Events
Pre-1600
*
1112
Year 1112 ( MCXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Spring – Malik Shah, Seljuk ruler of the Sultanate of Rum, begins incursion ...
–
Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and
Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*
1451 –
Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
.
*
1488
__NOTOC__
Year 1488 ( MCDLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 8 – The Royal Netherlands Navy is formed, by the decree of Maximillian of Austria.
* February ...
–
Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in
Mossel Bay after rounding the
Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.
*
1509
__NOTOC__
Year 1509 ( MDIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 21 – The Portuguese first arrive at the Seven Islands of Bombay and ...
– The
Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...
, the
Sultan of Gujarat, the
Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the
Zamorin of
Calicut, and the
Republic of Ragusa at the
Battle of Diu
The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, and the Zamor ...
in
Diu, India
Diu (), also known as ''Dio'' in Indo-Portuguese, is a town in Diu district in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, India. Diu District is the tenth least populated district of India. The town of Diu lies at the ...
.
*
1583
__NOTOC__
Events
January–June
* January 18 – François, Duke of Anjou, attacks Antwerp.
* February 4 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, newly converted to Calvinism, formally marries Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben, a form ...
–
Battle of São Vicente
The Battle of São Vicente was a minor naval engagement that took place off São Vicente, Portuguese Brazil on 3 February 1583 during the Anglo–Spanish War between three English ships (including two galleons), and three Spanish galleons. The E ...
takes place off
Portuguese Brazil where three English warships led by navigator
Edward Fenton fight off three
Spanish galleons sinking one in the process.
1601–1900
*
1661 –
Maratha forces under
Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj defeat the
Mughals
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
in the
Battle of Umberkhind
Battle of Umberkhind took place on 3 February 1661 in the mountain range of Sahyadri near the city of Khopoli, Maharashtra, India. The battle was fought between the Maratha army under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and General Kartalab Khan of the M ...
.
*
1690
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbian rebels and Austrian troops in battle at Kaçanik Gorge, prompting more than 30,000 Serb refugees to flee northward from Kosovo, Macedonia and Sandžak to the Aus ...
– The
colony of Massachusetts issues the first
paper money in the Americas.
*
1706 – During the
Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...
-Polish-Russian force by deploying a
double envelopment.
*
1716
Events
January–March
* January 16 – The application of the Nueva Planta decrees to Catalonia make it subject to the laws of the Crown of Castile, and abolishes the Principality of Catalonia as a political entity, concluding ...
– The
1716 Algiers earthquake sequence began with an 7.0 mainshock that caused severe damage and killed 20,000 in Algeria.
*
1781 –
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...
: British forces
seize the
Dutch-owned Caribbean island
Sint Eustatius.
*
1783
Events
January–March
* January 20 – At Versailles, Great Britain signs preliminary peace treaties with the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain.
* January 23 – The Confederation Congress ratifies two October 8, ...
–
Spain–United States relations are first established.
*
1787 – Militia led by General
Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of
Shays' Rebellion in
Petersham, Massachusetts.
*
1807 – A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir
Samuel Auchmuty captures the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
city of
Montevideo, now the capital of
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
.
*
1809 –
The Territory of Illinois is created by the
10th United States Congress.
*
1813 –
José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the
Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the
Argentine War of Independence.
*
1830 – The
London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...
from the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
as the final result of the
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted ...
.
*
1870
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England.
** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed.
* January 3 – Construction of the Broo ...
– The
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.
1901–present
*
1913 – The
Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the
Federal government to impose and collect an
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
.
*
1916 – The
Centre Block of the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...
buildings in
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of seven lives.
*
1917 –
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
: The
American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
*
1918 – The
Twin Peaks Tunnel in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
begins service as the longest
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.
*
1927
Events January
* January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General.
* January 7
* ...
– A
revolt
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
against the
military dictatorship of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
breaks out at
Oporto.
*
1930 –
Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a "Unification Conference" held in
Kowloon,
British Hong Kong.
*
1931 – The
Hawke's Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst natural disaster, kills 258.
*
1933 –
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
announces that the expansion of ''
Lebensraum
(, ''living space'') is a German concept of settler colonialism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' became a geopolitical goal of Impe ...
'' into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless
Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...
foreign policy.
*
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 – ...
– The is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive.
*
1944 –
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
: During the
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S.
