February 3

### 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_.

### Up to 1900

- 995 – William IV, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 1037)
- 1338 – Jeanne de Bourbon, Queen of France (d. 1378)
- 1654 – Pietro Antonio Fiocco, Italian composer (d. 1714)
- 1677 – Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect (d. 1723)
- 1689 – Blas de Lozo, Spanish admiral (d. 1741)
- 1721 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
- 1736 – Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
- 1747 – Samuel Osgood, American patriot (d. 1813)
- 1761 – Dorothea von Medem, German countess (d. 1821)
- 1763 – Caroline von Wolzogen, German writer (d. 1847)
- 1774 – Karl Mollweide, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1825)
- 1777 – John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and writer (d. 1836)
- 1790 – Gideon Mantell, British geologist and physician (d. 1852)
- 1795 – Antonio José de Sucre, South American independence leader (d. 1830)
- 1806 – Ansel Briggs, 1st Governor of Iowa (d. 1881)
- 1807 – Joseph E. Johnston, American Confederate general (d. 1891)
- 1807 – Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, British general (d. 1884)
- 1806 – Ansel Briggs, American politician, 6th Governor of Iowa (d. 1881)
- 1808 – Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar of Eisenach, Empress 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 and mineralogist (d. 1881)
- 1821 – Elizabeth Blackwell, British-American physician (d. 1910)
- 1823 – Stephen Fullerton Baird, American naturalist (d. 1887)
- 1824 – Ranald MacDonald, American explorer and educator (d. 1910)
- 1826 – Walter Bagehot, British journalist and businessman (d. 1877)
- 1830 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
- 1842 – Sidney Lanier, American poet and composer (d. 1881)
- 1846 – Judson Harmon, Governor of Ohio and United States Attorney General (d. 1927)
- 1854 – Sergei Korsahoff, Russian neuropsychiatrist (d. 1900)
- 1857 – Giuseppe Moretti, Italian sculptor (d. 1935)
- 1859 – Hugo Junkers, German aircraft designer (d. 1935)
- 1870 – Ada Negri, Italian actress (d. 1945)
- 1874 – Gertrude Stein, American writer and publicist (d. 1946)
- 1878 – Gordon Coates, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943)
- 1887 – Georg Trakl, Austrian writer (d. 1914)
- 1889 – Risto Ryti, 5th President of Finland (d. 1956)
- 1892 – Juan Negrin, Spanish politician (d. 1956)
- 1894 – Norman Rockwell, American artist, illustrator (d. 1978)
- 1898 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (d. 1976)
- 1898 – Lil Hardin Armstrong, American jazz musician (d. 1971)
- 1899 – Lao She, Chinese writer and playwright (d. 1966)
- 1899 – Joao Café Filho, President of Brazil (d. 1970)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1903 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, Scottish aviator (d. 1973)
- 1907 – James A. Michener, American writer (d. 1997)
- 1909 – Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
- 1911 – Jehan Alain, French composer (d. 1940)
- 1911 – Robert Earl Jones, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1912 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist (d. 2006)
- 1914 – Mary Carlisle, American actress
- 1915 – Stuart Archer, British recipient of the George Cross (d. 2015)
- 1915 – Boris Paichadze, Georgian footballer (d. 1990)
- 1918 – Joey Bishop, American entertainer (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Henry Heimlich, American physician (d. 2016)
- 1924 – Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern, German aristocrat (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Leon Schlumpf, Swiss Federal Councillor (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Shelley Berman, American actor, comedian and writer (d. 2017)
- 1926 – Hans-Jochen Vogel, German politician
- 1927 – Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Blas Ople, Filipino politician (d. 2003)
- 1927 – Kenneth Anger, American filmmaker and writer
- 1927 – Indra Bahadur Rai, Indian writer (d. 2018)
- 1927 – Sarah Jiménez, Mexican artist (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Ingemar Haraldsson, Swedish footballer (d. 2004)
- 1932 – Michael Martin, American philosopher (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Stuart Hall, Jamaican-British cultural theorist and sociologist (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Paul Sarbanes, American politician (d. 2020)
- 1935 – Johnny "Guitar" Watson, American musician (d. 1996)
- 1937 – Jacques Barrot, French politician (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Emile Griffith, American boxer (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Michael Cimino, American movie director (d. 2016)
- 1943 – Blythe Danner, American actress
- 1943 – Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 2018)
- 1943 – Shawn Philipps, American guitarist, singer and songwriter
- 1947 – Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks)
- 1947 – Paul Auster, American writer
- 1948 – Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorese bishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner
- 1948 – Henning Mankell, Swedish writer (d. 2015)
- 1950 – Morgan Fairchild, American actress

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Eugenijus Riabovas, Lithuanian football manager
- 1951 – Blaise Compaoré, former President of Burkina Faso
- 1954 – Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1955 – Stephen Euin Cobb, American writer
- 1955 – Bruno Pezzey, Austrian footballer (d. 1994)
- 1955 – Kirsty Wark, Scottish broadcast journalist
- 1956 – Nathan Lane, American actor
- 1956 – Lee Ranaldo, American musician
- 1958 – Joe F. Edwards, Jr., American basketball player
- 1959 – Lol Tolhurst, English musician (The Cure)
- 1959 – Fredric Lehne, American actor
- 1960 – Joachim Löw, German football trainer
- 1961 – Jay Adams, American skateboarder (d. 2014)
- 1963 – Stefano Mei, Italian sportsperson (athletics)
- 1964 – Michael Rummenigge, German footballer
- 1965 – Maura Tierney, American actress
- 1966 – Franco Coraci, American movie director
- 1967 – Mixu Paatelainen, Finnish footballer and coach
- 1969 – Beau Biden, American attorney and politician (d. 2015)
- 1970 – Warwick Davis, British actor
- 1971 – Sarah Kane, British playwright (d. 1999)
- 1972 – Mart Poom, Estonian footballer
- 1975 – Brad Thorn, New Zealand rugby player

### From 1976

- 1976 – Mathieu Dandenault, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Isla Fisher, Australian actress
- 1977 – Marek Zidlicky, Czech ice hockey player
- 1977 – Daddy Yankee, Puerto Rican singer
- 1978 – Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer
- 1978 – Amal Clooney, Lebanese-British lawyer and activist
- 1978 – Eliza Schneider, American actress and singer
- 1980 – Kim E-Z, Korean singer
- 1981 – Alisa Reyes, American actress and singer
- 1982 – Jessica Harp, American singer
- 1982 – Bridget Regan, American actress
- 1983 – Gabriel Sargissian, Armenian chess player
- 1983 – Hillary Scott, American pornographic actress
- 1984 – Sara Carbonero, Spanish journalist
- 1985 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarussian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Kanako Yanagihara, Japanese actress, comedian and entertainer
- 1988 – Kyuhyun, South Korean singer
- 1988 – Gregory van der Wiel, Dutch footballer
- 1989 – Vania King, American tennis player
- 1990 – Sean Kingston, American singer
- 1990 – Sterling Moore, American football player
- 1991 – Glenn McCuen, American actor
- 1993 – Getter Jaani, Estonian actress and singer
- 1993 – Mark Bennett, Scottish rugby player
- 1995 – Tao Tsuchiya, Japanese actress, model and dancer

### 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)