February 3

## Events
### Up to 1900 
* 1112 &ndash; Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona and Douce I, Countess of Provence marry, uniting the fortunes of the two states.
* 1377 &ndash; Over 2,000 people in Cesena, Italy are killed by Papal troops.
* 1488 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.
* 1781 &ndash; British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius.
* 1783 &ndash; American Revolutionary War: Spain recognizes United States independence.
* 1809 &ndash; Illinois Territory is created.
* 1815 &ndash; The first commercial cheese factory is founded (Switzerland).
* 1830 &ndash; Greece's sovereignty is confirmed by the London Protocol.
* 1870 &ndash; The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.
* 1900 &ndash; Governor of Kentucky William Goebel dies four days after being shot, and three days after being sworn in to office.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1908 &ndash; The Panathinaikos Sports Club is founded in Athens.
* 1913 &ndash; The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified. It lets the Federal government create and collect income tax.
* 1916 &ndash; Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burn down.
* 1917 &ndash; World War I: The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany a day after Germany announces a new policy of submarine warfare.
* 1918 &ndash; The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world, at 3,633 metres long.
* 1930 &ndash; The Communist Party of Vietnam is founded in Kowloon, then-British Hong Kong.
* 1931 &ndash; A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits New Zealand's North Island, mainly the cities of Napier and Hastings.
* 1943 &ndash; The *USAT Dorchester* is sunk by a German U-boat, killing 672 of the 902 men on board.
* 1944 &ndash; United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
* 1945 &ndash; World War II: Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre fighting against Japan.
* 1947 &ndash; North America's lowest temperature is recorded in Snag, Yukon, Canada.
* 1952 &ndash; The earliest known tropical storm makes landfall in South Florida.
* 1955 &ndash; Czechoslovakia declares an end to hostilities with Germany.
* 1958 &ndash; The Benelux Economic Union is formed.
* 1959 &ndash; An airplane crash kills musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. This date becomes known as "The Day The Music Died".
* 1960 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Start of the Angolan War of Independence.
* 1966 &ndash; The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft is launched.
* 1967 &ndash; In Melbourne, Ronald Ryan becomes the last person to be executed in Australia.
* 1969 &ndash; In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.
* 1972 &ndash; The first Winter Olympics to be held in Asia open in Sapporo, Japan.
* 1972 &ndash; Until February 9, a blizzard in Iran kills around 4,000 people.
* 1976 &ndash; In Mozambique, the capital city changes its name from Lourenco Marques to Maputo.
* 1981 &ndash; Gro Harlem Brundtland is elected Prime Minister of Norway.
* 1988 &ndash; The United States House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.
* 1989 &ndash; In Paraguay, a coup removes Alfredo Stroessner from power.
* 1994 &ndash; Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on mission STS-60.
* 1995 &ndash; Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot a space shuttle.
* 1996 &ndash; An earthquake of magnitude 7 hits Yunnan Province, China, killing over 300 people.
* 1998 &ndash; In Northern Italy 20 people die in a cable car disaster caused by a low-flying United States Military plane.
* 1998 &ndash; Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas, as the first woman to be executed in the US since 1984.