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
and
Marine forces
seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending
Japanese garrison.
*
1945 – World War II: As part of
Operation Thunderclap
In 1944, during World War II, a plan called Operation Thunderclap was proposed. The idea was to bomb Berlin , which would inflict many casualties. However, the project was never put into action. General Laurence Kuter, the Assistant U.S. Chief of S ...
, 1,000
B-17s of the
Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and
another 120,000.
* 1945 – World War II: The United States and the
Philippine Commonwealth begin
a month-long battle to retake
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...
from
Japan.
*
1953 – The
Batepá massacre occurred in
São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleashed a wave of violence against the native
creoles known as ''
forros''.
*
1958 – Founding of the
Benelux
The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a Political union, politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in ...
Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later
European Economic Community.
*
1959 – Rock and roll musicians
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...
,
Ritchie Valens, and
J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash along with the pilot near
Clear Lake, Iowa, an event later known as
The Day the Music Died.
*
1960 –
British Prime Minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as " Supermac", ...
speaks of "a
wind of change", signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.
*
1961 – The
United States Air Forces begins
Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the
SAC
SAC or Sac may refer to:
Organizations Education
* Santa Ana College, California, US
* San Antonio College, Texas, US
* St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Canada
* Students' Administrative Council, University of Toronto, Canada
* SISD Student Activiti ...
's command post.
*
1966 – The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
's
Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon.
*
1971 – New York Police Officer
Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
and survives to later testify against police corruption.
*
1972 – The first day of the seven-day
1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the
deadliest snowstorm in history.
*
1984 – Doctor
John Buster and a research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in the United States announce history's first
embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.
* 1984 –
Space Shuttle program
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. I ...
:
STS-41-B is launched using
Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' (OV-099) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the commanding ship of a nineteenth-century scientific expedition that traveled the world, ''Challen ...
.
*
1989 – After a
stroke two weeks previously,
South African President
The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Na ...
P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the
National Party, but stays on as president for six more months.
* 1989 – A military coup overthrows
Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
since
1954.
*
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...
–
Space Shuttle program
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. I ...
:
STS-60 is launched, carrying
Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle.
*
1995 – Astronaut
Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the
Space Shuttle as mission
STS-63 gets underway from
Kennedy Space Center in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
.
*
1998 –
Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near
Trento, Italy.
*
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...
– A
Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.
*
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
– Two people are
shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in
Moscow, Russia
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
.
Births
Pre-1600
*
1338
Year 1338 ( MCCCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
Date unknown
* Hundred Years' War: Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor appoints Edward III of England as a vicar ...
–
Joanna of Bourbon (d. 1378)
*
1392
Year 1392 ( MCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* June 13 – An assassination attempt by Pierre de Craon against Olivier de Clisson, Con ...
–
Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English nobleman and military commander (d. 1455)
*
1428 –
Helena Palaiologina, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1458)
*
1478
Year 1478 (Roman numerals, MCDLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 14 – Novgorod surrenders to Ivan III of Russia, Ivan ...
–
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (d. 1521)
*
1504 –
Scipione Rebiba
Scipione Rebiba (3 February 1504 – 23 July 1577) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a protégé of Gian Pietro Carafa, who became Pope Paul IV. He held a variety of positions in the Church hierarchy, including some of the most seni ...
, Italian cardinal (d. 1577)
1601–1900
*
1677 –
Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect, designed the
Karlova Koruna Chateau
Karlova Koruna (german: Karlskrone) is a château in the town of Chlumec nad Cidlinou in the Czech Republic.
History
The château was built for František Ferdinand Kinský in 1721–23.
Construction was completed in time for King Charles VI' ...
(d. 1723)
*
1689
Events
January–March
* January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated ...
–
Blas de Lezo, Spanish admiral (d. 1741)
*
1721 –
Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
*
1736
Events
January–March
* January 12 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, becomes the first Field Marshal of Great Britain.
* January 23 – The Civil Code of 1734 is passed in Sweden.
* January 26 – Stanislaus I of Pol ...
–
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer and theorist (d. 1809)
*
1747
Events
January–March
* January 31 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
* February 11 – King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II Coul ...
