February 2
is the 33rd day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 332 days remaining (333 in
leap years).
*
962 -
Translatio imperii:
Pope John XII crowns
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first
Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
*
1032 -
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of
Burgundy.
*
1119 -
Callixtus II becomes
Pope.
*
1509 -
Battle of Diu takes place near
Diu,
India, between
Portugal and
Turkey.
*
1536 -
Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds
Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
*
1542 -
Portuguese under
Christovão da Gama capture a
Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern
Ethiopia in the
Battle of Baçente.
*
1653 -
New Amsterdam (later renamed
New York City) is incorporated.
*
1709 -
Alexander Selkirk is rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book
Robinson Crusoe by
Daniel Defoe.
*
1790 - The
U.S. Supreme Court convenes for the first time after an unsuccessful attempt on
February 1.
*
1812 -
Russia establishes a fur trading colony at
Fort Ross, along the
California coast.
*
1848 -
Mexican-American War: The
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the war.
* 1848 -
California Gold Rush: The first ship with
Chinese emigrants seeking fortune in
California's gold country arrive in
San Francisco.
*
1870 - It is revealed that the famed
Cardiff Giant was just carved
gypsum and not the petrified remains of a
human.
*
1874 -
Grand County,
Colorado is created when it is carved out of
Summit County*
1876 - The
National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of
Major League Baseball is formed.
*
1878 -
Greece declares war on
Turkey.
*
1880 - The first electric
streetlight is installed in
Wabash, Indiana.
*
1882 - The
Knights of Columbus are formed in
New Haven, Connecticut.
*
1887 - In
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first
Groundhog Day is observed.
*
1897 - The
Pennsylvania state capitol is destroyed by fire.
*
1899 - The
Australian Premiers' Conference held in
Melbourne decides to locate
Australia's capital (
Canberra) between
Sydney and
Melbourne.
*
1920 -
Tartu Peace Treaty signed between
Estonia and
Russia.
* 1920 -
France occupies
Memel.
*
1925 -
Serum run to Nome:
Dog sleds reach
Nome, Alaska with
diphtheria serum, inspiring the
Iditarod race.
*
1933 -
Adolf Hitler dissolves the
German Parliament.
*
1935 - The
polygraph machine is tested for the first time.
Leonard Keeler conducts the experiment in
Portage, Wisconsin.
*
1940 -
Frank Sinatra debuts with the
Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
*
1943 -
World War II: The last
German forces surrender to the
Soviets after the
Battle of Stalingrad.
*
1945 - World War II:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leave to meet with
Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin at the
Yalta Conference.
*
1952 - A
tropical storm forms north of
Cuba and moves northeast making landfall in
Florida. It is the earliest reported formation of a tropical storm on record in the
Atlantic basin.
*
1957 - President
Iskander Mirza of
Pakistan lays the foundation-stone of the
Guddu Barrage across river
Indus near
Sukkur.
*
1962 - For the first time in 400 years
Neptune and
Pluto align.
*
1966 -
Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with
Kashmir dispute as number one item for the proposed
Indo-Pak ministerial talks after
1965 war.
*
1967 - The
American Basketball Association is formed.
*
1971 - After a coup in
Uganda,
Idi Amin replaces
President Milton Obote as leader.
*
1972 - The
British embassy in
Dublin is destroyed in protest over
Bloody Sunday.
*
1976 -
Groundhog Day gale of 1976 hits the north-eastern
United States and south-eastern
Canada.
*
1980 -
Abscam: Reports surface that
FBI personnel were targeting members of the
U.S. Congress in a
sting operation.
* 1980 - Founding congress of the
Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey.
*
1982 -
Hama Massacre: The government of
Syria attacks the town of
Hama and kills thousands of people.
*
1989 -
Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last
Soviet Union armored column leaves
Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation.
*
1990 -
Apartheid: In
South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the
African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set
Nelson Mandela free.
*
1998 - A
Cebu Pacific Air DC-9-32 crashes into a mountain near
Cagayan de Oro,
Philippines, killing 104.
