February 3
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In the Northern hemisphere, there are 88 days in winter (in a non-leap year). We are considered halfway through winter on February 3.
Events
- 1377 - more than 2,000 people of the Italian city of Cesena are slaughtered by Papal Troops (Cesena Bloodbath).
- 1451 - Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1488 - Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, becoming the first known European to travel this far south.
- 1690 - The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.
- 1783 - American Revolutionary War: Spain recognizes United States independence.
- 1787 - Shays' Rebellion is crushed, ending an uprising that would prompt negotiations that would result in the drafting of the Constitution of the United States.
- 1809 - Illinois Territory is created.
- 1815 - The first commercial cheese factory is founded (Switzerland).
- 1834 - The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina establishes the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, today known as Wake Forest University.
- 1867 - Prince Mutsuhito becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan.
- 1870 - The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.
- 1900 - Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky. Former Secretary of State Caleb Powers was later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebel.
- 1913 - The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect income tax.
- 1916 - Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burn down.
- 1917 - World War I: The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany a day after Germany announces a new policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1918 - The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long).
- 1931 - The Napier earthquake, New Zealand's worst natural disaster, kills 258.
- 1941 - World War II: The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy, France.
- 1944 - United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
- 1945 - World War II: Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre conflict against Japan.
- 1947 - Percival Prattis becomes the first African American news correspondent allowed in the United States House and Senate press gallery.
- 1947 - Coldest ever temperature recorded in North America at Snag, Yukon, -63 degrees Celsius
- 1952 - The earliest known tropical storm makes landfall in South Florida.
- 1957 - Senegalese political party Democratic Rally merges into the Senegalese Party of Socialist Action (PSAS).
- 1959 - The Day The Music Died: A plane crash kills rock-and-roll performers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.
- 1966 - The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.
- 1967 - Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia, is hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.
- 1969 - In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.
- 1984 - Astronauts from Space Shuttle Challenger make first untethered spacewalk.
- 1988 - Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.
- 1989 - After a stroke, P.W. Botha resigns party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.
- 1997 - Sixth general elections held in Pakistan under 1973 constitution.
- 1998 - Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas becoming the first woman executed in the United States since 1984.
- 1998 - Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.
- 1999 - In Jammu & Kashmir the political party Democratic Janata Dal (Jammu and Kashmir) is revived.
Births
- 1338 - Jeanne de Bourbon, wife of Charles V of France (d. 1378)
- 1677 - Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect (d. 1723)
- 1690 - Richard Rawlinson, English minister and antiquarian (d. 1755)
- 1721 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
- 1754 - George Crabbe, English poet and naturalist (d. 1832)
- 1795 - Antonio José de Sucre, South Américan independence hero and Great Marshall of Ayacucho (d. 1830)
- 1809 - Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (d. 1847)
- 1811 - Horace Greeley, American journalist, editor, and publisher (d. 1872)
- 1817 - Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist (d. 1881)
- 1821 - Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician (d. 1910)
- 1830 - Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
- 1842 - Sidney Lanier, American writer (d. 1881)
- 1859 - Hugo Junkers, German industrialist and aircraft designer (d. 1935)
- 1862 - James Clark McReynolds, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1946)
- 1874 - Gertrude Stein, American writer and patron of the arts (d. 1946)
- 1887 - Juan Negrín, Spanish Popular Front politician and Prime Minister (d. 1956)
- 1887 - Georg Trakl, Austrian poet (d. 1914)
- 1893 - Gaston Julia, French mathematician (d. 1978)
- 1894 - Norman Rockwell, American artist, illustrator (d. 1978)
- 1898 - Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (d. 1976)
- 1899 - Lao She, Chinese writer (d. 1966)
- 1904 - Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (d. 1975)
- 1904 - Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934)
- 1907 - James Michener, American author (d. 1997)
- 1909 - Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
- 1911 - Robert Earl Jones, American actor
- 1918 - Joey Bishop, American comedian and actor
