February 2

Events
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.
Births
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 - Sebastien 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 author (d. 1766)
1754 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, 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 - Jose 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 author (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 - Valery 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
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 Konare, 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 author
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 author
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 Kluft, 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 Pique, 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
Deaths
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 Jose 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 Pleasance, 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 - Jose 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 Luscher, 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)
February 02