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; Super Bowl XXXVI: The New England Patriots defeat the St. Louis Rams, 20–17, to win their first Super Bowl championship.
* 2006 &ndash; The Egyptian al-Salam Boccaccio ferry sinks in the Red Sea, killing around 1,000 people.
* 2007 &ndash; A bombing at a market in Baghdad kills 135 people.
* 2008 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The sculpture ''L'homme qui marche* by Alberto Giacometti is sold at an auction in London for £ 65 million.
* 2011 &ndash; Tropical Cyclone Yasi hits Queensland, Australia.
* 2013 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Sergio Mattarella becomes President of Italy.
* 2015 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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
### Up to 1900 
* 995 &ndash; William IV, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 1037)
* 1338 &ndash; Jeanne de Bourbon, Queen of France (d. 1378)
* 1654 &ndash; Pietro Antonio Fiocco, Italian composer (d. 1714)
* 1677 &ndash; Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect (d. 1723)
* 1689 &ndash; Blas de Lozo, Spanish admiral (d. 1741)
* 1721 &ndash; Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
* 1736 &ndash; Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
* 1747 &ndash; Samuel Osgood, American patriot (d. 1813)
* 1761 &ndash; Dorothea von Medem, German countess (d. 1821)
* 1763 &ndash; Caroline von Wolzogen, German writer (d. 1847)
* 1774 &ndash; Karl Mollweide, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1825)
* 1777 &ndash; John Cheyne, British physician, surgeon and writer (d. 1836)
* 1790 &ndash; Gideon Mantell, British geologist and physician (d. 1852)
* 1795 &ndash; Antonio José de Sucre, South American independence leader (d. 1830)
* 1806 &ndash; Ansel Briggs, 1st Governor of Iowa (d. 1881)
* 1807 &ndash; Joseph E. Johnston, American Confederate general (d. 1891)
* 1807 &ndash; Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, British general (d. 1884)
* 1806 &ndash; Ansel Briggs, American politician, 6th Governor of Iowa (d. 1881)
* 1808 &ndash; Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar of Eisenach, Empress of Prussia (d. 1877)
* 1809 &ndash; Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (d. 1847)
* 1811 &ndash; Horace Greeley, American journalist, editor, and publisher (d. 1872)
* 1817 &ndash; Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (d. 1881)
* 1821 &ndash; Elizabeth Blackwell, British-American physician (d. 1910)
* 1823 &ndash; Stephen Fullerton Baird, American naturalist (d. 1887)
* 1824 &ndash; Ranald MacDonald, American explorer and educator (d. 1910)
* 1826 &ndash; Walter Bagehot, British journalist and businessman (d. 1877)
* 1830 &ndash; Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
* 1842 &ndash; Sidney Lanier, American poet and composer (d. 1881)
* 1846 &ndash; Judson Harmon, Governor of Ohio and United States Attorney General (d. 1927)
* 1854 &ndash; Sergei Korsahoff, Russian neuropsychiatrist (d. 1900)
* 1857 &ndash; Giuseppe Moretti, Italian sculptor (d. 1935)
* 1859 &ndash; Hugo Junkers, German aircraft designer (d. 1935)
* 1870 &ndash; Ada Negri, Italian actress (d. 1945)
* 1874 &ndash; Gertrude Stein, American writer and publicist (d. 1946)
* 1878 &ndash; Gordon Coates, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943)
* 1887 &ndash; Georg Trakl, Austrian writer (d. 1914)
* 1889 &ndash; Risto Ryti, 5th President of Finland (d. 1956)
* 1892 &ndash; Juan Negrin, Spanish politician (d. 1956)
* 1894 &ndash; Norman Rockwell, American artist, illustrator (d. 1978)
* 1898 &ndash; Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (d. 1976)
* 1898 &ndash; Lil Hardin Armstrong, American jazz musician (d. 1971)
* 1899 &ndash; Lao She, Chinese writer and playwright (d. 1966)
* 1899 &ndash; Joao Café Filho, President of Brazil (d. 1970)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1903 &ndash; Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, Scottish aviator (d. 1973)
* 1907 &ndash; James A. Michener, American writer (d. 1997)
* 1909 &ndash; Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
* 1911 &ndash; Jehan Alain, French composer (d. 1940)
* 1911 &ndash; Robert Earl Jones, American actor (d. 2006)
* 1912 &ndash; Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist (d. 2006)
* 1914 &ndash; Mary Carlisle, American actress
* 1915 &ndash; Stuart Archer, British recipient of the George Cross (d. 2015)
* 1915 &ndash; Boris Paichadze, Georgian footballer (d. 1990)
* 1918 &ndash; Joey Bishop, American entertainer (d. 2007)
* 1920 &ndash; Henry Heimlich, American physician (d. 2016)
* 1924 &ndash; Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern, German aristocrat (d. 2010)
* 1925 &ndash; Leon Schlumpf, Swiss Federal Councillor (d. 2012)
* 1925 &ndash; Shelley Berman, American actor, comedian and writer (d. 2017)
* 1926 &ndash; Hans-Jochen Vogel, German politician
* 1927 &ndash; Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer (d. 2015)
* 1927 &ndash; Blas Ople, Filipino politician (d. 2003)
* 1927 &ndash; Kenneth Anger, American filmmaker and writer
* 1927 &ndash; Indra Bahadur Rai, Indian writer (d. 2018)
* 1927 &ndash; Sarah Jiménez, Mexican artist (d. 2017)
* 1928 &ndash; Ingemar Haraldsson, Swedish footballer (d. 2004)
* 1932 &ndash; Michael Martin, American philosopher (d. 2015)
* 1932 &ndash; Stuart Hall, Jamaican-British cultural theorist and sociologist (d. 2014)
* 1933 &ndash; Paul Sarbanes, American politician (d. 2020)
* 1935 &ndash; Johnny "Guitar" Watson, American musician (d. 1996)
* 1937 &ndash; Jacques Barrot, French politician (d. 2014)
* 1938 &ndash; Emile Griffith, American boxer (d. 2013)
* 1939 &ndash; Michael Cimino, American movie director (d. 2016)
* 1943 &ndash; Blythe Danner, American actress
* 1943 &ndash; Dennis Edwards, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 2018)
* 1943 &ndash; Shawn Philipps, American guitarist, singer and songwriter
* 1947 &ndash; Dave Davies, English musician (The Kinks)
* 1947 &ndash; Paul Auster, American writer
* 1948 &ndash; Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorese bishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner
* 1948 &ndash; Henning Mankell, Swedish writer (d. 2015)
* 1950 &ndash; Morgan Fairchild, American actress

