February 2

### Up to 1900

- 962 – Official founding day of the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes Duke of Burgundy.
- 1207 – Terra Mariana, consisting of present–day Estonia and Latvia, is created.
- 1411 – The Battle of Lincoln takes place, at which King Stephen of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda, presenting her with the unfulfilled opportunity to become the first reigning Queen of Medieval England.
- 1421 – The Zhu Di Emperor inaugurates the Forbidden City as the centre of China's government.
- 1461 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire.
- 1536 – Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires.
- 1653 – New Amsterdam, future New York City, is incorporated.
- 1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked in the Juan Fernandez Islands in the Pacific Ocean off Chile.
- 1848 – The US gains large territories at the end of the Mexican-American War.
- 1848 – California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco, California.
- 1868 – Pro–Imperial forces capture Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burn it to the ground.
- 1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is founded.
- 1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the first American celebration of Groundhog Day takes place.
- 1899 – The Australian Premiers' Conference is held in Melbourne, coming to the decision that the new national capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
- 1913 – Grand Central Terminal in New York City is opened.
- 1914 – Charlie Chaplin's first movie appearance, _Making a Living_, is first shown.
- 1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed  between Estonia and Russia.
- 1920 – France occupies Memel.
- 1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is first published.
- 1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
- 1933 – Working as maids, the sisters Christine and Lea Papin murder their employer's wife and daughter in Le Mans, France.
- 1934 – The Export–Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
- 1935 – Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.
- 1943 – The Battle of Stalingrad ends as German forces surrender.
- 1946 – The Hungarian Republic is proclaimed.
- 1959 – Indira Gandhi is nominated as President of the Indian National Congress.
- 1966 – Pakistan suggests a six–point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
- 1971 – The International Ramsar Convention for conservation of wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran.
- 1971 – Idi Amin becomes President of Uganda.
- 1972 – The British Embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest against Bloody Sunday.
- 1974 – The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.
- 1976 – The Groundhog Day gale affects the Northeastern United States and eastern Canada.
- 1982 – Rifaat al-Assad initiates the massacre in Hama, Syria, a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people are killed.
- 1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines get a new constitution.
- 1990 – South Africa: F. W. de Klerk announces the end of Apartheid and ends a ban on the African National Congress.

### From 2001

- 2002 – Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange marries Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti.
- 2004 – Roger Federer becomes World number one in men's tennis, holding that position for a record 237 weeks.
- 2007 – Indonesia's worst flooding in 300 years begins.
- 2008 – Then–President of France Nicolas Sarkozy marries Carla Bruni.
- 2011 – Egypt protests: Opponents and supporters of President Hosni Mubarak clash violently in Cairo.
- 2014 – Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is found dead. He was 46 years old.

### Up to 1850

- 1208 – King James of Aragon (d. 1276)
- 1455 – King John of Denmark (d. 1513)
- 1457 – Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, Italian–Spanish historian (d. 1526)
- 1494 – Bona Sforza, Italian princess, Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania (d. 1525)
- 1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d. 1565)
- 1596 – Jacob van Campen, Dutch architect and artist (d. 1657)
- 1616 – Sébastien Bourdon, French painter (d. 1671)
- 1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Alsatian humanist (d. 1679)
- 1649 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
- 1650 – Nell Gwyn, British actress and royal mistress (d. 1687)
- 1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (d. 1732)
- 1677 – Jean-Baptiste Moran, French composer (d. 1745)
- 1695 – William Borlase, English naturalist (d. 1772)
- 1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German philosopher and writer (d. 1766)
- 1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French diplomat and statesman (d. 1838)
- 1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and statesman (d. 1835)
- 1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American Confederate general (d. 1862)
- 1812 – Yevhan Hretinka, Ukrainian writer (d. 1848)
- 1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist (d. 1884)
- 1842 – Yulian Vasilyevich Sokhotski, Russian mathematician (d. 1927)
- 1849 – Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav, Slovakian poet, dramatist and translator (d. 1921)

### 1851 – 1900

- 1852 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican artist (d. 1913)
- 1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
- 1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American art collector and philanthropist (d. 1949)
- 1872 – Tome de Barros Queiroz, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1925)
- 1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German diplomat and statesman (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian operetta composer (d. 1925)
- 1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1962)
- 1880 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
- 1882 – James Joyce, Irish writer (d. 1941)
- 1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)
- 1885 – Aldo Palazzeschi, Italian writer (d. 1974)
- 1885 – Mikhail Frunze, Soviet general (d. 1925)
- 1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian cartoonist, animator and movie producer (d. 1933)
- 1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German pianist and politician (d. 1975)
- 1890 – Charles Correll, American actor (d. 1972)
- 1891 – Antonio Segni, Italian politician (d. 1972)
- 1892 – Tochigayama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1969)
- 1892 – Cuno Hoffmeister, German astronomer (d. 1968)
- 1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1974)
- 1893 – Sukhbaatar Damdin, Mongolian national hero (d. 1924)
- 1895 – George Halas, American NFL co–founder (d. 1983)
- 1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician (d. 1980)
- 1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman (d. 1972)

