February 3

Events

1451 - Murad II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Mehmed II.

1488 - Bartholomeu Diaz 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).

1867 - Emperor Meiji of Japan|Prince Mutsuhito becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan.

1870 - The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|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 of Canada|Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario|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 of Representatives|United States House and United States Senate|Senate press gallery.

1951 - Dick Button wins the American figure skating championship for the fourth consecutive time.

1952 - The earliest known tropical storm makes landfall in South Florida.

1957 - Senegalese political party Democratic Rally (Senegal)|Democratic Rally merges into the Senegalese Party of Socialist Action (PSAS).

1959 - The Day The Music Died: A Accidents and incidents in aviation|plane crash kills rock-and-roll performers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.

1966 - The unmanned Soviet Union|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.

1972 - The first 1972 Winter Olympics|Winter Olympics to be held in Asia open in Sapporo, Japan.

1984 - Space Shuttle Challenger First untethered spacewalk.

1988 - Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejects President of the United States|President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

1989 - After a stroke, Pieter Willem Botha|P.W. Botha resigns party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

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.

2002 - Super Bowl XXXVI: The New England Patriots defeat the St. Louis Rams, 20-17, to win their first Super Bowl championship.

2008 - Super Bowl XLII will take place from the new Arizona Cardinals stadium currently under construction in Glendale, Arizona.

Births

1338 - Jeanne de Bourbon, queen 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)

1809 - Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (d. 1847)

1811 - Horace Greeley, American journalist, editor, and publisher (d. 1872)

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 - 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

1926 - Shelley Berman, American comedian

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

1945 - Bob Griese, American football player

1947 - Paul Auster, American novelist

1947 - Dave Davies, British musician (The Kinks)

1948 - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timor politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

1950 - Morgan Fairchild, American actress

1950 - Pamela Franklin, American actress

1952 - Fred Lynn, baseball player

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

1960 - Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler (d. 1993)

1961 - Keith Gordon, American actor and director

1965 - Maura Tierney, American actress

1970 - Warwick Davis, British actor

1971 - Sarah Kane, English playwright (d. 1999)

1972 - Mart Poom, Estonian soccer player

1974 - Miriam Yeung, Hong Kong actress and singer

1976 - Isla Fisher, Australian actress

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)

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)

1924 - Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)

1956 - Émile Borel, French mathematician, politician, statesman, and resistance figher (b. 1871)

1959 - Killed in a private plane crash:

The Big Bopper, American singer (b. 1930)

Buddy Holly, American singer (b. 1936)

Ritchie Valens, American singer (b. 1941)

1960 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)

1964 - Sir Albert Richardson, English architect (b. 1880)

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)

Holidays and observances

Blaise|Saint Blaise Roman Catholics visit churches to have their throats blessed.

Boy Scout Sunday

Feast day of Saint Werburgh

Japan - the festival of Setsubun before spring

Mozambique - Heroes' Day

United States - Four Chaplains Day

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/3

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050203.html ---- February 2 - February 4 - January 3 - March 3 -- Historical anniversaries|listing of all days