.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martínez is 63.
- Actor-singer Tia Carrere is 59.
- Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is 58.
- Model Christy Turlington is 57.
- Actor Taye Diggs is 55.
- Actor Renée Elise Goldsberry is 55.
- Actor-comedian Dax Shepard is 51.
- Actor Kate Bosworth is 43.
- Musician Trombone Shorty is 40.
- Singer-rapper Bryson Tiller is 33.