February 3

2024 Calendar

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

Up to 1900

1112 - Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona and Douce I, Countess of Provence marry, uniting the fortunes of the two states.
1377 - Over 2,000 people in Cesena, Italy are killed by Papal troops.
1488 - Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands at Mossel Bay in present-day South Africa, having become the first European to travel round the Cape of Good Hope.
1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.
1781 - British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: Spain recognizes United States independence.
1809 – Illinois Territory is created.
1815 – The first commercial cheese factory is founded (Switzerland).
1830 - Greece's sovereignty is confirmed by the London Protocol.
1870 – The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.
1900 - Governor of Kentucky William Goebel dies four days after being shot, and three days after being sworn in to office.

1901 – 2000

1908 - The Panathinaikos Sports Club is founded in Athens.
1913 – The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified. It lets the Federal government create 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 submarine warfare.
1918 - The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world, at 3,633 metres long.
1930 - The Communist Party of Vietnam is founded in Kowloon, then-British Hong Kong.
1931 - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits New Zealand's North Island, mainly the cities of Napier and Hastings.
1943 - The USAT Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat, killing 672 of the 902 men on board.
1944 – United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
1945 – World War II: Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre fighting against Japan.
1947 - North America's lowest temperature is recorded in Snag, Yukon, Canada.
1952 – The earliest known tropical storm makes landfall in South Florida.
1955 - Czechoslovakia declares an end to hostilities with Germany.
1958 - The Benelux Economic Union is formed.
1959 – An airplane crash kills musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. This date becomes known as "The Day The Music Died".
1960 - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Macmillan makes a speech in which he says that "winds of change" are blowing across the African continent.
1961 - Start of the Angolan War of Independence.
1966 - The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft is launched.
1967 - In Melbourne, Ronald Ryan becomes the last person to be executed in Australia.
1969 – In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.
1972 – The first Winter Olympics to be held in Asia open in Sapporo, Japan.
1972 - Until February 9, a blizzard in Iran kills around 4,000 people.
1976 - In Mozambique, the capital city changes its name from Lourenco Marques to Maputo.
1981 - Gro Harlem Brundtland is elected Prime Minister of Norway.
1988 – The United States House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.
1989 - In Paraguay, a coup removes Alfredo Stroessner from power.
1994 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on mission STS-60.
1995 - Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot a space shuttle.
1996 - An earthquake of magnitude 7 hits Yunnan Province, China, killing over 300 people.
1998 – In Northern Italy 20 people die in a cable car disaster caused by a low-flying United States Military plane.
1998 - Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas, as the first woman to be executed in the US since 1984.

From 2001

2002 – Super Bowl XXXVI: The New England Patriots defeat the St. Louis Rams, 20–17, to win their first Super Bowl championship.
2006 – The Egyptian al-Salam Boccaccio ferry sinks in the Red Sea, killing around 1,000 people.
2007 - A bombing at a market in Baghdad kills 135 people.
2008 – Super Bowl XLII: The New York Giants defeat the previously undefeated New England Patriots, 17–14, to win their third Super Bowl championship and prevent them from becoming the first 19-0 team.
2010 - The sculpture L'homme qui marche by Alberto Giacometti is sold at an auction in London for £ 65 million.
2011 - Tropical Cyclone Yasi hits Queensland, Australia.
2013 - Super Bowl XLVII is interrupted by a power failure just after half time, with the Baltimore Ravens leading 28-6 over the San Francisco 49ers. After over half an hour, play gets back underway. The Baltimore Ravens later go on to win the game.
2015 - Sergio Mattarella becomes President of Italy.
2015 - The House of Commons of the United Kingdom, by a majority, supports the introduction of "Three-person babies". After being passed by the House of Lords, the UK would be the first country to introduce this.
2015 - It is announced that a second novel by Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, is to be published in July, called Go Set a Watchman.

Births

Deaths

Up to 1900

619 - Laurence of Canterbury, 2nd Archbishop of Canterbury
699 - Werburgh, English saint (b. 650)
995 - William IV, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
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
1737 - Tommaso Ceva, Italian mathematician (b. 1648)
1820 – Emperor Gia Long of Vietnam (b. 1762)
1832 – George Crabbe, English naturalist (b. 1754)
1862 - Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (b. 1774)
1867 - Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied (b. 1782)
1874 – William Charles Lunalilo, King of Hawaii (b. 1835)
1889 – Belle Starr, American outlaw (b. 1848)
1900 – William Goebel, 34th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1856)