–
Samuel Osgood, American soldier and politician, 1st
United States Postmaster General (d. 1813)
*
1757 –
Joseph Forlenze, Italian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1833)
*
1763 –
Caroline von Wolzogen
Caroline von Wolzogen (née von Lengefeld) (3 February 1763, Rudolstadt – 11 January 1847, Jena), was a German writer in the Weimar Classicism circle. Her best-known works are a novel, ''Agnes von Lilien'', and a biography of Friedrich Schiller ...
, German author (d. 1847)
*
1777 –
John Cheyne, Scottish physician and author (d. 1836)
*
1780 –
Mihail G. Boiagi
Mihail George Boiagi (3 February 1780 – 1828, 1842 or 1843) was an Aromanian grammarian and professor in the Habsburg monarchy and the Austrian Empire. He was born on 3 February 1780 in Buda, today Budapest in Hungary. Boiagi was one of the f ...
, Aromanian grammarian and professor (d. uncertain)
*
1790
Events
January–March
* January 8 – United States President George Washington gives the first State of the Union address, in New York City.
* January 11 – The 11 minor states of the Austrian Netherlands, which took p ...
–
Gideon Mantell, English scientist (d. 1852)
*
1795
Events
January–June
* January – Central England records its coldest ever month, in the Central England temperature, CET records dating back to 1659.
* January 14 – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Uni ...
–
Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd
President of Bolivia (d. 1830)
*
1807 –
Joseph E. Johnston, American general and politician (d. 1891)
*
1809 –
Felix Mendelssohn, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1847)
*
1811
Events
January–March
* January 8 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes, in St. Charles and St. James Parishes, Louisiana.
* January 17 – Mexican War of Independence – Battle of Calderón B ...
–
Horace Greeley, American journalist and politician (d. 1872)
*
1816 –
Ram Singh Kuka, Indian credited with starting the
Non-cooperation movement
*
1815 –
Edward James Roye, 5th President of Liberia (d. 1872)
*
1817
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Sailing through the Sandwich Islands, Otto von Kotzebue discovers New Year Island.
* January 19 – An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, starts crossing the ...
–
Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (d. 1881)
* 1817 –
Émile Prudent, French pianist and composer (d. 1863)
*
1821 –
Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician and educator (d. 1910)
*
1824
May 7: The almost completely deaf Beethoven premieres his Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) , Ninth Symphony
Events
January–March
* January 8 – After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of the Royal Society, ...
–
Ranald MacDonald, American explorer and educator (d. 1894)
*
1826 –
Walter Bagehot, English journalist and businessman (d. 1877)
*
1830 –
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English politician,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...
(d. 1903)
*
1842 –
Sidney Lanier, American composer and poet (d. 1881)
*
1843
Events January–March
* January
** Serial publication of Charles Dickens's novel ''Martin Chuzzlewit'' begins in London; in the July chapters, he lands his hero in the United States.
** Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" ...
–
William Cornelius Van Horne, American-Canadian businessman (d. 1915)
*
1857 –
Giuseppe Moretti, Italian sculptor, designed the
Vulcan statue (d. 1935)
*
1859
Events
January–March
* January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico.
* January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final u ...
–
Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the
Junkers J 1 (d. 1935)
*
1862 –
James Clark McReynolds, American lawyer and judge (d. 1946)
*
1867
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...
–
Charles Henry Turner, American biologist, educator and zoologist (d. 1923)
*
1872 –
Lou Criger, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
*
1874 –
Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, playwright, (d. 1946)
*
1878 –
Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st
Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943)
*
1887 –
Georg Trakl, Austrian pharmacist and poet (d. 1914)
*
1889 –
Artur Adson, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1977)
* 1889 –
Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (d. 1968)
* 1889 –
Risto Ryti, Finnish lawyer, politician and the Governor of the
Bank of Finland
The Bank of Finland ( fi, Suomen Pankki, sv, Finlands Bank) is the central bank of Finland. It views itself as the fourth oldest surviving central bank in the world, after Sweden's Riksbank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of France.
History
...
; 5th
President of Finland (d. 1956)
*
1892 –
Juan Negrín, Spanish physician and politician, 67th
Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1956)
*
1893 –
Gaston Julia, Algerian-French mathematician and academic (d. 1978)
*
1894
Events January–March
* January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire.
* January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...
–
Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (d. 1978)
*
1898 –
Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, s ...
, Finnish architect, designed the
Finlandia Hall and
Aalto Theatre (d. 1976)
*
1899
Events January 1899
* January 1
** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.
** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City.
* January 2 –
**Bolivia sets up a c ...
–
Café Filho, Brazilian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 18th
President of Brazil (d. 1970)
*
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), ...
