February 2

February 2 in recent years

2024 (Friday)

2023 (Thursday)

2022 (Wednesday)

2021 (Tuesday)

2020 (Sunday)

2019 (Saturday)

2018 (Friday)

2017 (Thursday)

2016 (Tuesday)

2015 (Monday)

February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 332 days remain until the end of the year (333 in leap years).

Events

• 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates The Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum) a collection of Roman law.
• 962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
• 1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy.
• 1207 – Terra Mariana, comprising present-day Estonia and Latvia, is established.
• 1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer's Cross is fought in Herefordshire, England.
• 1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 1542 – Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hill fort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.
• 1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
• 1812 – Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, California.
• 1848 – Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
• 1848 – California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco, California.
• 1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
• 1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
• 1899 – The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.
• 1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
• 1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
• 1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
• 1920 – France occupies Memel.
• 1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
• 1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
• 1925 – The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.
• 1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
• 1935 – Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.
• 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to conclusion as Soviet troops accept the surrender of 91,000 remnants of the Axis forces.
• 1946 – The Hungarian Republic is proclaimed.
• 1957 – Iskander Mirza of Pakistan lays the foundation-stone of the Guddu Barrage.
• 1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
• 1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
• 1972 – The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday.
• 1974 – The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.
• 1976 – The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
• 1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
• 1982 – Hama Massacre: Syria attacks the town of Hama.
• 1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution the Philippines enacts a new constitution.
• 1989 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.
• 1990 – Apartheid: F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to function legally and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
• 2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men's singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.

