February 2

is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 332 days remaining (333 in leap years).

Events

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.
1119 - Callixtus II becomes Pope.
1509 - Battle of Diu takes place near Diu, India, between Portugal and Turkey.
1536 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1542 - Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.
1653 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated.
1709 - Alexander Selkirk is rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
1790 - The U.S. Supreme Court convenes for the first time after an unsuccessful attempt on February 1.
1812 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, along the California coast.
1848 - Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the war.
1848 - California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese emigrants seeking fortune in California's gold country arrive in San Francisco.
1870 - It is revealed that the famed Cardiff Giant was just carved gypsum and not the petrified remains of a human.
1874 - Grand County, Colorado is created when it is carved out of Summit County
1876 - The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
1878 - Greece declares war on Turkey.
1880 - The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana.
1882 - The Knights of Columbus are formed in New Haven, Connecticut.
1887 - In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
1897 - The Pennsylvania state capitol is destroyed by fire.
1899 - The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne.
1920 - Tartu Peace Treaty signed between Estonia and Russia.
1920 - France occupies Memel.
1925 - Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
1933 - Adolf Hitler dissolves the German Parliament.
1935 - The polygraph machine is tested for the first time. Leonard Keeler conducts the experiment in Portage, Wisconsin.
1940 - Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
1943 - World War II: The last German forces surrender to the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad.
1945 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leave to meet with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference.
1952 - A tropical storm forms north of Cuba and moves northeast making landfall in Florida. It is the earliest reported formation of a tropical storm on record in the Atlantic basin.
1957 - President Iskander Mirza of Pakistan lays the foundation-stone of the Guddu Barrage across river Indus near Sukkur.
1962 - For the first time in 400 years Neptune and Pluto align.
1966 - Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir dispute as number one item for the proposed Indo-Pak ministerial talks after 1965 war.
1967 - The American Basketball Association is formed.
1971 - After a coup in Uganda, Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader.
1972 - The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest over Bloody Sunday.
1976 - Groundhog Day gale of 1976 hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
1980 - Abscam: Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in a sting operation.
1980 - Founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey.
1982 - Hama Massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama and kills thousands of people.
1989 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation.
1990 - Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.
1998 - A Cebu Pacific Air DC-9-32 crashes into a mountain near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, killing 104.
2002 - Wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to the Argentinean born Máxima Zorreguieta in Amsterdam.
2006 - An aging Egyptian passenger ferry carrying more than 1,400 people sinks in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast.

Births

1208 - James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
1455 - King John of Denmark (d. 1513)
1494 - Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I 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-born 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, French politician (d. 1838)
1802 - Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (d. 1887)
1803 - Albert Sidney Johnston, American Confederate general (d. 1862)
1829 - Alfred Brehm, German zoologist (d. 1884)
1841 - François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (d. 1912)
1875 - Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist (d. 1962)
1878 - Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1955)
1882 - James Joyce, Irish author (d. 1941)
1887 - Ernst Hanfstängl, German pianist and politician (d. 1975)
1888 - Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
1890 - Charles Correll, American actor (d. 1972)
1893 - Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1974)
1895 - George Halas, American football player, coach, and league founder (d. 1983)
1897 - Howard Johnson, American hotelier (d. 1972)
1901 - Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (d. 1987)
1905 - Ayn Rand, Russian-born author (d. 1982)
1913 - Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (d. 1985)
1915 - Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (d. 2002)
1916 - Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (d. 1985)
1918 - Hella S. Haasse, Dutch writer
1923 - James Dickey, American poet and author (d. 1997)
1923 - Bonita Granville, American actress (d. 1988)
1923 - Red Schoendienst, baseball player and manager
1923 - Liz Smith, American gossip columnist
1924 - Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American producer and musician
1925 - Elaine Stritch, American actress
1926 - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French politician
1927 - Stan Getz, American musician (d. 1991)
1928 - Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., civil rights activist and author
1931 - Dries van Agt, Dutch politician
1931 - Judith Viorst, American author
1932 - Robert Mandan, American actor
1937 - Tom Smothers, American musician and comedian
1940 - David Jason, English actor
1942 - Christine Keeler, British model
1942 - Graham Nash, British musician
1944 - Geoffrey Hughes, British actor
1946 - Alpha Oumar Konaré, ex-president of Mali
1947 - Farrah Fawcett, American actress
1947 - Melanie Safka, American singer
1949 - Brent Spiner, American actor
1949 - Ross Valory, American musician (Journey)
1954 - Christie Brinkley, American model
1963 - Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)
1965 - Carl Airey, English footballer
1966 - Robert DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)
1967 - Arturs Irbe, Latvian hockey player
1969 - Valeri Karpin, Russian footballer
1972 - Dana International, Israeli singer
1975 - Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek football player
1975 - Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian hockey player
1976 - James Hickman, British swimmer
1977 - Shakira, Colombian singer
1977 - Libor Sionko, Czech football player
1981 - Jason Kapono, American basketball player
1983 - Jordin Tootoo, Canadian hockey player
1987 - Martin Spanjers, American actor

Deaths

1124 - Duke Bořivoj II of Bohemia
1218 - Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (b. 1186)
1250 - King Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
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)
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 Yorkshire (b. 1643)
1768 - Robert Smith, English mathematician (b. 1689)
1769 - Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
1802 - Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (b. 1713)
1895 - Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b. 1817)
1907 - Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)
1922 - William Desmond Taylor, Irish film director (b. 1872)
1925 - Jaap Eden, Dutch skater and cyclist (b. 1873)
1926 - Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (b. 1848)
1942 - Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (b. 1906)
1945 - Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (b. 1884)
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)
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 (Sex Pistols) (b. 1957)
1980 - William Howard Stein, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
1987 - Castilho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1927)
1987 - Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (b. 1922)
1992 - Bert Parks, American television host (b. 1914)
1995 - Donald Pleasence, English actor (b. 1919)
1996 - Gene Kelly, American dancer, actor, and director (b. 1912)
1997 - Sanford Meisner, American actor (b. 1904)
1997 - Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (b. 1913)
2003 - Lou Harrison, American composer (b. 1917)
2004 - Bernard McEveety, American film director (b. 1924)
2005 - Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)

Holidays and observances

Ancient Latvia - Veja Diena observed.
Czech Republic - Hromnice.
France - Crêpe Day.
Paganism - Imbolc (in northern hemisphere), Lughnasadh (in southern hemisphere).
Scotland - A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas).
United States - Bonza Bottler Day.
United States and Canada - Groundhog Day.

liturgical feasts

External links

February 1 - February 3 - January 2 - March 2 -- listing of all days

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Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

liturgical feasts

External links