–
Mabel Mercer, English-American singer (d. 1984)
1901–present
*
1903
Events January
* January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
* January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...
–
Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 1973)
*
1904 –
Pretty Boy Floyd
Charles Arthur Floyd (February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1934), nicknamed Pretty Boy Floyd, was an American bank robber. He operated in the West and Central states, and his criminal exploits gained widespread press coverage in the 1930s. He was s ...
, American gangster (d. 1934)
*
1905 –
Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (d. 1990)
* 1905 –
Arne Beurling, Swedish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986)
*
1906 –
George Adamson, Indian-English author and activist (d. 1989)
*
1907 –
James A. Michener
James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...
, American author and philanthropist (d. 1997)
*
1909 –
André Cayatte, French lawyer and director (d. 1989)
* 1909 –
Simone Weil, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1943)
*
1911 –
Jehan Alain, French organist and composer (d. 1940)
*
1912 –
Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (d. 1990)
*
1914 –
Mary Carlisle, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2018)
*
1915 –
Johannes Kotkas
Johannes Kotkas (3 February 1915 – 8 May 1998) was a heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Estonia who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He held the European title in 1938, 1939 and 1947 and placed second at the 1953 world champio ...
, Estonian wrestler and hammer thrower (d. 1998)
*
1917 –
Shlomo Goren, Polish-Israeli rabbi and general (d. 1994)
*
1918 –
Joey Bishop, American actor and producer (d. 2007)
* 1918 –
Helen Stephens, American runner, baseball player, and manager (d. 1994)
*
1920 –
Russell Arms
Russell may refer to:
People
* Russell (given name)
* Russell (surname)
* Lady Russell (disambiguation)
* Lord Russell (disambiguation)
Places Australia
*Russell, Australian Capital Territory
*Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation)
**Russ ...
, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
* 1920 –
Tony Gaze, Australian race car driver and pilot (d. 2013)
* 1920 –
Henry Heimlich
Henry Judah Heimlich (February 3, 1920 – December 17, 2016) was an American thoracic surgeon and medical researcher. He is widely credited as the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, a technique of abdominal thrusts for stopping choking, first ...
, American physician and author (d. 2016)
*
1924 –
E. P. Thompson
Edward Palmer Thompson (3 February 1924 – 28 August 1993) was an English historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He is best known today for his historical work on the radical movements in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in ...
, English historian and author (d. 1993)
* 1924 –
Martial Asselin
Joseph Ferdinand Martial Asselin, (February 3, 1924 – January 25, 2013) was a Canadian politician and the 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (1990–1996).
Life and career
Born in La Malbaie, Quebec, the son of Ferdinand Asselin and Eu ...
, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
*
1925 –
Shelley Berman
Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer.
In his comedic career, he was awarded three gold records and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy reco ...
, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
* 1925 –
John Fiedler, American actor (d. 2005)
*
1926 –
Hans-Jochen Vogel, German lawyer and politician, 8th
Mayor of Berlin (d. 2020)
*
1927
Events January
* January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General.
* January 7
* ...
–
Kenneth Anger, American actor, director, and screenwriter
* 1927 –
Blas Ople, Filipino journalist and politician, 21st
President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2003)
*
1933 –
Paul Sarbanes, American lawyer and politician (d. 2020)
*
1934 –
Juan Carlos Calabró
Juan Carlos Calabró (3 February 1934 – 5 November 2013) was an Argentine actor and comedian.
Biography
He started on radio in the early sixties with the program "''Farandulandia''" and switched to television in 1962 with the hit comedy "''Tele ...
, Argentinian actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
*
1935 –
Johnny "Guitar" Watson, American blues, soul, and funk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
*
1936 –
Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (d. 1984)
* 1936 –
Bob Simpson, Australian cricketer and coach
*
1937 –
Billy Meier, Swiss author and photographer
*
1938 –
Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982)
* 1938 –
Emile Griffith
Emile Alphonse Griffith (February 3, 1938 – July 23, 2013) was a professional boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands who won world titles in three weight divisions. He held the world light middleweight, undisputed welterweight, and middleweight t ...
