February 2 facts for kids

February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 332 days remain until the end of the year (333 in leap years).

Events

Pre-1600

• 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of "Roman law".
• 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III of France is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony.
• 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.
• 1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda.
• 1207 – Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established.
• 1428 – An intense earthquake struck the Principality of Catalonia, with the epicenter near Camprodon. Widespread destruction and heavy casualties were reported.
• 1438 – Nine leaders of the Transylvanian peasant revolt are executed at Torda.
• 1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer's Cross results in the death of Owen Tudor.
• 1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1601–1900

• 1645 – Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Inverlochy.
• 1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
• 1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe's adventure book Robinson Crusoe.
• 1814 – The last of the River Thames frost fairs comes to an end.
• 1848 – Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
• 1850 – Brigham Young declares war on Timpanogos in the Battle at Fort Utah.
• 1868 – Pro-Imperial forces capture Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burn it to the ground.
• 1870 – The Seven Brothers (Seitsemän veljestä), a novel by Finnish author Aleksis Kivi, is published first time in several thin booklets.
• 1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
• 1881 – The sentences of the trial of the warlocks of Chiloé are imparted.
• 1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the first Groundhog Day is observed.
• 1899 – The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.
• 1900 – Boston, Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Chicago and St. Louis, agree to form baseball's American League.

1901–present

• 1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
• 1909 – The Paris Film Congress opens, an attempt by European producers to form an equivalent to the MPCC cartel in the United States.
• 1913 – Grand Central Terminal opens in New York City.
• 1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
• 1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
• 1922 – The uprising called the "pork mutiny" starts in the region between Kuolajärvi and Savukoski in Finland.
• 1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
• 1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
• 1935 – Leonarde Keeler administers polygraph tests to two suspects, the first time polygraph evidence was admitted in U.S. courts.
• 1942 – The Osvald Group is responsible for the first, active event of anti-Nazi resistance in Norway, to protest the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling.
• 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last organized German troops in the city.
• 1954 – The Detroit Red Wings played in the first outdoor hockey game by any NHL team in an exhibition against the Marquette Branch Prison Pirates in Marquette, Michigan.
• 1959 – Nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union die under mysterious circumstances.
• 1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
• 1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
• 1971 – The international Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran.
• 1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
• 1982 – Hama massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama.
• 1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution.
• 1989 – Soviet–Afghan War: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.
• 1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
• 2000 – First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.
• 2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men's singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.
• 2005 – The Government of Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act. This legislation would become law on July 20, 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage.
• 2012 – The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 146–165 dead.
• 2021 – The Burmese military establishes the State Administration Council, the military junta, after deposing the democratically elected government in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.

Births

Pre-1600

• 450 – Justin I, Byzantine emperor (d. 527)
• 1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
• 1425 (or 1426) – Eleanor of Navarre, Queen regnant of Navarre (d. 1479)
• 1443 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1486)
• 1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513)
• 1457 – Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian and author (d. 1526)
• 1467 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican sister (d. 1501)
• 1494 – Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)
• 1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher and historian (d. 1574)
• 1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583)
• 1509 – John of Leiden, Dutch Anabaptist leader (d. 1536)
• 1517 – Gotthard Kettler, the last Master of the Livonian Order and the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia (d. 1587)
• 1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565)
• 1536 – Piotr Skarga, Polish writer (d. 1612)
• 1551 – Nicolaus Reimers, German astronomer (d. 1600)
• 1576 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (d. 1622)
• 1585 – Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare's youngest daughter (d. 1662)
• 1585 – Hamnet Shakespeare, William Shakespeare's only son (baptised; d. 1596)
• 1588 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (d. 1644)
• 1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)