Births

• 1208 – King James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
• 1455 – King John of Denmark (d. 1513)
• 1494 – Bona Sforza, queen of Poland (d. 1557)
• 1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1574)
• 1506 – René de Birague, French cardinal and chancellor (d. 1583)
• 1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d. 1565)
• 1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)
• 1613 – Noël Chabanel, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)
• 1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Alsatian humanist (d. 1679)
• 1649 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
• 1650 – Nell Gwynne, English actress and royal mistress (d. 1687)
• 1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (d. 1732)
• 1695 – William Borlase, English naturalist (d. 1772)
• 1695 – François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)
• 1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (d. 1766)
• 1711 – Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, Austrian diplomat (d. 1794)
• 1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German composer (d. 1785)
• 1717 – Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)
• 1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French diplomat and statesman (d. 1838)
• 1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician (d. 1856)
• 1802 – Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (d. 1887)
• 1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American Confederate general (d. 1862)
• 1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist (d. 1884)
• 1829 – William Stanley, inventor and engineer (d. 1909)
• 1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (d. 1912)
• 1842 – Yulian Vasilievich Sokhotski, Russian mathematician (d. 1927)
• 1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet (d. 1921)
• 1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican artist (d. 1913)
• 1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American politician (d. 1915)
• 1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American art collector and philanthropist (d. 1949)
• 1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian operatta composer (d. 1925)
• 1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German diplomat and statesman (d. 1956)
• 1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist (d. 1962)
• 1878 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1955)
• 1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player (d. 1947)
• 1882 – James Joyce, Irish author (d. 1941)
• 1887 – Ernst Hanfstängl, German pianist and politician (d. 1975)
• 1888 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
• 1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general, posthumous Marshal of France (d. 1952)
• 1890 – Charles Correll, American actor (d. 1972)
• 1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959)
• 1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1974)
• 1893 – Raoul Riganti, Argentine racing driver (d. 1970)
• 1895 – George Halas, American NFL co-founder (d. 1983)
• 1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)
• 1897 – Aimé Avignon, France's former oldest living man (d. 2007)
• 1897 – Howard Johnson, American hotelier (d. 1972)
• 1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player (d. 1988)
• 1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (d. 1987)
• 1902 – Jane Ising, German-born wife of Ernst Ising
• 1902 – Newbold Morris, American politician (d. 1966)
• 1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American author and philosopher (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player (d. 1976)
• 1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
• 1912 – Millvina Dean, last living survivor of the RMS Titanic (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Burton Lane, American composer and lyricist (d. 1997)
• 1913 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (d. 1985)
• 1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian politician and economist (d. 2004)
• 1915 – Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (d. 2002)
• 1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian professional golfer (d. 2005)
• 1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (d. 1985)
• 1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese leader
• 1918 – Hella S. Haasse, Dutch writer
• 1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German football manager (d. 1999)
• 1923 – James Dickey, American poet and author (d. 1997)
• 1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress (d. 1988)
• 1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player and manager
• 1923 – Liz Smith, American gossip columnist
• 1924 – Jack Clemmons, American law enforcement officer (d. 1998)
• 1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-born American producer and musician (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress
• 1926 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French politician
• 1927 – Stan Getz, American musician (d. 1991)
• 1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player
• 1928 – Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr, American civil rights activist (d. 1998)
• 1929 – George Band, British mountaineer (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech director
• 1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1977 until 1982
• 1931 – Les Dawson, British comedian (d. 1993)
• 1931 – Judith Viorst, American author
• 1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor
• 1933 – Tony Jay, English actor (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Than Shwe, ruler of Myanmar
• 1936 – Duane Jones, American actor (d. 1988)
• 1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player
• 1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest British American writer
• 1937 – Remak Ramsay, American actor
• 1937 – Tom Smothers, American musician and comedian
• 1939 – Akbar Adibi, Iranian scientist (d. 2000)
• 1940 – Thomas Disch, American science fiction author and poet (d. 2008)
• 1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football coach
• 1940 – David Jason, English actor
• 1941 – Terry Biddlecombe, English horse racing jockey
• 1942 – Graham Nash, British-born American musician
• 1943 – Susan Hanson, English actress
• 1944 – Andrew Davis, British conductor
• 1944 – Karen Foss, American broadcaster
• 1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, British actor
• 1946 – Blake Clark, American actor
• 1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman (d. 2009)
• 1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Mali politician
• 1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (d. 2009)
• 1948 – Ina Garten, American author and TV personality
• 1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist and songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire)
• 1948 – Roger Williamson, English racecar driver (d. 1973)
• 1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish entrepreneur
• 1949 – Francisco Maturana, Colombian football manager
• 1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor
• 1949 – Ross Valory, American musician (Journey)
• 1950 – Osamu Kido, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1950 – Barbara Sukowa, German actress
• 1952 – John Cornyn, American politician, junior senator of Texas
• 1953 – Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter
• 1954 – Christie Brinkley, American model
• 1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian singer and actor
• 1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
• 1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet, writer and translator
• 1955 – Virginia Leng, British equestrian
• 1957 – Phil Barney, French singer
• 1958 – Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright
• 1960 – Jari Porttila, Finnish sports journalist
• 1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress
• 1961 – Steve Penney, National Hockey League goaltender
• 1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player
• 1962 – Paul Kilgus, American baseball player
• 1962 – Michael T. Weiss, American actor
• 1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)
• 1963 – Philip Laats, Belgian judoka
• 1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer
• 1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player
• 1966 – Robert DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)
• 1967 – Arturs Irbe, Latvian hockey player
• 1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese military leader
• 1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player
• 1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player
• 1968 – Simon Wickham-Smith, British musician
• 1968 – Thomas Teige, German martial artist, actor and record holder
• 1969 – Valeri Karpin, Russian footballer
• 1970 – C. Ernst Harth, Canadian actor
• 1970 – Nikolaos Michopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer
• 1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress
• 1972 – Dana International, Israeli singer
• 1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1973 – Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower
• 1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress
• 1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian hockey player
• 1975 – Donald Driver, American football player
• 1975 – Vaggelis Koutsoures, Greek footballer
• 1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
• 1975 – Niclas Wallin, Swedish hockey player
• 1976 – James Hickman, British swimmer
• 1976 – Lori Beth Denberg, American actress
• 1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer
• 1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech football player
• 1978 – Eden Espinosa, American singer and actress
• 1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish football player
• 1978 – Rich Sommer, American actor
• 1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian rally driver
• 1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek hurdler
• 1979 – Klaus Mainzer, German rugby player
• 1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
• 1979 – Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter
• 1980 – Radric Davis, American rapper
• 1980 – Angela Finger-Erben, German television presenter
• 1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish football player
• 1981 – Michelle Bass, English reality TV star and glamour model
• 1982 – Sergio Castaño, Spanish footballer
• 1982 – Han Ga In, South Korean model/actress
• 1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player
• 1982 – Brandy Talore, American pornographic actress
• 1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish athlete
• 1983 – Will South, British musician (Thirteen Senses)
• 1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian hockey player
• 1983 – Alex Westaway, British musician
• 1984 – Renn Kiriyama, Japanese actor
• 1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player
• 1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish football player
• 1987 – Martin Spanjers, American actor
• 1990 – Dan Gosling, English footballer
• 1992 – Danielle White, American singer
• 1998 – Luke Annett, All round Legend

