February 2
From Wikinfo
February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 332 days remaining, (333 in leap years).
Contents |
Events
- 962 - Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1032 - Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy.
- 1119 - Callixtus II becomes Pope.
- 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.
- 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.
- 1980 - Abscam: Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the United States Congress in a sting operation.
- 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
- 1650 - Nell Gwynne, actress, royal mistress (+ 1687)
- 1711 - Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, diplomat (+ 1794)
- 1754 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, politician (+ 1838)
- 1803 - Albert Sidney Johnston, Confederate general (+ 1862)
- 1829 - Alfred Brehm, zoologist (+ 1884)
- 1878 - [[Alfr�d Haj�s]], Hungarian swimmer
- 1882 - James Joyce, author (+ 1941)
- 1888 - Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer
- 1895 - George Halas, American football player, coach, co-founder of the [[National Football League (+ 1983)
- 1901 - Jascha Heifetz, musician (+ 1987)
- 1905 - Ayn Rand, author (+ 1982)
- 1906 - Gale Gordon, actor (+ 1995)
- 1915 - Abba Eban, diplomat (+ 2002)
- 1923 - James Dickey, poet, author (+ 1997)
- 1923 - Liz Smith, gossip columnist
- 1925 - Elaine Stritch, actress
- 1926 - Valery Giscard d'Estaing, politican
- 1927 - Stan Getz, musician (+ 1991)
- 1931 - Dries van Agt, Dutch politician
- 1937 - Tom Smothers, musician, comedian, half of the Smothers Brothers
- 1942 - Graham Nash, musician
- 1947 - Farrah Fawcet, actress
- 1947 - Melanie, singer
- 1950 - Barbara Sukowa, actress
- 1954 - Christie Brinkley, model
- 1977 - Shakira, singer
Deaths
- 1648 - George Abbot, english writer
- 1922 - William Desmond Taylor, film director
- 1959 - rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper, in a plane crash outside Mason City, Iowa
- 1969 - Boris Karloff, actor
- 1970 - Bertrand Russell, mathematician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature 1950 (+ 1970)
- 1979 - Sid Vicious of Sex Pistols
- 1992 - Bert Parks, game show host, Miss America host
- 1995 - Donald Pleasence, actor
- 1996 - Gene Kelly, dancer, actor, director
- 2003 - Lou Harrison, composer
Holidays and observances
- Catholicism - Presentation of the Lord.
- Catholicism - World Day for Consecrated Life (Feb. 2-3 in the U.S)
- Ancient Latvia - Veja Diena observed
- United States - Groundhog Day
- Candlemas is one of the Scottish quarter days in the Christian calendar
See also:
February 1 - February 3 - January 2 - March 2 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December [[fr:2 f�vrier]]
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "February 2" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2 December 27, 2003