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

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

## Deaths
### Up to 1900 
* 619 &ndash; Laurence of Canterbury, 2nd Archbishop of Canterbury
* 699 &ndash; Werburgh, English saint (b. 650)
* 995 &ndash; William IV, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
* 1014 &ndash; King Sweyn I of Denmark
* 1116 &ndash; King Coloman of Hungary (b. 1070)
* 1399 &ndash; John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (b. 1340)
* 1428 &ndash; Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shogun (b. 1386)
* 1451 &ndash; Murad II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1404)
* 1468 &ndash; Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher
* 1737 &ndash; Tommaso Ceva, Italian mathematician (b. 1648)
* 1820 &ndash; Emperor Gia Long of Vietnam (b. 1762)
* 1832 &ndash; George Crabbe, English naturalist (b. 1754)
* 1862 &ndash; Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (b. 1774)
* 1867 &ndash; Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied (b. 1782)
* 1874 &ndash; William Charles Lunalilo, King of Hawaii (b. 1835)
* 1889 &ndash; Belle Starr, American outlaw (b. 1848)
* 1900 &ndash; William Goebel, 34th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1856)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1908 &ndash; Ferdinand Meldahl, Danish architect (b. 1827)
* 1920 &ndash; Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland (b. 1846)
* 1921 &ndash; Colin Archer, Norwegian shipbuilder (b. 1832)
* 1922 &ndash; John Butler Yeats, Irish illustrator (b. 1839)
* 1924 &ndash; Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize winner (b. 1856)
* 1929 &ndash; Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish scientist (b. 1878)
* 1935 &ndash; Hugo Junkers, German aircraft designer (b. 1859)
* 1937 &ndash; Marija Leiko, Latvian movie actress (b. 1887)
* 1944 &ndash; Yvette Guilbert, French cabaret singer (b. 1865)
* 1945 &ndash; Roland Freisler, Nazi official (b. 1893)
* 1948 &ndash; Louis J. Brann, Governor of Maine (b. 1876)
* 1951 &ndash; August Horch, German engineer (b. 1868)
* 1952 &ndash; Harold L. Ickes, American politician (b. 1874)
* 1955 &ndash; Vasili Blokhin, Soviet general chief executioner of almost 22 000 Poles in Katyn Forest (b. 1895) (suicide, February 3)
* 1956 &ndash; Johnny Claes, Belgian racing driver (b. 1916)
* 1959 &ndash; "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 &ndash; Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
* 1961 &ndash; Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)
* 1961 &ndash; William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1893)
* 1967 &ndash; Joe Meek, English record producer (b. 1929)
* 1969 &ndash; Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique independence founder (b. 1920)
* 1969 &ndash; C. N. Annaduri, Indian politician, 7th Chief Minister of Madras State (b. 1909)
* 1975 &ndash; Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer (b. 1904)
* 1975 &ndash; William D. Coolidge, American physicist and inventor (b. 1873)
* 1985 &ndash; Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1912)
* 1989 &ndash; John Cassavetes, American actor (b. 1929)
* 1989 &ndash; Lionel Newman, American movie music orchestra leader and composer (b. 1916)
* 1991 &ndash; Harry Ackerman, American television producer (b. 1912)
* 1997 &ndash; Bohumil Hrabal, Czech writer (b. 1914)
* 1998 &ndash; Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer (b. 1959)
* 2000 &ndash; Alla Rakha, Indian tabla player (b. 1919)