Deaths

• 1124 – Borivoj II, Duke of Bohemia
• 1218 – Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (b. 1186)
• 1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
• 1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)
• 1307 – Oljeitu Temur Khagan, Emperor of the Mongol Empire and the Yuan Dynasty (b. 1265)
• 1461 – Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty of England
• 1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian writer (b. 1478)
• 1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese retainer (b. 1558)
• 1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer (b. 1525)
• 1648 – George Abbot, English writer
• 1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)
• 1660 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans, French politician (b. 1608)
• 1661 – Lucas Holstenius, German humanist (b. 1596)
• 1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (born ca.1594)
• 1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French naval officer (b. 1610)
• 1704 – Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de l'Hôpital, French mathematician (b. 1661)
• 1712 – Martin Lister, English naturalist and physician
• 1714 – John Sharp, English Archbishop of York (b. 1643)
• 1723 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist (b. 1666)
• 1768 – Robert Smith, English mathematician (b. 1689)
• 1769 – Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
• 1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (b. 1713)
• 1804 – George Walton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1749-50)
• 1895 – Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b. 1817)
• 1904 – William C. Whitney, American financier (b. 1841)
• 1907 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)
• 1909 – Carlo Acton, Italian composer and concert pianist (b. 1829)
• 1918 – John L. Sullivan, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1858)
• 1925 – Jaap Eden, Dutch skater and cyclist (b. 1873)
• 1926 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (b. 1848)
• 1932 – Agha Petros, Assyrian nationalist leader (b. 1880)
• 1942 – Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (b. 1905)
• 1942 – Hugh D. McIntosh, Australian theatre entrepreneur (b. 1876)
• 1945 – Alfred Delp, German Jesuit priest, member of the German resistance (b. 1907)
• 1945 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician, member of the German resistance (b. 1884)
• 1945 – Johannes Popitz, Prussian finance minister, member of the German resistance (b. 1884)
• 1948 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker; father or Corliss Lamont; great-grandfather of Ned Lamont (b. 1870)
• 1948 – [[[Bevil Rudd]], South African athlete (b. 1894)
• 1950 – Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician (b. 1873)
• 1956 – Charles Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
• 1956 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b. 1876)
• 1957 – Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist (b. 1890)
• 1961 – Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1962 – Shlomo Hestrin, Canadian-born Israeli biochemist (b. 1914)
• 1969 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)
• 1970 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (b. 1898)
• 1970 – Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, English mathematician, writer and philosopher, Nobel laureate (b. 1872)
• 1972 – Natalie Clifford Barney, American writer (b. 1876)
• 1973 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian politician (b. 1902)
• 1974 – Imre Lakatos, Hungarian philosopher (b. 1922)
• 1979 – Sid Vicious, English musician (Sex Pistols) (b. 1957)
• 1980 – Hanna Rovina, Israeli actress
• 1980 – William Howard Stein, Nobel laureate (b. 1911)
• 1982 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician (b. 1905)
• 1983 – Sam Chatmon, American blues musician (b. 1897)
• 1986 – Gino Hernandez, American wrestler (b. 1957)
• 1987 – Carlos José Castilho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1927)
• 1987 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (b. 1922)
• 1988 – Marcel Bozzuffi, French film actor (b. 1929)
• 1989 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater (b. 1951)
• 1989 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand politician (b. 1901)
• 1990 – Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (b. 1934)
• 1992 – Bert Parks, American television host (b. 1914)
• 1995 – Thomas Hayward, American tenor (b. 1917)
• 1995 – Fred Perry, British tennis player (b. 1909)
• 1995 – Donald Pleasence, English 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)
• 1999 – David McComb, Australian musician (The Triffids) (b. 1962)
• 2002 – Paul Baloff, American singer (Exodus) (b. 1960)
• 2002 – Claude Brown, American writer (b. 1937)
• 2003 – Lou Harrison, American composer (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Bernard McEveety, American film director (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)
• 2007 – Vijay Arora, Indian film and television actor (b. 1944)
• 2007 – Billy Henderson, American singer (The Spinners) (b. 1939)
• 2007 – Joe Hunter, American pianist and bandleader of The Funk Brothers (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (b. 1967)
• 2007 – Masao Takemoto, Japanese gymnast (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Eric von Schmidt, American folk/blues singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
• 2008 – Katoucha, Guinean model and activist (b. 1960)
• 2011 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish actress, presenter and VJ. (b. 1975)
• 2011 – Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)
• Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
  • A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland)
  • Celebration of Yemanja (Candomblé)
  • La Chandeleur or Crêpe (Pancake) Day (France)
  • Our Lady of Navigators (Brazil)
  • Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Cornelius the Centurion
  • February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (The Philippines)
• Earliest day on which Shrove Monday can fall, while March 8 is the latest; celebrated on Monday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity), and its related observances:
  • Bun Day (Iceland)
  • Fastelavn (Denmark)
  • Rosenmontag (Germany)
• Groundhog Day (United States and Canada)
• Imbolc in northern hemisphere, Lughnasadh in southern hemisphere (Neopaganism)
• Inventor's Day (Thailand)
• World Wetlands Day (International)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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