February 3
February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar . There are 331 days remaining, (332 in leap years ).
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
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 - 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 (11,920 feet long).
1931 - 258 die in New Zealand 's worst natural disaster, the Napier earthquake .
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.
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 .
1959 - Plane crash that kills Buddy Holly , Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper . This date becomes known as "The Day The Music Died ".
1966 - The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon .
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 .
1984 - Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on the tenth space shuttle mission.
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 .
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 skiers in Italy riding on a lift suspended by a cable snapped by the low-flying plane.
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
1721 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz , Prussian general (d. 1773 )
1754 - George Crabbe , English poet , naturalist (d. 1832 )
1809 - Felix Mendelssohn , German composer (d. 1847 )
1811 - Horace Greeley , American journalist, editor, publisher (d. 1872 )
1821 - Elizabeth Blackwell , first female physician in the United States (d. 1910 )
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 )
1904 - Pretty Boy Floyd , U.S. gangster (d. 1934 )
1907 - James Michener , U.S. author (d. 1997 )
1909 - Simone Weil , French philosopher (d. 1943 )
1911 - Robert Earl Jones , American actor
1918 - Joey Bishop , comedian, actor
1918 - Helen Stephens , U.S. sprinter
1924 - Andrzej Szczypiorski , writer (d. 2000 )
1925 - John Fiedler , American voice over actor
1926 - Shelley Berman , American comedian
1927 - Val Doonican , Irish singer and entertainer
1930 - Gillian Ayres , painter
1932 - Peggy Ann Garner , actress (d. 1984 )
1933 - Paul Sarbanes , United States Senator
1938 - Victor Buono , American actor (d. 1982 )
1939 - Michael Cimino , American film director
1940 - Fran Tarkenton , Pro Football Hall of Famer
1941 - Neil Bogart , music company executive (d. 1982 )
1943 - Blythe Danner , actress
1945 - Bob Griese , Pro Football Hall of Famer
1947 - Paul Auster , novelist
1947 - Melanie Safka , singer/songwriter
1947 - Dave Davies , British musician (The Kinks )
1948 - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo , East Timorian politician, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
1950 - Morgan Fairchild , actress
1950 - Pamela Franklin , American actress
1956 - Nathan Lane , actor
1956 - Lee Ranaldo , American musician (Sonic Youth )
1960 - Kerry Von Erich , American professional wrestler (d. 1993 )
1961 - Keith Gordon , American actor and director
1965 - Maura Tierney , actress
1970 - Warwick Davis , British actor
1971 - Sarah Kane , playwright (d. 1999 )
1974 - Miriam Yeung , actress and singer
Deaths
619 - Laurence of Canterbury , second Archbishop of Canterbury
1014 - Sweyn I , king of Denmark (b. ca. 965 )
1428 - Ashikaga Yoshimochi , Ashikaga shogun (b. 1386 )
1468 - Johannes Gutenberg , German publisher (b. ca. 1390s )
1889 - Belle Starr , American outlaw (b. 1848 )
1924 - Woodrow Wilson , President of the United States (b. 1856 )
1956 - Émile Borel , mathematician, politician, statesman, member of the French Resistance during World War II (b. 1871 )
1959 - Rock and roll performers Buddy Holly (b. 1936 ), Ritchie Valens (b. 1941 ) and The Big Bopper (b. 1930 ) (plane crash)
1960 - Fred Buscaglione , Italian singer and actor
1964 - Sir Albert Richardson , English architect (b. 1880 )
1985 - Frank Oppenheimer , American physicist
1989 - John Cassavetes , American actor, director, writer (b. 1929 )
1991 - Nancy Kulp , American actress
1996 - Audrey Meadows , actress (b. 1926 )
1998 - Karla Faye Tucker , murderess
2000 - Richard Kleindienst , American politician
2003 - Kid Gavilan , Cuban boxer
2005 - Zurab Zhvania , Georgian Prime Minister
2005 - Corrado Cardinal Bafile , oldest Cardinal ever. (b. 1903 )
2005 - Ernst Mayr , evolutionary biologist (b. 1904 )
Holidays and observances
External links
February 2 - February 4 - January 3 - March 3 -- listing of all days
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