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Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

Events

★ 672 - Death of Saint Chad, whose feast day this is.

★ 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.

★ 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.

★ 1899 - The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne.

★ 1901 - The Funeral of Queen Victoria.

★ 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.

★ 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.

★ 1989 - Satellite television service Sky Television plc launched in the Europe.

★ 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.

★ 1998 - Republic Act 8474 was released by the Supreme Court of the Philippines that convert the Municipality of Ilagan to be known as the City of Ilagan.

★ 2002 - Wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to the Argentinean born Máxima Zorreguieta in Amsterdam.

★ 2002 - Foundation of Eurodoc, the European Council for Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers, in Girona (Spain).

★ 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)

★ 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)

★ 1841 - François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (d. 1912)

★ 1842 - Yulian Vasilievich Sokhotski, Russian mathematician (d. 1927)

★ 1851 - José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican artist (d. 1913)

★ 1861 - Solomon R. Guggenheim, American art collector and philanthropist (d. 1949)

★ 1875 - Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist (d. 1962)

★ 1878 - Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1955)

★ 1881 - Orval Overall, major league baseball pitcher (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)

★ 1893 - Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1974)

★ 1893 - Raoul Riganti, Argentine racing driver (d. 1970)

★ 1895 - George Halas, American football player, coach, and league founder (d. 1983)

★ 1897 - Howard Johnson, American hotelier (d. 1972)

★ 1900 - Willie Kamm, MLB third baseman (d. 1988)

★ 1901 - Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (d. 1987)

★ 1905 - Ayn Rand, Russian-born author and philosopher (d. 1982)

★ 1908 - Wes Ferrell, All-Star MLB pitcher (d. 1976)

★ 1909 - Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)

★ 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)

★ 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, and eventually Hall of Famer

★ 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 (d. 1998)

★ 1931 - Dries van Agt, Dutch politician

★ 1931 - Les Dawson, British comedian (d. 1993)

★ 1931 - Judith Viorst, American author

★ 1932 - Robert Mandan, American actor

★ 1933 - Than Shwe, ruler of Myanmar

★ 1933 - Tony Jay, English actor (d. 2006)

★ 1937 - Tom Smothers, American musician and comedian

★ 1937 - Don Buford, All-Star MLB outfielder

★ 1939 - Akbar Adibi, Iranian scientist, father of electronics in Iran (d. 2000)

★ 1940 - David Jason, English actor

★ 1942 - Graham Nash, American (British-born) rock musician

★ 1944 - Karen Foss, American broadcaster

★ 1944 - Geoffrey Hughes, British actor

★ 1945 - David Friedman, American economist

★ 1946 - Alpha Oumar Konaré, ex-president of Mali

★ 1947 - Farrah Fawcett, American actress

★ 1948 - Al McKay, American guitarist and songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire)

★ 1949 - Brent Spiner, American actor

★ 1949 - Ross Valory, American musician (Journey)

★ 1949 - Francisco Maturana, Colombian football manager

★ 1952 - Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese professional wrestler

★ 1954 - Christie Brinkley, American model

★ 1954 - Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian singer, actor, former skier

★ 1954 - John Tudor, MLB pitcher

★ 1958 - Michel Marc Bouchard, Quebec 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, baseball player

★ 1963 - Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)

★ 1965 - Carl Airey, English footballer

★ 1965 - Naoki Sano, Japanese professional wrestler

★ 1966 - Andrei Chesnokov, Russian former tennis player

★ 1966 - Robert DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)

★ 1967 - Arturs Irbe, Latvian hockey player

★ 1968 - Scott Erickson, MLB pitcher

★ 1969 - Valeri Karpin, Russian footballer

★ 1970 - Nikolaos Michopoulos, Greek footballer

★ 1970 - C. Ernst Harth, Canadian actor

★ 1970 - Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress

★ 1970 - Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer

★ 1972 - Dana International, Israeli singer

★ 1972 - Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player

★ 1973 - Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower

★ 1975 - Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer

★ 1975 - Vaggelis Koutsoures, Greek footballer

★ 1975 - Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian hockey player

★ 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

★ 1977 - Heather Martin, American gospel singer

★ 1978 - Barry Ferguson, Scotish football player

★ 1978 - Eden Espinosa, American singer and stage actress

★ 1979 - Fani Halkia, Greek hurdler

★ 1979 - Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter

★ 1980 - Teddy Hart, Canadian professional wrestler

★ 1980 - Oleguer Presas, Spanish football player

★ 1981 - Jason Kapono, American basketball player

★ 1982 - Han Ga In, South Korean model/actress

★ 1982 - Sergio Castaño, Spanish footballer

★ 1982 - Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player

★ 1983 - Jordin Tootoo, Canadian hockey player

★ 1983 - Carolina Klüft, Swedish athlete

★ 1987 - Martin Spanjers, American actor

★ 1987 - Gerard Piqué, Spanish football player

★ 1992 - Danielle White, American singer

Deaths

★ 1124 - Bořivoj II of Bohemia

★ 1218 - Konstantin of Rostov, Prince of Novgorod (b. 1186)

★ 1250 - 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 York (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)

★ 1904 - William C. Whitney, American financier (b. 1841)

★ 1907 - Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)

★ 1918 - John L. Sullivan, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1858)

★ 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)

★ 1932 - Agha Petros, Assyrian nationalist leader

★ 1942 - Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (b. 1905)

★ 1945 - Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (b. 1884)

★ 1948 - Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b. 1894)

★ 1948 - Thomas W. Lamont, American banker; father or Corliss Lamont; great-grandfather of Ned Lamont (b. 1870)

★ 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, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1872)

★ 1970 - Lawrence Gray, American actor (b.1898)

★ 1973 - Hendrik Elias, Belgain politician (b. 1902)

★ 1979 - Sid Vicious, English musician (Sex Pistols) (b. 1957)

★ 1980 - William Howard Stein, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1911)

★ 1982 - Paul Desruisseaux, Quebec lawyer, businessman and politician (b 1905)

★ 1987 - Castilho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1927)

★ 1987 - Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (b. 1922)

★ 1988 - Marcel Bozzuffi, French film actor (b. 1929)

★ 1990 - Joe Erskine, British boxer (b. 1934)

★ 1992 - Bert Parks, American television host (b. 1914)

★ 1995 - Fred Perry, British former tennis player (b. 1909)

★ 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)

★ 2002 - Paul Baloff, American vocalist (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 - 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)

★ 2007 - Joe Hunter, American pianist and bandleader of The Funk Brothers (b. 1927)

★ 2007 - Billy Henderson, American singer with The Spinners (b. 1939)

★ 2007 - Vijay Arora, Indian film and television actor (b. 1944)

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 and Canada - Groundhog Day.

★ University of King's College - George III Day

★ Yemanja Celebration of Yemanja, the sea goddess.

Liturgical feasts

★ Roman Catholicism - Candlemas, The Presentation of the Lord, The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, World Day for Consecrated Life (also February 3 in the United States).

★ St. Adelbald

★ St. Cornelius

★ Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church: Encounter of our Lord with Simeon - Major Feast Day

★ February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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