, American boxer and trainer (d. 2013)
*
1939 –
Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
*
1940 –
Fran Tarkenton, American football player and sportscaster
*
1941 –
Dory Funk, Jr., American wrestler and trainer
* 1941 –
Howard Phillips, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
*
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 – ...
–
Blythe Danner, American actress
* 1943 –
Dennis Edwards, American soul/R&B singer (d. 2018)
* 1943 –
Eric Haydock, English bass player (d. 2019)
* 1943 –
Shawn Phillips, American-South African singer-songwriter and guitarist
*
1945 –
Johnny Cymbal, Scottish-American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1993)
* 1945 –
Bob Griese, American football player and sportscaster
*
1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...
–
Paul Auster, American novelist, essayist, and poet
* 1947 –
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was ...
, English musician
* 1947 –
Stephen McHattie, Canadian actor and director
*
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
–
Henning Mankell, Swedish author and playwright (d. 2015)
*
1949 –
Jim Thorpe, American golfer
*
1950 –
Morgan Fairchild
Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny; February 3, 1950) is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since.
Fairchild began her career on the CBS daytime soap opera '' Search for ...
, American actress
* 1950 –
Grant Goldman, Australian radio and television host (d. 2020)
*
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
–
Eugenijus Riabovas, Lithuanian footballer and manager
* 1951 –
Michael Ruppert, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
*
1952 –
Fred Lynn, American baseball player and sportscaster
*
1954 –
Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
*
1956 –
John Jefferson, American football player and coach
* 1956 –
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...
, American actor and comedian
*
1957
1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...
–
Eric Lander, American mathematician, geneticist, and academic
*
1958 –
Joe F. Edwards, Jr.
Joe Frank Edwards Jr. (born February 3, 1958), ( Cmdr, USN, Ret.), is an American aerospace engineer,former naval officer, aviator, test pilot and NASA astronaut.
Early life and education
Edwards was born February 3, 1958, in Richmond, Virgin ...
, American commander, pilot, and astronaut
* 1958 –
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American economist
* 1958 –
Greg Mankiw, American economist and academic
*
1959 –
Óscar Iván Zuluaga, Colombian economist and politician, 67th
Colombian Minister of Finance
*
1960 –
Joachim Löw, German footballer and manager
*
1961 –
Linda Eder, American singer and actress
*
1963 –
Raghuram Rajan, Indian economist and academic
*
1963 –
Vũ Đức Đam, Vietnamese politician
*
1964 –
Indrek Tarand, Estonian historian, journalist, and politician
*
1965 –
Maura Tierney, American actress and producer
*
1966 –
Frank Coraci, American director and screenwriter
* 1966 –
Danny Morrison, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
*
1967 –
Tim Flowers, English footballer and coach
* 1967 –
Mixu Paatelainen, Finnish footballer and coach
*
1968
The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
–
Vlade Divac, Serbian-American basketball player and sportscaster
* 1968 –
Marwan Khoury, Lebanese singer, songwriter, and composer
*
1969 –
Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th
Attorney General of Delaware (d. 2015)
* 1969 –
Retief Goosen, South African golfer
*
1970 –
Óscar Córdoba
Óscar Eduardo Córdoba Arce (born 3 February 1970) is a Colombian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played more than 70 games for the Colombia national team. He is also the only person to never concede a goal in a ...
, Colombian footballer
* 1970 –
Warwick Davis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
*
1971 –
Sarah Kane, English playwright (d. 1999)
* 1971 –
Hong Seok-cheon, South Korean actor
*
1972 –
Jesper Kyd, Danish pianist and composer
*
1973 –
Ilana Sod, Mexican journalist and producer
*
1976 –
Isla Fisher, Australian actress.
*
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...
–
Daddy Yankee, American-Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
* 1977 –
Marek Židlický, Czech ice hockey player
*
1978 –
Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer
*
1979 –
Paul Franks, English cricketer and coach
*
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...
–
Becky Bayless, American wrestler
* 1982 –
Marie-Ève Drolet
Marie-Ève Drolet (born February 3, 1982) is a Canadian short track speed skater who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics where she won a bronze in the relay event. She also has six ISU World Championship medals to her name and was a two time ov ...
