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On This Day in History — February 3

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Highlights of February 3

2023 — A freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, releasing hazardous materials into the surrounding area. Read more
2014 — Russia's first school shooting took place when a student opened fire at School No. 263 in Moscow, resulting in the deaths of a teacher and a police officer. Read more
2010 — An edition of L'Homme qui marche I, a bronze sculpture by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, was sold for £65 million, setting the record for the most expensive sculpture sold at auction. Read more
2006 — Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen: 23 convicts, including several militants associated with al-Qaeda, escaped from a prison administered by the Political Security Organization in Sanaa, Yemen. Read more
1998 — Despite a large international movement advocating the commutation of her sentence to life imprisonment, Karla Faye Tucker became the first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984. Read more
1995 — In mission STS-63, astronaut Eileen Collins (pictured) became the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle. Read more
1986 — Steve Jobs purchased Pixar from Lucasfilm and launched it as an independent computer-animation studio. Read more
1972 — The deadliest blizzard in history began in Iran and continued for a week leaving more than 4,000 people dead. Read more
1959 — American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash (wreckage pictured) shortly after takeoff from Mason City Municipal Airport in Iowa. Read more
1953 — Hundreds of native creoles known as Forros were massacred on São Tomé Island by the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners. Read more
1941 — World War II: Free French and British forces began the Battle of Keren to capture the strategic town of Keren in Italian East Africa. Read more
1933 — Adolf Hitler announced that the conquest of Lebensraum in Eastern Europe, and its "ruthless Germanisation", were the geopolitical objectives of Reich foreign policy. Read more
1930 — The Communist Party of Indochina, the Communist Party of Annam and the Communist League of Indochina merged to form the Communist Party of Vietnam. Read more
1870 — Reconstruction era: The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, formally prohibiting race-based disenfranchisement in the United States. Read more
1862 — Moldavia and Wallachia formally united, creating the Romanian United Principalities. Read more
1852 — The Argentine Confederation was defeated in the Platine War by an alliance consisting of Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes. Read more
1813 — Argentine War of Independence: José de San Martín and the Mounted Grenadiers Regiment defeated Spanish royalist forces in the Battle of San Lorenzo (depicted). Read more
1266 — Mudéjar revolt: King James I of Aragon entered the formerly Muslim-held city of Murcia following its surrender three days earlier. Read more
1047 — Emperor Henry III declared Drogo of Hauteville to be count of all Apulian and Calabrian Normans. Read more

Events

2026 — Islamist militants massacred at least 162 while injuring and kidnapping dozens in two villages in Kwara State, Nigeria. Read more
2023 — Ohio train derailment: A freight train containing vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials derails and burns in East Palestine, Ohio, United States, releasing hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air and contaminating the Ohio River. Read more
2014 — A school shooting in Moscow, Russia leaves two people dead and one wounded. Read more
2007 — A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339. Read more
2005 — One hundred five people are killed when Kam Air Flight 904 crashes in the Pamir Mountains in Afghanistan. Read more
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. Read more
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. Read more
1994 — Space Shuttle program: STS-60 is launched, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle. Read more
1989 — After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months. Read more
1989 — A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954. Read more
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. Read more
1984 — Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B is launched using Space Shuttle Challenger. Read more
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. Read more
1971 — New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption. Read more
1966 — The Soviet Union'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. Read more
1961 — The United States Air Force 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's command post. Read more
1960 — British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of "a wind of change", signalling that his Government is likely to support decolonisation. Read more
1959 — Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, 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. Read more
1959 — Sixty-five people are killed when American Airlines Flight 320 crashes into the East River on approach to LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Read more
1958 — Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community. Read more
1953 — The Batepá massacre occurs in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleash a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros. Read more
1945 — World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000. Read more
1945 — World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan. Read more
1944 — World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison. Read more
1943 — The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive. Read more
1933 — Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Nazi foreign policy. Read more
1931 — The Hawke's Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst natural disaster, kills 258. Read more
1930 — The Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a "Unification Conference" held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong. Read more
1927 — A revolt against the military dictatorship of Portugal breaks out at Porto. Read more
1918 — The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,630 meters) long. Read more
1917 — World War I: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare. Read more
1916 — The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of seven lives. Read more
1913 — The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax. Read more
1870 — The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race. Read more
1862 — Moldavia and Wallachia formally unite to create the Romanian United Principalities. Read more
1830 — The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence. Read more
1813 — José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence. Read more
1809 — The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress. Read more
1807 — A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay. Read more
1787 — Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of Shays' Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts. Read more
1783 — Spain–United States relations are first established. Read more
1781 — American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius. Read more
1716 — The 1716 Algiers earthquake sequence began with an Mw 7.0 mainshock that caused severe damage and killed 20,000 in Algeria. Read more
1706 — During the Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment. Read more
1690 — The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas. Read more
1639 — The House of Assembly of Barbados meets for the first time. Read more
1637 — Tulip Mania collapses within the Dutch Republic. Read more
1583 — Battle of São Vicente takes place off Portuguese Brazil where three English warships led by navigator Edward Fenton fight off three Spanish galleons sinking one in the process. Read more
1509 — The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India. Read more
1488 — 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. Read more
1451 — Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. Read more
1112 — Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states. Read more
1047 — Drogo of Hauteville is elected as count of the Apulian Normans during the Norman conquest of Southern Italy. Read more

