January 2 belongs to María López

On January 2, 1492, King Boabdil surrendered the keys of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, ending the Spanish Reconquista after nearly 800 years of Muslim presence on the Iberian Peninsula. That same year, Columbus reached America and the Jews were expelled from Spain — a triple event that marked the beginning of modern Spain.

On January 2, 1959, the USSR launched the Luna 1 probe — the first artificial object to escape Earth's gravitational pull. Although it missed its target of hitting the Moon — passing 5,900 km away — the probe transmitted valuable scientific data and demonstrated the technical feasibility of interplanetary flight, opening the era of solar system exploration.

On January 2, 1959, the rebel forces of Fidel Castro and the Rebel Army entered Havana triumphantly after dictator Fulgencio Batista had fled the previous night. The Cuban Revolution had succeeded after two years of guerrilla warfare. Cuba became the first socialist republic in the Western Hemisphere, provoking decades of tension with the United States.