, Canadian speed skater
*
1984 –
Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of
Theranos
*
1985 –
Angela Fong, Canadian wrestler and actress
* 1985 –
Andrei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
*
1986 –
Lucas Duda, American baseball player
* 1986 –
Mathieu Giroux, Canadian speed skater
* 1986 –
Kanako Yanagihara
(born February 3, 1986 in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese actress, comedian, and '' tarento'', who has been featured in '' Cartoon KAT-TUN'', the live-action drama ''Otomen'', and collaborated on the music for '' Keroro Gunso the Super Movie ...
, Japanese actress
*
1987 –
Elvana Gjata, Albanian singer
*
1988 –
Cho Kyu-hyun
Cho Kyu-hyun (born February 3, 1988), referred to as Kyuhyun, is a South Korean singer, musical theatre actor and television host. He debuted as a new member of boy group Super Junior (and later its sub-groups Super Junior-K.R.Y. and Super Jun ...
, South Korean singer
*
1989 –
Meng Jia, Chinese singer and actress
*1989 –
Slobodan Rajković, Serbian footballer
*
1990 –
Sean Kingston, American-Jamaican singer-songwriter
* 1990 –
Martin Taupau, New Zealand rugby league player
*
1991 –
Corey Norman, Australian rugby league player
*
1992 –
Olli Aitola, Finnish ice hockey player
*
1998 –
Tyler Huntley, American football player
*
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
–
Kanna Hashimoto, Japanese actress
Deaths
Pre-1600
*
6 –
Ping, emperor of the Han Dynasty (b. 9 BC)
*
456
__NOTOC__
Year 456 ( CDLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Avitus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1209 '' ...
–
Sihyaj Chan K'awiil II, ruler of Tikal
*
639
__NOTOC__
Year 639 ( DCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 639 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
–
K'inich Yo'nal Ahk I, ruler of Piedras Negras
*
699 –
Werburgh, English nun and saint
*
865 –
Ansgar
Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar, Saint Ansgar, Saint Anschar or Oscar, was Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of the Kingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North" ...
, Frankish archbishop (b. 801)
*
929 –
Guy, margrave of Tuscany
*
938
Year 938 ( CMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – The Hungarian army invades Northern Italy with the permission of King H ...
–
Zhou Ben Zhou Ben () (862''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms''vol. 7-February 3, 938''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 281.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), formally Prince Gonglie of Xiping (), was a general of the Chinese Five Dynast ...
, Chinese general (b. 862)
*
994 –
William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
*
1014
Year in topic Year 1014 ( MXIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1014th in topic the 1014th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 14th year o ...
–
Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)
*
1116
Year 1116 ( MCXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Autumn – Battle of Philomelion: Emperor Alexios I (Komnenos) leads an expe ...
–
Coloman, king of Hungary
*
1161 –
Inge I, king of Norway (b. 1135)
*
1252 –
Sviatoslav III, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1196)
*
1399
Year 1399 ( MCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events January–December
* January – Timur the Lame captures and sacks Haridwar.
* February 3 – ...
–
John of Gaunt, Belgian-English politician,
Lord High Steward (b. 1340)
*
1428 –
Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1386)
*
1451 –
Murad II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1404)
*
1468 –
Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its kind, earlier designs ...
, German publisher, invented the
Printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
(b. 1398)
*
1475
Year 1475 (Roman numerals, MCDLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 10 – Battle of Vaslui (Moldavian–Ottoman Wars): Stephen I ...
–
John IV, Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count (b. 1410)
*
1537
__NOTOC__
Year 1537 ( MDXXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January
** Bigod's Rebellion, an uprising by Roman Catholics against Henry ...
–
Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (b. 1513)
*
1566
__NOTOC__
Year 1566 ( MDLXVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 7 – Pope Pius V succeeds Pope Pius IV, as the 225th pope.
* Febr ...
–
George Cassander, Flemish theologian and author (b. 1513)
1601–1900
*
1618 –
Philip II, duke of Pomerania (b. 1573)
*
1619
Events
January–June
* January 12 – James I of England's Banqueting House, Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire."Fires, Great", in ''The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Co ...
–
Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English politician,
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1564)
*
1737
Events
January–March
* January 5 – Spain and the Holy Roman Empire sign instruments of cession at Pontremoli in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in Italy, with the Empire receiving control of Tuscany and the Grand Duchy of Parma an ...
–
Tommaso Ceva, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1648)
*
1802
Events
January–March
* January 5 – Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, begins removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, claiming they were at risk of destruction during the Ot ...