1901 – 2000

1908 - Ferdinand Meldahl, Danish architect (b. 1827)
1920 - Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)
1921 – Colin Archer, Norwegian shipbuilder (b. 1832)
1922 - John Butler Yeats, Irish illustrator (b. 1839)
1924 – Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize winner (b. 1856)
1929 - Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish scientist (b. 1878)
1935 – Hugo Junkers, German aircraft designer (b. 1859)
1937 - Marija Leiko, Latvian movie actress (b. 1887)
1944 - Yvette Guilbert, French cabaret singer (b. 1865)
1945 – Roland Freisler, Nazi official (b. 1893)
1948 - Louis J. Brann, Governor of Maine (b. 1876)
1951 - August Horch, German engineer (b. 1868)
1952 - Harold L. Ickes, American politician (b. 1874)
1955 - Vasili Blokhin, Soviet general chief executioner of almost 22 000 Poles in Katyn Forest (b. 1895) (suicide, February 3)
1956 - Johnny Claes, Belgian racing driver (b. 1916)
1959 - "Day the Music Died":
- Buddy Holly, American singer (b. 1936)
- Roger Peterson, American pilot (b. 1937)
- Ritchie Valens, American musician (b. 1941)
- The Big Bopper, American musician (b. 1930)
1960 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
1961 – Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)
1961 - William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1893)
1967 - Joe Meek, English record producer (b. 1929)
1969 – Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique independence founder (b. 1920)
1969 - C. N. Annaduri, Indian politician, 7th Chief Minister of Madras State (b. 1909)
1975 – Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer (b. 1904)
1975 - William D. Coolidge, American physicist and inventor (b. 1873)
1985 - Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1912)
1989 – John Cassavetes, American actor (b. 1929)
1989 - Lionel Newman, American movie music orchestra leader and composer (b. 1916)
1991 - Harry Ackerman, American television producer (b. 1912)
1997 - Bohumil Hrabal, Czech writer (b. 1914)
1998 - Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer (b. 1959)
2000 - Alla Rakha, Indian tabla player (b. 1919)

From 2001

2003 – Lana Clarkson, American actress (b. 1962)
2004 - Jason Raize, American actor (b. 1975)
2005 – Zurab Zhvania, Georgian politician (b. 1963)
2005 – Ernst Mayr, German biologist (b. 1904)
2006 - Al Lewis, American actor (b. 1923)
2006 - Romano Mussolini, Italian pianist and artist (b. 1927)
2011 – Edouard Glissant, French-Martinican poet (b. 1928)
2011 – Maria Schneider, French actress (b. 1952)
2012 – Ben Gazzara, American actor (b. 1930)
2012 – Samuel Youd, British writer (b. 1922)
2014 - Louise Brough, American tennis player (b. 1923)
2014 - Richard Bull, American actor (b. 1924)
2014 - Louan Gideon, American actress (b. 1955)
2014 - Joan Mondale, former Second Lady of the United States (b. 1930)
2014 - Bill Sinkin, American activist (b. 1913)
2015 - Frank Borghi, American soccer player (b. 1925)
2015 - Charlie Sifford, American golfer (b. 1922)
2015 - Martin Gilbert, British historian (b. 1936)
2015 - Mary Healy, American actress (b. 1918)
2016 - Mark Farren, Irish footballer (b. 1982)
2016 - Balram Jakhar, Indian politician (b. 1923)
2016 - Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist and conductor (b. 1928)
2016 - Joe Alaskey, American voice actor (b. 1952)
2016 - Big Kap, American DJ (b. 1970)
2017 - Robert Dahlqvist, Swedish rock musician (b. 1976)
2017 - Yoshiro Hayashi, Japanese politician (b. 1927)
2017 - Hassan Joharchi, Iranian actor (b. 1968)
2017 - Lou Rowan, Australian cricket umpire (b. 1925)
2017 - Benny Perrin, American football player (b. 1959)
2017 - John M. Hayes, American scientist (b. 1940)
2017 - Richard Lyon, American admiral and politician (b. 1923)
2017 - Shumon Miura, Japanese writer (b. 1926)
2018 - Michael Harner, American anthropologist and writer (b. 1929)
2018 - Dirk Bernard Joseph Schouten, Dutch economist (b. 1923)
2018 - Hukum Singh, Indian politician (b. 1938)
2018 - Rolf Zacher, German actor (b. 1941)

Observances

Christian feast day: Saint Blaise (Roman Catholic Church)
Heroes' Day (Mozambique)
Veterans' Day (Thailand)
Setsubun (Japan)

February 3

Events

Up to 1900

1901 – 2000

From 2001

Births

Up to 1900

1901 – 1950

1951 – 1975

From 1976

Deaths

Up to 1900

1901 – 2000

From 2001

Observances