February 3 in recent years
2009 (Tuesday)
2008 (Sunday)
2007 (Saturday)
2006 (Friday)
2005 (Thursday)
2004 (Tuesday)
2003 (Monday)
2002 (Sunday)
2001 (Saturday)
2000 (Thursday)
February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar . There are 331 days remaining until the end of the year (332 in leap years ).
Events [ ]
1112 - marriage of Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence , uniting the fortunes of those two states
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.
1509 - The Battle of Diu , between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire takes place in Diu , India .
1690 - The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America .
1706 - Swedish forces defeats a superior Saxon-Russian force by deploying a text book example of a double envelopment during the Battle of Fraustadt .
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 .
1807 - A British military force, under Brig-Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the city of Montevideo , then part of the Spanish Empire now capital of Uruguay , following a siege.
1809 - Illinois Territory is created.
1815 - The first commercial cheese factory is founded (Switzerland ).
1830 - The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London Protocol .
1834 - The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina establishes the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, today known as Wake Forest University .
1867 - Prince Mutshito becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan .
1870 - The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ratified, grants voting rights regardless of race.
1900 - Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort . Former Secretary of State Caleb Powers was later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebel.
1913 - The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect a graduated 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).
1923 - Alpha Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia founded at Pennsylvania State University .
1930 - The Communist Party of Vietnam was born.
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 - World War II: United States troops capture the Marshall Islands .
1945 - World War II: Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre conflict against Japan .
1945 - World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap , 1,000 B-17 's of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin.
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 , -63 degrees Celsius (-81.4 Fahrenheit)
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 Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress .
1974 - Science fiction author Philip K. Dick reportedly has a gnostic religious experience or theophany , later recounted in his books Valis (1981) and Radio Free Albemuth (1985).
1984 - Space Shuttle program : STS-41-B Mission - Astronauts, Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make first untethered spacewalks using the Manned Maneuvering Unit .
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 .
1989 - A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner , dictator of Paraguay since 1954 .
1991 - In Italy, the Italian Communist Party is dissolved, and split into the Democratic Party of the Left and the Communist Refoundation Party .
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 and Kashmir the political party Democratic Janata Dal is revived.
2004 - Jóannes Eidesgaard becomes Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands .
2007 - The Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.
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 (d. 1755 )
1721 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz , Prussian general (d. 1773 )
1747 - Samuel Osgood , American patriot (d. 1813 )
1754 - George Crabbe , English naturalist (d. 1832 )
1795 - Antonio José de Sucre , South American independence leader (d. 1830 )
1807 - Joseph E. Johnston , Confederate general (d. 1891 )
1808 - Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar , Princess of Prussia (d. 1877 )
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 , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903 )
1842 - Sidney Lanier , American writer (d. 1881 )
1843 - William Cornelius Van Horne , American-born railway pioneer and executive (d. 1915 )
1859 - Hugo Junkers , German aircraft designer (d. 1935 )
1862 - James Clark McReynolds , American Supreme Court Justice (d. 1946 )
1872 - Lou Criger , American baseball player (d. 1934 )
1874 - Gertrude Stein , American writer (d. 1946 )
1887 - Juan Negrín , Spanish Prime Minister (d. 1956 )
1887 - Georg Trakl , Austrian poet (d. 1914 )
1893 - Gaston Julia , French mathematician (d. 1978 )
1894 - Norman Rockwell , American illustrator (d. 1978 )
1898 - Alvar Aalto , Finnish architect (d. 1976 )
1899 - Lao She , Chinese writer (d. 1966 )
1899 - João Café Filho , Brazilian president (m.1970 )
1899 - Doris Speed , English actress (d.1994 )
1904 - Luigi Dallapiccola , Italian composer (d. 1975 )
1904 - Pretty Boy Floyd , American gangster (d. 1934 )
1905 - Arne Beurling , American mathematician(d. 1986 )
1907 - James Michener , American author (d. 1997 )
1909 - Simone Weil , French philosopher (d. 1943 )
1909 - André Cayatte , French filmmaker (d. 1989 )
1911 - Robert Earl Jones , American actor (d. 2006 )
1911 - Jehan Alain , French organist and composer (d. 1940 )
1912 - Jacques Soustelle , French anthropologist (d. 1990 )
1913 - Richard Seaman , British racing driver (d. 1939 )
1918 - Joey Bishop , American entertainer, member of the Rat Pack (d. 2007 )
1918 - Helen Stephens , American runner
1920 - Henry Heimlich , American physician
1920 - Tony Gaze , Australian racing driver
1923 - Alys Robi , Quebec singer
1924 - Martial Asselin , French Canadian politician and lieutenant governor of Quebec