–
Pedro Rodríguez, Spanish statesman and economist (b. 1723)
*
1813 –
Juan Bautista Cabral
Juan Bautista Cabral (24 June 1789 – 3 February 1813) was an Argentine soldier, of Zambo origin, of the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers who died in the Battle of San Lorenzo, while he was aiding then Colonel Don José de San Martín, whos ...
, Argentinian sergeant (b. 1789)
*
1820 –
Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1762)
*
1832 –
George Crabbe, English surgeon and poet (b. 1754)
*
1862 –
Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (b. 1774)
*
1866 –
François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet, author, and historian (b. 1809)
*
1873
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar.
** The California Penal Code goes into effect.
* January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat ...
–
Isaac Baker Brown, English gynecologist and surgeon (b. 1811)
1901–present
*
1922 –
Christiaan de Wet, South African general and politician,
State President of the Orange Free State
This is a list of State Presidents of the Orange Free State.
List
Last election
See also
*State President of the South African Republic
External links
Archontology.org: Orange Free State: Heads of State: 1854–1902
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stat ...
(b. 1854)
* 1922 –
John Butler Yeats, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1839)
*
1924 –
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...
, American historian, academic, and politician, 28th
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
,
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...
laureate (b. 1856)
*
1929 –
Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1878)
*
1935 –
Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the
Junkers J 1 (b. 1859)
*
1944 –
Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (b. 1865)
*
1945 –
Roland Freisler, German lawyer and judge (b. 1893)
*
1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...
–
Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (b. 1887)
*
1952 –
Harold L. Ickes, American journalist and politician, 32nd
United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1874)
*
1955 –
Vasily Blokhin
Vasily Mikhailovich Blokhin (russian: Васи́лий Миха́йлович Блохи́н; 7 January 1895 – 3 February 1955) was a Soviet and Russian major general who served as the chief executioner of the NKVD under the administratio ...
, Russian general (b. 1895)
*
1956 –
Émile Borel, French mathematician and academic (b. 1871)
* 1956 –
Johnny Claes, English-Belgian race car driver and trumpet player (b. 1916)
*
1959 –
The Day the Music Died
**
The Big Bopper, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1930)
**
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...
, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
**
Ritchie Valens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
*
1960 –
Fred Buscaglione
Ferdinando "Fred" Buscaglione (; 23 November 1921 – 3 February 1960) was an Italian singer and actor who became very popular in the late 1950s. His public persona – the character he played both in his songs and his movies – was of a humoro ...
, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
*
1961 –
William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil, Scottish-Australian captain and politician, 14th
Governor-General of Australia (b. 1893)
* 1961 –
Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)
*
1963 –
Benjamin R. Jacobs (b. 1879)
*
1967 –
Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
*
1969 –
C. N. Annadurai, Indian journalist and politician, 7th
Chief Minister of Madras State
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with t ...
(b. 1909)
* 1969 –
Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambican activist and academic (b. 1920)
*
1975 –
William D. Coolidge, American physicist and engineer (b. 1873)
* 1975 –
Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1904)
*
1985 –
Frank Oppenheimer
Frank Friedman Oppenheimer (August 14, 1912 – February 3, 1985) was an American particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, and the founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco.
A younger brother ...
, American physicist and academic (b. 1912)
*
1989 –
John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
* 1989 –
Lionel Newman, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1916)
*
1991 –
Nancy Kulp, American actress (b. 1921)
*
1993 –
Françoys Bernier, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1927)
*
1996 –
Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (b. 1922)
*
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
–
Gwen Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1950)
*
2005 –
Zurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania ( ka, ზურაბ ჟვანია; 9 December 1963 – 3 February 2005) was a Georgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.
Zhvania began his political career ...
, Georgian biologist and politician, 4th
Prime Minister of Georgia
The prime minister of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრემიერ-მინისტრი, tr) is the head of government and chief executive of Georgia.
In Georgia, the president is a ceremonial head of state and ma ...
(b. 1963)
* 2005 –
Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist and ornithologist (b. 1904)
*
2006 –
Al Lewis, American actor and activist (b. 1923)
*
2009 –
Sheng-yen
Sheng Yen (), born Zhang Baokang (), (January 22, 1931 – February 3, 2009) was a Taiwanese Buddhist monk, religious scholar, and writer. He was one of the mainstream teachers of Chan Buddhism. He was a 57th generational dharma heir of Lin ...