### 1901 – 1925

- 1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Russian violinist (d. 1987)
- 1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian–born writer and philosopher (d. 1982)
- 1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
- 1912 – Millvina Dean, last Titanic survivor (d. 2009)
- 1912 – Burton Lane, American composer and songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Abba Eban, Israeli politician (d. 2002)
- 1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and writer (d. 2014)
- 1917 – Do Muoi, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam
- 1918 – Hella Haasse, Dutch writer (d. 2011)
- 1918 – Luis Nishizawa, Mexican painter (d. 2014)
- 1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss operatic soprano (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Svetozar Gligoric, Serbian chess player (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress (d. 1988)
- 1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach and manager
- 1923 – Liz Smith, American gossip columnist (d. 2017)
- 1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian–born producer and musician (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress (d. 2014)

### 1926 – 1950

- 1926 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, former President of France (d. 2020)
- 1926 – Ehsan Naraghi, Iranian sociologist and writer (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Miguel Obando y Bravo, Nicaraguan cardinal
- 1927 – Stan Getz, American jazz musician (d. 1991)
- 1928 – Ciriaco de Mita, Italian politician
- 1929 – George Band, British mountaineer (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Vera Chytilova, Czech movie director (d. 2014)
- 1929 – John Henry Holland, American scientist (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Walter Burkert, German philologist (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Les Dawson, British comedian (d. 1993)
- 1931 – Dries van Agt, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2024)
- 1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor
- 1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese military leader
- 1934 – Khalil Ullah Khan, Bangladeshi actor (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Pete Brown, American golfer (d. 2015)
- 1935 – Evgeni Velikhov, Russian physicist
- 1936 – Duane Jones, American actor (d. 1988)
- 1936 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer (d. 1991)
- 1937 – Eric Arturo Delvalle, President of Panama (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician
- 1939 – Dale Mortensen, American economist (d. 2014)
- 1940 – David Jason, English actor
- 1940 – Alan Caddy, English musician
- 1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American science fiction writer and poet (d. 2008)
- 1941 – Lee Redmond, former world record holder for the longest finger nails
- 1942 – Graham Nash, English–American musician
- 1942 – Jang Sung-taek, North Korean politician (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Robert Atzorn, German actor
- 1946 – Isaias Afewerki, President of Eritrea
- 1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, former President of Mali
- 1946 – Blake Clark, American actor
- 1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1948 – Ina Garten, American cookery writer and television presenter
- 1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish entrepreneur
- 1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)
- 1950 – Libby Purves, English journalist and writer

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Ken Bruce, Scottish radio presenter
- 1951 – Valdir Peres, Brazilian footballer
- 1952 – Park Geunhye, former President of South Korea
- 1952 – Dave Casper, American football player
- 1952 – Rick Dufay, American guitarist and songwriter (Aerosmith)
- 1952 – Carol Ann Susi, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1954 – Christie Brinkley, American model
- 1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian singer and actor
- 1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
- 1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and writer
- 1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress
- 1958 – Fighton Simukonda, Zambian footballer (d. 2016)
- 1959 – Ildefonso Falcones, Spanish writer
- 1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress
- 1961 – Steve Penney, NHL player
- 1961 – Rinchinnyamyn Amarjargal, former Prime Minister of Mongolia
- 1962 – Philippe Claudel, French writer and movie director
- 1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player
- 1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1963 – Andrej Kiska, President of Slovakia
- 1963 – Stephen McGann, English actor
- 1966 – Michael Misick, former Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands
- 1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese rebel leader
- 1968 – Thomas Teige, German martial artist, actor and record holder
- 1969 – Valeri Karpin, Russian footballer
- 1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress and screenwriter
- 1972 – Dana International, Israeli singer
- 1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player

### From 1976

- 1976 – James Hickman, British swimmer
- 1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer
- 1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
- 1977 – Martin Andresen, Norwegian footballer
- 1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer
- 1978 – Faye White, English footballer
- 1978 – Barbara Mori, Uruguayan–Mexican actress
- 1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
- 1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek athlete
- 1979 – Christine Bleakley, Northern Irish television presenter
- 1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1980 – Nina Zilli, Italian singer
- 1980 – Gavin Newlands, Scottish politician
- 1981 – Emre Aydin, Turkish singer
- 1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi terrorist (d. 2001)
- 1982 – Han Ga In, South Korean model and actress
- 1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish athlete
- 1984 – Edgaras Cesnauskas, Lithuanian footballer
- 1985 – Masoud Azizi, Afghan sprinter
- 1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer
- 1985 – Melody Gardot, American jazz singer-songwriter
- 1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress
- 1987 – Anthony Fainga'a, Australian rugby player
- 1987 – Saia Fainga'a, Australian rugby player
- 1987 – Giuseppe Rossi, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer
- 1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress
- 1989 – Ivan Perisic, Croatian footballer
- 1990 – Dan Gosling, English footballer
- 1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer
- 1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
- 1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer

