February 2
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February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 332 days remaining (333 in leap years).
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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 took place near Diu, India, between Portugal and Turkey.
- 1536 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 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.
- 1812 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, California.
- 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.
- 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 agrees Australia's capital (Canberra) should be located between Sydney and Melbourne.
- 1920 - Estonia declares its independence from Russia.
- 1920 - France occupies Memel.
- 1925 - 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 conducted the experiment in Portage, Wisconsin.
- 1940 - Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
- 1943 - World War II: The last Nazi forces surrender to the Soviets following 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.
- 1962 - For the first time in 400 years Neptune and Pluto align.
- 1967 - The American Basketball Association is formed.
- 1971 - In Uganda after a coup, Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader.
- 1972 - British embassy in Dublin destroyed in protest over Bloody Sunday
- 1976 - Groundhog Day gale of 1976 hit the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
- 1979 - Sid Vicious dies of a heroin overdose.
- 1980 - Abscam: Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in a sting operation.
- 1982 - Hama Massacre: The government of Syria attacked the town of Hama and killed thousands of people.
- 1989 - Soviet Invasion of 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 airlines DC-9-32 crashes into a mountain near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines killing 104
Births
- 1208 - James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
- 1455 - King Christian II of Denmark (d. 1513)
- 1494 - Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)
- 1649 - Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
- 1650 - Nell Gwynne, English actress and royal mistress (d. 1687)
- 1700 - Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (d. 1766)
- 1711 - Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, Austrian diplomat (d. 1794)
- 1754 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French politician (d. 1838)
- 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, pianist and politician (d. 1975)
- 1888 - Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
- 1890 - Charles Correll, American actor (d. 1972)
- 1895 - George Halas, American football player, coach, co-founder of the National Football League (d. 1983)
- 1897 - Howard Johnson, American hotelier (d. 1972)
- 1901 - Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (d. 1987)
- 1905 - Ayn Rand, author (d. 1982)
- 1906 - Gale Gordon, actor (d. 1995)
- 1915 - Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (d. 2002)
- 1923 - James Dickey, poet, author (d. 1997)
- 1923 - Liz Smith, gossip columnist
- 1923 - Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, manager
- 1923 - Bonita Granville, American actress (d. 1988)
- 1924 - Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American producer and musician
- 1925 - Elaine Stritch, actress
- 1926 - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French politician
- 1927 - Stan Getz, musician (d. 1991)
- 1931 - Dries van Agt, Dutch politician
- 1931 - Judith Viorst, American author
- 1932 - Robert Mandan, American actor
- 1937 - Tom Smothers, American musician, comedian, half of the Smothers Brothers
- 1942 - Graham Nash, musician
- 1942 - Bo Hopkins, American actor
- 1942 - Christine Keeler, British model and showgirl
- 1944 - Geoffrey Hughes, British actor
- 1947 - Farrah Fawcett, American actress
- 1947 - Melanie, singer
- 1949 - Brent Spiner, American actor
- 1949 - Ross Valory, American musician (Journey)
- 1950 - Barbara Sukowa, actress
- 1954 - Christie Brinkley, model
- 1963 - Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1966 - Robert DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)
- 1967 - Arturs Irbe, Latvian ice-hockey player, goalkeeper
- 1972 - Dana International, Israeli singer, transsexual, Eurovision Song Contest winner
- 1972 - T-Mo, rapper
- 1977 - Shakira, singer
- 1983 - Jordin Tootoo, NHL hockey player
- 1987 - Martin Spanjers, American actor
Deaths
- 1250 - King Eric XI of Sweden
- 1529 - Baldassare Castiglione, Italian writer (b. 1478)
- 1648 - George Abbot, English writer (b. ca. 1603)
- 1769 - Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
- 1895 - Archduke Albert, Austrian general (b. 1817)
- 1922 - William Desmond Taylor, film director
- 1925 - Jaap Eden, Dutch skater and cyclist
- 1948 - Bevil Rudd, South African athlete
- 1950 - Constantin Carathéodory, mathematician (b. 1873)
- 1956 - Charles Grapewin, American actor
- 1969 - Boris Karloff, actor (b. 1887)
- 1970 - Bertrand Russell, British mathematician and philosopher (b. 1872)
- 1979 - Sid Vicious of Sex Pistols (b. 1957)
- 1987 - Castilho, Brazilian legendary football goalkeeper
- 1987 - Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist
- 1992 - Bert Parks, game show host, Miss America host
- 1995 - Donald Pleasence, actor (b. 1919)
- 1996 - Gene Kelly, dancer, actor, director (b. 1912)
- 1997 - Sanford Meisner, American actor
- 2001 - Fast Eddie Parker, American billiards player
- 2002 - Claude Brown, American writer
- 2003 - Lou Harrison, composer (b. 1917)
- 2004 - Bernard McEveety, Film director (b. 1924)
- 2005 - Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)
Holidays and observances
- Catholicism - The Presentation of the Lord
- Catholicism - The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Catholicism - World Day for Consecrated Life (Feb. 2-3 in the U.S)
- Ancient Latvia - Veja Diena observed
- United States and Canada - Groundhog Day
- Catholicism Candlemas - day on which Roman Catholics bring beeswax candles to local churches to be blessed for use in church or home.
- Candlemas is one of the Scottish quarter days in the Christian calendar
- Imbolc - (predates all above festivals) - early Pagan (among other cultures) celebration involving the remembering that Spring will be coming soon.
- Crêpe Day - France.
External links
- BBC: On This Day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/2)
- Today in History: February 2 (http://www.tnl.net/when/2/2)
February 1 - February 3 - January 2 - March 2 -- listing of all days
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