February 2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 332 days remaining after February 2 until the end of the year (333 in leap years).
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[change] Events
- 962 – Official founding day of the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1536 – Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires.
- 1848 – The US gains large territories at the end of the Mexican-American War.
- 1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the first American celebration of Groundhog Day takes place.
- 1913 – Grand Central Terminal in New York City is opened.
- 1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is first published.
- 1943 – The Battle of Stalingrad ends as German forces surrender.
- 1946 – The Hungarian Republic is proclaimed.
- 1971 – Idi Amin becomes President of Uganda.
- 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.
- 1990 – South Africa: F.W. De Klerk announces the end of Apartheid and ends a ban on the African National Congress.
- 2002 – Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange marries Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti.
- 2004 – Roger Federer becomes World number one in tennis, holding that position for a record 237 weeks.
- 2008 – President of France Nicolas Sarkozy marries Carla Bruni.
- 2011 – Egypt protests: Opponents and supporters of President Hosni Mubarak clash violently in Cairo.
[change] Births
- 1208 – King James of Aragon (d. 1276)
- 1455 – King John of Denmark (d. 1513)
- 1494 – Bona Sforza, Italian princess, Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania (d. 1525)
- 1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d. 1565)
- 1649 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
- 1650 – Nell Gwyn, British actress and royal mistress (d. 1687)
- 1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German diplomat and statesman (d. 1956)
- 1882 – James Joyce, Irish writer (d. 1941)
- 1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German pianist and politician (d. 1975)
- 1891 – Antonio Segni, Italian politician (d. 1972)
- 1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1974)
- 1893 – Sukhbaatar Damdin, Mongolian national hero (d. 1924)
- 1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician (d. 1980)
- 1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born author and philosopher (d. 1982)
- 1912 – Millvina Dean, last Titanic survivor (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Hella Haasse, Dutch writer (d. 2011)
- 1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-born producer and musician (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Valery Giscard d'Estaing, former President of France
- 1928 – Ciriaco de Mita, Italian politician
- 1929 – George Band, British mountaineer (d. 2011)
- 1931 – Walter Burkert, German philologist
- 1931 – Les Dawson, British comedian (d. 1993)
- 1931 – Dries van Agt, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- 1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese military leader
- 1940 – David Jason, English actor
- 1942 – Graham Nash, English-American musician
- 1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish entrepreneur
- 1951 – Valdir Peres, Brazilian footballer
- 1954 – Christie Brinkley, American model
- 1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian singer and actor
- 1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1972 – Dana International, Israeli singer
- 1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer
- 1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
- 1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer
- 1979 – Christine Bleakley, Northern Irish television presenter
- 1981 – Emre Aydin, Turkish singer
- 1983 – Carolina Kluft, Swedish athlete
- 1987 – Giuseppe Rossi, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Gerard Pique, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Dan Gosling, English footballer
[change] Deaths
- 1250 – King Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
- 1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina, Italian composer (b. 1525)
- 1769 – Pope Clement XVI (b. 1693)
- 1904 – William C. Whitney, American financier (b. 1841)
- 1907 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)
- 1926 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (b. 1848)
- 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)
- 1987 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (b. 1922)
- 1987 – Carlos Jose Castilho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1927)
- 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)
- 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)