### Up to 1900

- 619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop
- 1124 – Borivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064)
- 1218 – Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (b. 1186)
- 1250 – King Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
- 1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)
- 1307 – Oljeitu Temur Khagan, Emperor of the Mongol Empire (b. 1265)
- 1461 – Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty in England
- 1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief
- 1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian writer (b. 1478)
- 1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina, Italian composer (b. 1525)
- 1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)
- 1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1594)
- 1769 – Pope Clement XVI (b. 1693)
- 1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (b. 1713)
- 1804 – George Walton, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1749)
- 1836 – Laetitia Ramolino, mother of Napoleon (b. 1750)
- 1895 – Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b. 1817)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1904 – William C. Whitney, American financier (b. 1841)
- 1905 – Henri Germain, French banker and politician (b. 1824)
- 1907 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)
- 1909 – Carlo Acton, Italian composer and concert pianist (b. 1829)
- 1913 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer (b. 1845)
- 1925 – Jaap Eden, Dutch skater and cyclist (b. 1873)
- 1926 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (b. 1848)
- 1942 – Ado Birk, 3rd Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1883)
- 1942 – Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (b. 1905)
- 1945 – Alfred Delp, German Resistance activist (b. 1907)
- 1948 – Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b. 1894)
- 1952 – Callistratus of Georgia, Georgian Patriarch (b. 1866)
- 1956 – Charles Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
- 1956 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b. 1876)
- 1961 – Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1969 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)
- 1970 – Bertrand Russell, British mathematician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1872)
- 1979 – Sid Vicious, English musician (b. 1957)
- 1980 – William Howard Stein, American chemist, Nobel Prize winner (b. 1911)
- 1986 – Gino Hernandez, American wrestler (b. 1957)
- 1987 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (b. 1922)
- 1987 – Carlos José Castilho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1927)
- 1989 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovakian figure skater (b. 1951)
- 1989 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand politician (b. 1901)
- 1990 – Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (b. 1934)
- 1995 – Fred Perry, British tennis player (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Donald Pleasence, British actor (b. 1919)
- 1996 – Gene Kelly, American dancer, actor and director (b. 1912)
- 1997 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (b. 1913)
- 1997 – Sanford Meisner, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1998 – Haroun Tazieff, French volcanologist and geologist (b. 1914)

### From 2001

- 2003 – Lou Harrison, American composer (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Bernard McEveety, American movie director (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)
- 2007 – Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (b. 1967)
- 2008 – Joshua Lederberg, American biochemist (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Paul Birch, British footballer (b. 1960)
- 2014 – Gerd Albrecht, German conductor (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor and director (b. 1967)
- 2014 – Eduardo Coutinho, Brazilian actor, screenwriter and director (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Bunny Rugs, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Andriy Kuzmenko, Ukrainian singer (b. 1968)
- 2015 – Anand Shukla, Indian cricketer (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Bob Elliott, American comedian (b. 1923)
- 2016 – Luiz Felipe Lampreia, Brazilian sociologist and diplomat (b. 1941)
- 2017 – José Antonio Alonso, Spanish politician (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Shunichiro Okano, Japanese footballer (b. 1931)
- 2017 – Jeff Sauer, American ice hockey coach (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Gordon Aikman, Scottish ALS campaigner (b. 1985)
- 2017 – Alvin Baldus, American politician (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Bertram Kostant, American mathematician (b. 1928)
- 2017 – Max Lüscher, Swiss psychotherapist (b. 1923)
- 2017 – Miltos Papapostolou, Greek footballer (b. 1935)
- 2017 – Jeff Sauer, American ice hockey coach (b. 1943)
- 2018 – Dave Barrett, Canadian politician, 26th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1930)
- 2018 – Jon Huntsman Sr., American businessman (b. 1937)
- 2018 – Joseph Polchinski, American theoretical physicist (b. 1954)
- 2018 – Ole Thestrup, Danish actor (b. 1948)

## Holidays

- Groundhog Day – United States, said to determine whether winter weather will continue or whether it will get warmer
- Candlemas – Western Christianity
- Imbolc – Paganism
- Inventor's Day – Thailand
- World Wetlands Day
- Constitution Day – Philippines
- Anniversary of the Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)