1925 - John Fiedler , American voice actor (d. 2005 )
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
1927 - Joan Lowery Nixon , American writer (d. 2003 )
1927 - Kenneth Anger , American Underground Filmmaker
1930 - Gillian Ayres , English painter
1932 - Peggy Ann Garner , American actress (d. 1984 )
1933 - Paul Sarbanes , American politician
1938 - Victor Buono , American actor (d. 1982 )
1938 - Emile Griffith , US Virgin Islands professional boxer
1939 - Michael Cimino , American film director
1940 - Fran Tarkenton , American football player
1941 - Neil Bogart , American record executive (d. 1982 )
1943 - Blythe Danner , American actress
1943 - Dennis Edwards , American singer (The Temptations )
1943 - Shawn Phillips , American singer, guitarist and songwriter
1944 - Trisha Noble , Australian singer and actress
1945 - Bob Griese , American football player
1945 - Johnny Cymbal , American singer and songwriter (d. 1993 )
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, Nobel Peace laureate
1948 - Henning Mankell , Swedish author
1949 - Hennie Kuiper , Dutch cyclist
1950 - Morgan Fairchild , American actress
1951 - Eugenijus Riabovas , Lithuanian football manager
1952 - Fred Lynn , American 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 - John Jefferson , American football player
1956 - Lee Ranaldo , American musician (Sonic Youth )
1957 - Chico Serra , Brazilian racing driver
1957 - Steven Stapleton , British musician (Nurse With Wound )
1958 - N. Gregory Mankiw , American economist
1959 - Thomas Calabro , American actor
1959 - Laurence Tolhurst , British musician (The Cure )
1959 - Yasuharu Konishi , Japanese musician (Pizzicato Five )
1960 - Kerry Von Erich , American wrestler (d. 1993 )
1961 - Keith Gordon , American actor
1961 - Jay Adams , American skateboarder
1962 - Michele Greene , American actress
1965 - Maura Tierney , American actress
1965 - Karlous Marx Shinohamba , Namibian politician
1967 - Bob Taylor , English footballer
1968 - Vlade Divac , Serbian professional basketball player
1969 - Retief Goosen , professional golfer
1970 - Warwick Davis , British actor
1970 - Oscar Cordoba , Colombian footballer
1971 - Elisa Donovan , American actress
1971 - Sarah Kane , English playwright (d. 1999 )
1971 - Hong Seok-cheon , South Korean actor
1972 - Mart Poom , Estonian football player
1973 - Ilana Sod , Mexican journalist
1974 - Miriam Yeung , Hong Kong actress
1974 - Konrad Gałka , Polish swimmer
1976 - Mathieu Dandenault , Canadian hockey player
1976 - Isla Fisher , Australian actress
1976 - Dwayne Rudd , American football player
1977 - Daddy Yankee , nominated reggaeton singer/rapper.
1978 - Adrian R'Mante , American actor
1978 - Eliza Schneider , American actress and singer
1980 - Sarah Lewitinn , American writer
1981 - Maurice Ross , English footballer
1982 - Jessica Harp , American singer (The Wreckers )
1982 - Alan Gurr , Australian V8 Supercar driver
1983 - Hillary Scott , American pornographic actress
1983 - Silambarasan Rajendar ,famous south Indian actor
1989 - Ryne Sanborn , American actor
1989 - Slobodan Rajković , Serbian footballer
1990 - Sean Kingston , American reggae rapper
1991 - Adrian Quaife-Hobbs , British racing driver
Deaths [ ]
619 - Laurence of Canterbury , 2nd Archbishop of Canterbury
699 - Saint Werburgh
1014 - King Sweyn I of Denmark
1116 - King Coloman of Hungary (b. 1070 )
1399 - John of Gaunt (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 , English conspirator (b. 1564 )
1737 - Tommaso Ceva , Italian Mathematician (b. 1648 )
1802 - Pedro Rodríguez , Spanish statesman (b. 1723 )
1862 - Jean-Baptiste Biot , French physicist (b. 1774 )
1866 - François-Xavier Garneau , French Canadian poet and historian (b. 1809 )
1874 - Lunalilo , Hawaiian monarch (b. 1835 )
1889 - Belle Starr , American outlaw (b. 1848 )
1922 - John Butler Yeats , Northern Irish artist (b. 1839 )
1924 - Woodrow Wilson , 28th President of the United States , Nobel laureate (b. 1856 )
1929 - Agner Krarup Erlang , Danish scientist (b. 1878 )
1935 - Hugo Junkers , German engineer (b. 1859 )
1936 - Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg , consort of William of Wied, Prince of Albania (b.1885 )
1945 - Roland Freisler , Nazi leader (b. 1893 )
1947 - Marc Mitscher , American Navy Admiral (b. 1887 )
1956 - Émile Borel , French mathematician (b. 1871 )
1956 - Johnny Claes , Belgian racing driver (b. 1916 )
1959 - Also known as The Day the Music Died because of the deaths of:
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 )
1969 - Eduardo Mondlane Mozambique independence founder (b. 1920 )
1975 - Umm Kulthum , Egyptian singer (b. 1904 )
1985 - Frank Oppenheimer , American physicist (b. 1912 )
1989 - John Cassavetes , American actor (b. 1929 )
1989 - Lionel Newman , American movie music orchestra leader, composer and arranger (b. 1916 )
1991 - Harry Ackerman , American TV executive producer (b. 1912 )
1991 - Nancy Kulp , American actress (b. 1921 )
1993 - Paul Emery , British racing driver (b. 1916 )
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 (b. 1962 )
2004 - Jason Raize , American musical theatre actor (b. 1975 )
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 )
2007 - Pedro Knight , Cuban-American musician, husband of legendary singer Celia Cruz (b. 1921 )
2007 - Ralph de Toledano , Moroccan-born American political columnist and author (b. 1916 )
2007 - George Becker , American president of United Steelworkers (1993–2001) (b. 1928 )
Holidays and observances [ ]
liturgical feasts [ ]
References [ ]
^ *Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saint . St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.
External links [ ]
125 Familypedia people were born on February 3
151 Familypedia people died on February 3
111 Familypedia people were first married on February 3