### From 2001 
* 2003 &ndash; Lana Clarkson, American actress (b. 1962)
* 2004 &ndash; Jason Raize, American actor (b. 1975)
* 2005 &ndash; Zurab Zhvania, Georgian politician (b. 1963)
* 2005 &ndash; Ernst Mayr, German biologist (b. 1904)
* 2006 &ndash; Al Lewis, American actor (b. 1923)
* 2006 &ndash; Romano Mussolini, Italian pianist and artist (b. 1927)
* 2011 &ndash; Edouard Glissant, French–Martinican poet (b. 1928)
* 2011 &ndash; Maria Schneider, French actress (b. 1952)
* 2012 &ndash; Ben Gazzara, American actor (b. 1930)
* 2012 &ndash; Samuel Youd, British writer (b. 1922)
* 2014 &ndash; Louise Brough, American tennis player (b. 1923)
* 2014 &ndash; Richard Bull, American actor (b. 1924)
* 2014 &ndash; Louan Gideon, American actress (b. 1955)
* 2014 &ndash; Joan Mondale, former Second Lady of the United States (b. 1930)
* 2014 &ndash; Bill Sinkin, American activist (b. 1913)
* 2015 &ndash; Frank Borghi, American soccer player (b. 1925)
* 2015 &ndash; Charlie Sifford, American golfer (b. 1922)
* 2015 &ndash; Martin Gilbert, British historian (b. 1936)
* 2015 &ndash; Mary Healy, American actress (b. 1918)
* 2016 &ndash; Mark Farren, Irish footballer (b. 1982)
* 2016 &ndash; Balram Jakhar, Indian politician (b. 1923)
* 2016 &ndash; Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist and conductor (b. 1928)
* 2016 &ndash; Joe Alaskey, American voice actor (b. 1952)
* 2016 &ndash; Big Kap, American DJ (b. 1970)
* 2017 &ndash; Robert Dahlqvist, Swedish rock musician (b. 1976)
* 2017 &ndash; Yoshiro Hayashi, Japanese politician (b. 1927)
* 2017 &ndash; Hassan Joharchi, Iranian actor (b. 1968)
* 2017 &ndash; Lou Rowan, Australian cricket umpire (b. 1925)
* 2017 &ndash; Benny Perrin, American football player (b. 1959)
* 2017 &ndash; John M. Hayes, American scientist (b. 1940)
* 2017 &ndash; Richard Lyon, American admiral and politician (b. 1923)
* 2017 &ndash; Shumon Miura, Japanese writer (b. 1926)
* 2018 &ndash; Michael Harner, American anthropologist and writer (b. 1929)
* 2018 &ndash; Dirk Bernard Joseph Schouten, Dutch economist (b. 1923)
* 2018 &ndash; Hukum Singh, Indian politician (b. 1938)
* 2018 &ndash; Rolf Zacher, German actor (b. 1941)

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