1. On January 2, 1781, a battle took place in Richmond, Virginia during the American Revolutionary War. British troops managed to capture the city temporarily, but American forces eventually forced them to withdraw.

2. In 1863, during the American Civil War, Confederate General James Ewell Brown Stuart's cavalry and Union General Alfred Pleasanton's cavalry clashed at Kelly's Ford in Culpeper County, Virginia. The battle ended in a Union victory, but Stuart successfully retreated with his forces.

3. Virginia native and noted author Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809. Though not specifically a January 2 fact, Poe's contributions to American literature are significant and worth noting.

4. On January 2, 1926, the Byrd Theatre opened in Richmond, Virginia. The theatre, which seats over 1,400 guests, has been a popular spot for movie-goers for generations.

5. In 1833, the University of Virginia Literary, Debating, and Philosophical Society issued "Notes on Virginia," famously penned by Thomas Jefferson. Though he wrote the manuscript several years prior, the publication prompted discussion and inquiry into the state of Virginia and its residents.