- 1918 - Helen Stephens, American runner
- 1920 - Henry Heimlich, American physician
- 1925 - John Fiedler, American voice actor
- 1925 - Keith Dunstan, Australian author and journalist
- 1925 - Leon Schlumpf, member of the Swiss Federal Council
- 1926 - Shelley Berman, American comedian
- 1926 - Hans-Jochen Vogel, German politician
- 1927 - Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer
- 1930 - Gillian Ayres, English painter
- 1932 - Peggy Ann Garner, American actress (d. 1984)
- 1933 - Paul Sarbanes, U.S. Senator
- 1938 - Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1939 - Michael Cimino, American film director
- 1940 - Fran Tarkenton, American football player
- 1941 - Neil Bogart, music company executive (d. 1982)
- 1943 - Blythe Danner, American actress
- 1943 - Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations)
- 1945 - Bob Griese, American football player
- 1947 - Paul Auster, American novelist
- 1947 - Dave Davies, British musician (The Kinks)
- 1947 - Melanie Safka, American singer-songwriter
- 1948 - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timor politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1948 - Henning Mankell, Swedish Author
- 1949 - Hennie Kuiper, Dutch cyclist, World Champion in 1975
- 1950 - Morgan Fairchild, American actress
- 1952 - Fred Lynn, baseball player
- 1954 - Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey players
- 1955 - Stephen Euin Cobb, American novelist
- 1955 - Kirsty Wark, British broadcast journalist
- 1956 - Nathan Lane, American actor
- 1956 - Lee Ranaldo, American musician (Sonic Youth)
- 1958 - N. Gregory Mankiw, American economist
- 1959 - Thomas Calabro, American actor
- 1959 - Laurence Tolhurst, British musician (The Cure)
- 1960 - Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler (d. 1993)
- 1961 - Keith Gordon, American actor and director
- 1965 - Maura Tierney, American actress
- 1967 - Bob Taylor, English footballer
- 1970 - Warwick Davis, British actor
- 1971 - Sarah Kane, English playwright (d. 1999)
- 1972 - Mart Poom, Estonian football player
- 1974 - Miriam Yeung, Hong Kong actress and singer
- 1974 - Elisa Donovan, American actress
- 1976 - Mathieu Dandenault, Canadian National Hockey League player
- 1976 - Isla Fisher, Australian actress
- 1976 - Dwayne Rudd, American football player
- 1977 - Daddy Yankee, Puerto-Rican reggaeton artist
- 1978 - Adrian R'Mante, Spanish immigrant actor
- 1980 - Sarah Lewitinn, American writer and DJ
Deaths
- 619 - Laurence of Canterbury, second Archbishop of Canterbury
- 699 - Saint Werburgh
- 1014 - King Sweyn I of Denmark
- 1116 - King Coloman of Hungary (b. 1070)
- 1399 - John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (b. 1340)
- 1428 - Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shogun (b. 1386)
- 1451 - Murad II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1404)
- 1468 - Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher
- 1566 - George Cassander, Flemish theologian (b. 1513)
- 1619 - Henry Brooke, 8th Baron Cobham, English conspirator (b. 1564)
- 1737 - Tommaso Ceva, italien mathematician (b. 1648)
- 1802 - Pedro Rodríguez, Conde de Campomanes, Spanish statesman and writer (b. 1723)
- 1862 - Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (b. 1774)
- 1889 - Belle Starr, American outlaw (b. 1848)
- 1922 - John Butler Yeats, Northern Irish artist (b. 1839)
- 1924 - Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)
- 1935 - Hugo Junkers, German engineer (b. 1859)
- 1945 - Roland Freisler, Nazi leader (b. 1893)
- 1956 - Émile Borel, French mathematician, politician, statesman, and resistance figher (b. 1871)
- 1959 - Also known as The Day the Music Died because of the deaths of:
- *Buddy Holly, American singer (b. 1936)
- *Ritchie Valens, American singer (b. 1941)
- *J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, American singer (b. 1930)
- 1960 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
- 1964 - Sir Albert Richardson, English architect (b. 1880)
- 1967 - Joe Meek, English record producer (b. 1929)
- 1975 - Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer (b. 1904)
- 1985 - Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1912)
- 1989 - John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and writer (b. 1929)
- 1991 - Nancy Kulp, American actress (b. 1921)
- 1996 - Audrey Meadows, American actress (b. 1926)
- 1998 - Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer (b. 1959)
- 2000 - Richard Kleindienst, American politician (b. 1923)
- 2003 - Lana Clarkson, American actress (murdered) (b. 1962)
- 2003 - Kid Gavilan, Cuban boxer (b. 1926)
- 2005 - Corrado Cardinal Bafile, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1903)
- 2005 - Ernst Mayr, German-born biologist (b. 1904)
- 2005 - Zurab Zhvania, Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1963)
- 2006 - Al Lewis, American actor (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances
- Japan - the festival of Setsubun before spring.
- Mozambique - Heroes' Day.
- United States - Four Chaplains Day.
liturgical feasts
- Saint Blaise, Catholics visit churches to have their throats blessed.
- Saint Ansgar, patron saint of Denmark
- Saint Hadelin (+690)
- Saint Werburgh
- Saints Berlindis, Celsa and Nona.
External links
February 2 - February 4 - January 3 - March 3 -- listing of all days
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