Born on February 3

2004 — Rei, Japanese rapper and singer Read more
2004 — Scoot Henderson, American basketball player Read more
2001 — Tre Mann, American basketball player Read more
2001 — Rhys Williams, English footballer Read more
1999 — Kanna Hashimoto, Japanese actress Read more
1998 — Tyler Huntley, American football player Read more
1998 — Isaiah Roby, American basketball player Read more
1998 — Aurélien Giraud, French skateboarder Read more
1995 — Tao Tsuchiya, Japanese actress Read more
1994 — Rougned Odor, Venezuelan baseball player Read more
1993 — Adam Reach, English footballer Read more
1992 — Olli Aitola, Finnish ice hockey player Read more
1992 — James White, American football player Read more
1990 — Sean Kingston, American-Jamaican singer-songwriter Read more
1989 — Jia, Chinese singer and actress Read more
1989 — Slobodan Rajković, Serbian footballer Read more
1988 — Cho Kyu-hyun, South Korean singer Read more
1987 — Elvana Gjata, Albanian singer Read more
1986 — Mathieu Giroux, Canadian speed skater Read more
1986 — Kanako Yanagihara, Japanese actress Read more
1985 — Angela Fong, Canadian wrestler and actress Read more
1985 — Andrei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player Read more
1984 — Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of Theranos Read more
1984 — Matthew Moy, American actor Read more
1982 — Becky Bayless, American wrestler Read more
1982 — Marie-Ève Drolet, Canadian speed skater Read more
1982 — Bridget Regan, American actress Read more
1978 — Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer Read more
1978 — Amal Clooney, British-Lebanese barrister and activist Read more
1977 — Maitland Ward, American actress and model Read more
1977 — Daddy Yankee, Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer Read more
1977 — Marek Židlický, Czech ice hockey player Read more
1977 — Adia Barnes, American basketball player and coach Read more
1976 — Mathieu Dandenault, Canadian ice hockey player Read more
1976 — Isla Fisher, Omani-Australian actress Read more
1976 — Tim Heidecker, American actor, comedian, and musician Read more
1976 — Eihi Shiina, Japanese fashion model and actress Read more
1974 — Ayanna Pressley, American politician Read more
1973 — Ilana Sod, Mexican journalist and producer Read more
1971 — Elisa Donovan, American actress Read more

Died on February 3

2025 — Harry Jayawardena, Sri Lankan industrialist (born 1942) Read more
2025 — Kandiah Balendra, Sri Lankan corporate leader and executive (born 1940) Read more
2020 — George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (born 1929) Read more
2019 — Julie Adams, American actress (born 1926) Read more
2019 — Kristoff St. John, American actor (born 1966) Read more
2017 — Dritëro Agolli, Albanian poet, writer and politician (born 1931) Read more
2016 — Joe Alaskey, American actor (born 1952) Read more
2016 — Balram Jakhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Madhya Pradesh (born 1923) Read more
2016 — József Kasza, Serbian politician and economist (born 1945) Read more
2015 — Martin Gilbert, English historian, author, and academic (born 1936) Read more
2015 — Mary Healy, American actress and singer (born 1918) Read more
2015 — Charlie Sifford, American golfer (born 1922) Read more
2015 — Nasim Hasan Shah, Pakistani lawyer and judge, 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan (born 1929) Read more
2013 — Cardiss Collins, American politician (born 1931) Read more
2013 — Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian composer and producer (born 1921) Read more
2013 — James Muri, American soldier and pilot (born 1918) Read more
2013 — Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (born 1954) Read more
2012 — Toh Chin Chye, Singaporean academic and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (born 1921) Read more
2012 — Ben Gazzara, American actor and director (born 1930) Read more
2012 — Terence Hildner, American general (born 1962) Read more
2012 — Raj Kanwar, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1961) Read more
2012 — Zalman King, American actor, director, and producer (born 1942) Read more
2012 — Andrzej Szczeklik, Polish physician and academic (born 1938) Read more
2011 — Maria Schneider, French actress (born 1952) Read more
2010 — Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (born 1926) Read more
2010 — Frances Reid, American actress (born 1914) Read more
2009 — Sheng-yen, Chinese monk and scholar, founded the Dharma Drum Mountain (born 1930) Read more
2006 — Al Lewis, American actor and activist (born 1923) Read more
2005 — Zurab Zhvania, Georgian biologist and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Georgia (born 1963) Read more
2005 — Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist and ornithologist (born 1904) Read more
2004 — Mrs. Ngô Bá Thành, Vietnamese lawyer, politician, and activist (born 1931) Read more
1999 — Gwen Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1950) Read more
1996 — Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (born 1922) Read more
1993 — Françoys Bernier, Canadian pianist and conductor (born 1927) Read more
1991 — Nancy Kulp, American actress (born 1921) Read more
1989 — John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1929) Read more
1989 — Lionel Newman, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1916) Read more
1985 — Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (born 1912) Read more
1975 — William D. Coolidge, American physicist and engineer (born 1873) Read more
1975 — Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actress (born 1904) Read more

Holidays & observances

Christian feast day: Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church); Christian feast day: Ansgar; Christian feast day: Berlinda of Meerbeke; Christian feast day: Blaise; Christian feast day: Celsa and Nona; Christian feast day: Claudine Thévenet; Christian feast day: Dom Justo Takayama (Philippines and Japan); Christian feast day: Hadelin; Christian feast day: Margaret of England; Christian feast day: Werburgh; Christian feast day: February 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics); Day of the Virgin of Suyapa (Honduras); Earliest day on which Shrove Tuesday 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); Day of Finnish architecture and design, birthday of Alvar Aalto (Finland); Heroes' Day (Mozambique); Martyrs' Day (São Tomé and Príncipe); Setsubun (Japan); Veterans' Day (Thailand)

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Events, births and deaths from Wikipedia contributors, “February 3”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Lists are selections; the full record lives at the source.