February 3

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

2006 Calendar

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays

[edit] Events

1451 - Murad II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Mehmed II.
1488 - Bartholomeu Diaz of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, becoming the first known European to travel this far south.
1690 - The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.
1783 - American Revolutionary War: Spain recognizes United States independence.
1787 - Shays' Rebellion is crushed, ending an uprising that would prompt negotiations that would result in the drafting of the Constitution of the United States.
1809 - Illinois Territory is created.
1815 - The first commercial cheese factory is founded (Switzerland).
1867 - Prince Mutsuhito becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan.
1870 - The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.
1900 - Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky. Former-Secretary of State Caleb Powers was later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebel.
1913 - The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect income tax.
1916 - Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burn down.
1917 - World War I: The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany a day after Germany announces a new policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1918 - The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long).
1931 - 258 die in New Zealand's worst natural disaster, the Napier earthquake.
1941 - World War II: The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy, France.
1944 - United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
1945 - World War II: Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre conflict against Japan.
1947 - Percival Prattis becomes the first African American news correspondent allowed in the United States House and Senate press gallery.
1951 - Dick Button wins the American figure skating championship for the fourth consecutive time.
1952 - The earliest known tropical storm makes landfall in South Florida.
1959 - Plane crash that kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. This date becomes known as "The Day The Music Died".
1966 - The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.
1969 - In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.
1972 - The first Winter Olympics to be held in Asia open in Sapporo, Japan.
1984 - Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on the tenth space shuttle mission.
1988 - Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.
1989 - After a stroke, P.W. Botha resigns party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.
1998 - Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas becoming the first woman executed in the United States since 1984.
1998 - Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot causes the death of 20 skiers in Italy riding on a lift suspended by a cable snapped by the low-flying plane.
2002 - Super Bowl XXXVI: The New England Patriots defeat the St. Louis Rams, 20-17, to win their first Super Bowl championship.
2008 - Super Bowl XLII will take place from the new Arizona Cardinals stadium currently under construction in Glendale, Arizona.

[edit] Births

1338 - Jeanne de Bourbon, queen of Charles V of France (d. 1378)
1677 - Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect (d. 1723)
1690 - Richard Rawlinson, English minister and antiquarian (d. 1755)
1721 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
1754 - George Crabbe, English poet and naturalist (d. 1832)
1809 - Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (d. 1847)
1811 - Horace Greeley, American journalist, editor, and publisher (d. 1872)
1821 - Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician (d. 1910)
1830 - Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
1842 - Sidney Lanier, American writer (d. 1881)
1859 - Hugo Junkers, German industrialist and aircraft designer (d. 1935)
1862 - James Clark McReynolds, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1946)
1874 - Gertrude Stein, American writer and patron of the arts (d. 1946)
1887 - Georg Trakl, Austrian poet (d. 1914)
1893 - Gaston Julia, French mathematician (d. 1978)
1894 - Norman Rockwell, American artist, illustrator (d. 1978)
1898 - Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (d. 1976)
1899 - Lao She, Chinese writer (d. 1966)
1904 - Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer (d. 1975)
1904 - Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934)
1907 - James Michener, American author (d. 1997)
1909 - Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
1911 - Robert Earl Jones, American actor
1918 - Joey Bishop, American comedian and actor
1918 - Helen Stephens, American runner
1920 - Henry Heimlich, American physician
1925 - John Fiedler, American voice actor
1926 - Shelley Berman, American comedian
1927 - Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer
1930 - Gillian Ayres, English painter
1932 - Peggy Ann Garner, American actress (d. 1984)
1933 - Paul Sarbanes, U.S. Senator
1938 - Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982)
1939 - Michael Cimino, American film director
1940 - Fran Tarkenton, American football player
1941 - Neil Bogart, music company executive (d. 1982)
1943 - Blythe Danner, American actress
1945 - Bob Griese, American football player
1947 - Paul Auster, American novelist
1947 - Dave Davies, British musician (The Kinks)
1948 - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timor politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
1950 - Morgan Fairchild, American actress
1950 - Pamela Franklin, American actress
1952 - Fred Lynn, baseball player
1955 - Stephen Euin Cobb, American novelist
1955 - Kirsty Wark, British broadcast journalist
1956 - Nathan Lane, American actor
1956 - Lee Ranaldo, American musician (Sonic Youth)
1958 - N. Gregory Mankiw, American economist
1959 - Thomas Calabro, American actor
1960 - Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler (d. 1993)
1961 - Keith Gordon, American actor and director
1965 - Maura Tierney, American actress
1970 - Warwick Davis, British actor
1971 - Sarah Kane, English playwright (d. 1999)
1972 - Mart Poom, Estonian soccer player
1974 - Miriam Yeung, Hong Kong actress and singer
1976 - Isla Fisher, Australian actress
1989 - Vania King, American tennis player

[edit] Deaths

619 - Laurence of Canterbury, second Archbishop of Canterbury
699 - Saint Werburgh
1014 - King Sweyn I of Denmark
1116 - King Coloman of Hungary (b. 1070)
1399 - John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (b. 1340)
1428 - Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shogun (b. 1386)
1451 - Murad II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1404)
1468 - Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher
1566 - George Cassander, Flemish theologian (b. 1513)
1619 - Henry Brooke, 8th Baron Cobham, English conspirator (b. 1564)
1802 - Pedro Rodríguez, Conde de Campomanes, Spanish statesman and writer (b. 1723)
1862 - Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (b. 1774)
1889 - Belle Starr, American outlaw (b. 1848)
1922 - John Butler Yeats, Northern Irish artist (b. 1839)
1924 - Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)
1956 - Émile Borel, French mathematician, politician, statesman, and resistance figher (b. 1871)
1959 - Also known as The Day the Music Died because of the deaths of:
- The Big Bopper, American singer (b. 1930)
- Buddy Holly, American singer (b. 1936)
- Ritchie Valens, American singer (b. 1941)
1960 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
1985 - Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1912)
1989 - John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and writer (b. 1929)
1998 - Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer (b. 1959)
2000 - Richard Kleindienst, American politician (b. 1923)
2003 - Lana Clarkson, American actress (murdered) (b. 1962)
2005 - Corrado Cardinal Bafile, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1903)
2005 - Zurab Zhvania, Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1963)