*
2002 - Wedding of Crown Prince
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to the Argentinean born
Máxima Zorreguieta in Amsterdam.
*
2006 - An aging
Egyptian passenger ferry carrying more than 1,400 people sinks in the
Red Sea off the Saudi coast.
*
1208 -
James I of Aragon (d.
1276)
*
1455 - King
John of Denmark (d.
1513)
*
1494 -
Bona Sforza, queen of
Sigismund I of Poland (d.
1557)
*
1502 -
Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (d.
1574)
*
1506 -
René de Birague, French cardinal and chancellor (d.
1583)
*
1522 -
Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d.
1565)
*
1600 -
Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d.
1653)
*
1613 -
Noël Chabanel, French Jesuit missionary (d.
1649)
*
1621 -
Johannes Schefferus, Alsatian-born humanist (d.
1679)
*
1649 -
Pope Benedict XIII (d.
1730)
*
1650 -
Nell Gwynne, English actress and royal mistress (d.
1687)
*
1669 -
Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (d.
1732)
*
1695 -
William Borlase, English naturalist (d.
1772)
* 1695 -
François de Chevert, French general (d.
1769)
*
1700 -
Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (d.
1766)
*
1711 -
Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, Austrian diplomat (d.
1794)
*
1714 -
Gottfried August Homilius, German composer (d.
1785)
*
1717 -
Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d.
1790)
*
1754 -
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French politician (d.
1838)
*
1802 -
Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (d.
1887)
*
1803 -
Albert Sidney Johnston, American Confederate general (d.
1862)
*
1829 -
Alfred Brehm, German zoologist (d.
1884)
*
1841 -
François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (d.
1912)
*
1875 -
Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist (d.
1962)
*
1878 -
Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (d.
1955)
*
1882 -
James Joyce, Irish author (d.
1941)
*
1887 -
Ernst Hanfstängl, German pianist and politician (d.
1975)
*
1888 -
Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d.
1969)
*
1890 -
Charles Correll, American actor (d.
1972)
*
1893 -
Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician (d.
1974)
*
1895 -
George Halas, American football player, coach, and league founder (d.
1983)
*
1897 -
Howard Johnson, American hotelier (d.
1972)
*
1901 -
Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (d.
1987)
*
1905 -
Ayn Rand, Russian-born author (d.
1982)
*
1913 -
Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (d.
1985)
*
1915 -
Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (d.
2002)
*
1916 -
Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (d.
1985)
*
1918 -
Hella S. Haasse, Dutch writer
*
1923 -
James Dickey, American poet and author (d.
1997)
* 1923 -
Bonita Granville, American actress (d.
1988)
* 1923 -
Red Schoendienst, baseball player and manager
* 1923 -
Liz Smith, American gossip columnist
*
1924 -
Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American producer and musician
*
1925 -
Elaine Stritch, American actress
*
1926 -
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French politician
*
1927 -
Stan Getz, American musician (d.
1991)
*
1928 -
Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., civil rights activist and author
*
1931 -
Dries van Agt, Dutch politician
* 1931 -
Judith Viorst, American author
*
1932 -
Robert Mandan, American actor
*
1933 -
Than Shwe, ruler of Myanmar
*
1937 -
Tom Smothers, American musician and comedian
*
1940 -
David Jason, English actor
*
1942 -
Christine Keeler, British model
* 1942 -
Graham Nash, American (British-born) rock musician
*
1944 -
Geoffrey Hughes, British actor
*
1946 -
Alpha Oumar Konaré, ex-president of
Mali*
1947 -
Farrah Fawcett, American actress
* 1947 -
Melanie Safka, American singer
*
1949 -
Brent Spiner, American actor
* 1949 -
Ross Valory, American musician (
Journey)
*
1954 -
Christie Brinkley, American model
*
1962 -
Paul Kilgus, baseball player
*
1963 -
Eva Cassidy, American singer (d.