, Chinese monk and scholar, founded the
Dharma Drum Mountain (b. 1930)
*
2010 –
Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
* 2010 –
Frances Reid, American actress (b. 1914)
*
2011 –
Maria Schneider, French actress (b. 1952)
*
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
–
Toh Chin Chye, Singaporean academic and politician, 1st
Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1921)
* 2012 –
Ben Gazzara, American actor and director (b. 1930)
* 2012 –
Terence Hildner, American general (b. 1962)
* 2012 –
Raj Kanwar, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1961)
* 2012 –
Zalman King, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1942)
* 2012 –
Andrzej Szczeklik, Polish physician and academic (b. 1938)
*
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
–
Cardiss Collins, American politician (b. 1931)
* 2013 –
Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian composer and producer (b. 1921)
* 2013 –
James Muri
James Perry Muri (October 19, 1918 – February 3, 2013) was an American World War II pilot. His United States Army Air Forces squadron helped protect Midway Island during the war by attacking a Japanese aircraft carrier task force.
Biography
B ...
, American soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
* 2013 –
Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician,
Chief Minister of Balochistan (b. 1954)
*
2015 –
Martin Gilbert, English historian, author, and academic (b. 1936)
* 2015 –
Mary Healy, American actress and singer (b. 1918)
* 2015 –
Charlie Sifford, American golfer (b. 1922)
* 2015 –
Nasim Hasan Shah, Pakistani lawyer and judge, 12th
Chief Justice of Pakistan (b. 1929)
*
2016 –
Joe Alaskey, American actor (b. 1952)
* 2016 –
Balram Jakhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 23rd
Governor of Madhya Pradesh (b. 1923)
* 2016 –
József Kasza
József Kasza ( sr-cyr, Јожеф Каса, Jožef Kasa, 6 February 1945 – 3 February 2016) was a Serbian politician, economist, and banker. An ethnic Hungarian, he led the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians from 1995 to 2007.
He was the D ...
, Serbian politician and economist (b. 1945)
*
2017 –
Dritëro Agolli
Dritëro Agolli (13 October 1931 – 3 February 2017) was an Albanian poet, writer and politician. He studied in Leningrad in the Soviet Union, and wrote primarily poetry, but also short stories, essays, plays, and novels. He was head of the Le ...
, Albanian poet, writer and politician (b. 1931)
*
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
–
Julie Adams, American actress (b. 1926)
* 2019 –
Kristoff St. John, American actor (b. 1966)
*
2020 –
George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances
* Christian
feast day:
**
Aaron the Illustrious
The ''Martyrology of Rabban Sliba'' is a book containing the names and feast days of a number of martyrs of the Syriac Orthodox Church. It was edited by P. Paul Peeters, S.J., and published in ''Analecta Bollandiana'' #27 in 1908.
Saints include ...
(
Syriac Orthodox Church)
**
Ansgar
Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar, Saint Ansgar, Saint Anschar or Oscar, was Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of the Kingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North" ...
**
Berlinda of Meerbeke
**
Blaise
**
Celsa and Nona
**
Claudine Thévenet
Claudine Thévenet, RJM (30 March 1774 – 3 February 1837), religious name Marie of Saint Ignatius, was a French Catholic nun and the founder of the Religious of Jesus and Mary.
Thévenet witnessed the horrors of the French Revolution – ...
**
Dom Justo Takayama (
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and
Japan)
**
Hadelin
**
Margaret of England
**
Werburgh
**
February 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
*
Day of the Virgin of Suyapa (
Honduras)
* Earliest day on which
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lent ...
can fall, while March 9 is the latest; celebrated on Tuesday before
Ash Wednesday (Christianity)
*
Four Chaplains Day (United States, also considered a Feast Day by the
Episcopal Church)
*
Communist Party of Vietnam Foundation Anniversary (
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
)
*
Day of Finnish architecture and design, birthday of
Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, s ...
(
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...
)
''Flags fly for Finnish architecture and design on 3 February''
/ref>
* Heroes' Day (Mozambique)
* Martyrs' Day (São Tomé and Príncipe)
* Setsubun ( Japan)
* Veterans' Day (Thailand)
References
External links
BBC: On This Day
*
Historical Events on February 3
{{months
Days of the year
February