1996)
*
1965 -
Carl Airey, English footballer
*
1966 -
Robert DeLeo, American musician (
Stone Temple Pilots)
*
1967 -
Arturs Irbe, Latvian hockey player
*
1969 -
Valeri Karpin, Russian footballer
*
1972 -
Dana International, Israeli singer
*
1975 -
Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek football player
* 1975 -
Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian hockey player
*
1976 -
James Hickman, British swimmer
*
1977 -
Shakira, Colombian singer
* 1977 -
Libor Sionko, Czech football player
*
1980 -
Skip Schumaker, Baseball player
* 1980 -
Teddy Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
*
1981 -
Jason Kapono, American basketball player
*
1983 -
Jordin Tootoo, Canadian hockey player
*
1987 -
Martin Spanjers, American actor
*
1124 - Duke
Bořivoj II of Bohemia*
1218 -
Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (b.
1186)
*
1250 - King
Eric XI of Sweden (b.
1216)
*
1461 -
Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the
Tudor dynasty of England
*
1529 -
Baldassare Castiglione, Italian writer (b.
1478)
*
1580 -
Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese retainer (b.
1558)
*
1594 -
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer (b.
1525)
*
1648 -
George Abbot, English writer
*
1660 -
Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b.
1615)
* 1660 -
Gaston, Duke of Orléans, French politician (b.
1608)
*
1661 -
Lucas Holstenius, German humanist (b.
1596)
*
1688 -
Abraham Duquesne, French naval officer (b.
1610)
*
1704 -
Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de l'Hôpital, French mathematician (b.
1661)
*
1712 -
Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician
*
1714 -
John Sharp, English
Archbishop of York (b.
1643)
*
1768 -
Robert Smith, English mathematician (b.
1689)
*
1769 -
Pope Clement XIII (b.
1693)
*
1802 -
Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (b.
1713)
*
1895 -
Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b.
1817)
*
1907 -
Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b.
1834)
*
1922 -
William Desmond Taylor, Irish film director (b.
1872)
*
1925 -
Jaap Eden, Dutch skater and cyclist (b.
1873)
*
1926 -
Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (b.
1848)
*
1942 -
Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (b.
1906)
*
1945 -
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (b.
1884)
*
1948 -
Bevil Rudd,
South African athlete (b.
1894)
* 1948 -
Thomas W. Lamont, American banker; father or
Corliss Lamont; great-grandfather of
Ned Lamont (b.
1870)
*
1950 -
Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician (b.
1873)
*
1956 -
Charles Grapewin, American actor (b.
1869)
* 1956 -
Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b.
1876)
*
1957 -
Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist (b.
1890)
*
1969 -
Boris Karloff, English actor (b.
1887)
*
1970 -
Bertrand Russell, British mathematician,
Nobel Prize Laureate (b.
1872)
*
1979 -
Sid Vicious, English musician (
Sex Pistols) (b.
1957)
*
1980 -
William Howard Stein, American chemist,
Nobel Prize Laureate (b.
1911)
*
1987 -
Castilho, Brazilian footballer (b.
1927)
* 1987 -
Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (b.
1922)
*
1992 -
Bert Parks, American television host (b.
1914)
*
1995 -
Donald Pleasence, English actor (b.
1919)
*
1996 -
Gene Kelly, American dancer, actor, and director (b.
1912)
*
1997 -
Sanford Meisner, American actor (b.
1904)
* 1997 -
Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (b.
1913)
*
2003 -
Lou Harrison, American composer (b.
1917)
*
2004 -
Bernard McEveety, American film director (b.
1924)
*
2005 -
Max Schmeling, German boxer (b.
1905)
* Ancient
Latvia -
Veja Diena observed.
*
Czech Republic -
Hromnice.
*
France -
Crêpe Day.
*
Paganism -
Imbolc (in
northern hemisphere),
Lughnasadh (in
southern hemisphere).
*
Scotland - A
quarter day in the
Christian calendar (due to
Candlemas).
*
United States and
Canada -
Groundhog Day.
liturgical feasts
*
Catholicism -
Candlemas,
The Presentation of the Lord,
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
World Day for Consecrated Life (also
February 3 in the
United States).
*
St. Adelbald*
St. Cornelius*
On this day in Canada*
NY Times: On this day*
BBC: On This DayFebruary 1 -
February 3 -
January 2 -
March 2 --
listing of all days