1601–1900

• 1611 – Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (d. 1633)
• 1613 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
• 1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish author and hymn-writer (d. 1679)
• 1650 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
• 1650 – Nell Gwyn, English actress, mistress of King Charles II of England (d. 1687)
• 1651 – William Phips, Royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1695)
• 1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732)
• 1677 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French composer (d. 1745)
• 1695 – William Borlase, English geologist and archaeologist (d. 1772)
• 1695 – François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)
• 1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German author and critic (d. 1766)
• 1711 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (d. 1794)
• 1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German organist and composer (d. 1785)
• 1717 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)
• 1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1838)
• 1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1835)
• 1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1856)
• 1802 – Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist and academic (d. 1887)
• 1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (d. 1862)
• 1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist and illustrator (d. 1884)
• 1829 – William Stanley, English engineer and philanthropist (d. 1909)
• 1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and hydrologist (d. 1912)
• 1842 – Julian Sochocki, Polish-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1927)
• 1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet and playwright (d. 1921)
• 1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican illustrator and engraver (d. 1913)
• 1856 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)
• 1856 – Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (d. 1905)
• 1857 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (d. 1918)
• 1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American journalist and politician, 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
• 1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949)
• 1862 – Émile Coste, French fencer (d. 1927)
• 1862 – Cornelius McKane, American physician, educator, and hospital founder (d. 1912)
• 1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and academic (d. 1927)
• 1869 – Alexander Atabekian, Armenian physician and anarchist publisher (d. 1933)
• 1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian composer (d. 1925)
• 1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German politician and diplomat, 13th German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1956)
• 1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (d. 1962)
• 1877 – Frank L. Packard, Canadian author (d. 1942)
• 1878 – Joe Lydon, American boxer (d. 1937)
• 1880 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
• 1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
• 1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)
• 1882 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1941)
• 1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author and screenwriter, created Zorro (d. 1958)
• 1883 – Julia Nava de Ruisánchez, Mexican activist and writer (d. 1964)
• 1885 – Mikhail Frunze, Soviet revolutionary, politician, army officer and military theorist (d. 1925)
• 1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet and author (d. 1950)
• 1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975)
• 1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (d. 1952)
• 1890 – Charles Correll, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1972)
• 1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959)
• 1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1974)
• 1893 – Raoul Riganti, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1970)
• 1893 – Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian soldier and politician (d. 1924)
• 1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
• 1895 – Robert Philipp, American painter (d. 1981)
• 1895 – George Sutcliffe, Australian public servant (d. 1964)
• 1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)
• 1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson's (d. 1972)
• 1897 – Gertrude Blanch, Russian-American mathematician (d. 1996)
• 1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player and manager (d. 1988)

1901–present

• 1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian-American violinist and educator (d. 1987)
• 1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
• 1902 – John Tonkin, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1995)
• 1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997)
• 1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist and philosopher (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
• 1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
• 1911 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (d. 1968)
• 1912 – Millvina Dean, English civil servant and cartographer (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997)
• 1913 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor and singer (d. 1985)
• 1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian economist and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2004)
• 1915 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli politician and diplomat, 1st Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
• 1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (d. 2014)
• 1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1985)
• 1917 – Mary Ellis, British World War II ferry pilot (d. 2018)
• 1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2018)
• 1918 – Hella Haasse, Indonesian-Dutch author (d. 2011)
• 1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano and actress (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German footballer and manager (d. 1999)
• 1920 – George Hardwick, English footballer and coach (d. 2004)
• 1920 – John Russell, American Olympic equestrian (d. 2020)
• 1920 – Arthur Willis, English footballer player-manager (d. 1987)
• 1922 – Kunwar Digvijay Singh, Indian field hockey player (d. 1978)
• 1922 – Robert Chef d'Hôtel, French athlete (d. 2019)
• 1922 – Stoyanka Mutafova, Bulgarian actress (d. 2019)
• 1922 – James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2002)
• 1923 – Jean Babilée, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
• 1923 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (d. 1997)
• 1923 – Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster (d.2012)
• 1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress and producer (d. 1988)
• 1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
• 1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
• 1923 – Clem Windsor, Australian rugby player and surgeon (d. 2007)
• 1924 – Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982)
• 1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American singer, pianist, producer (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France (d. 2020)
• 1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)
• 1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012)
• 1928 – Ciriaco De Mita, 47th Prime minister of Italy (d. 2022)
• 1928 – Gamal Hamdan, Egyptian scholar and geographer (d. 1993)
• 1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player and engineer (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Tommy Harmer, English footballer and youth team coach (d. 2007)
• 1929 – Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (d. 2013)
• 1929 – George Band, English engineer and mountaineer (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
• 1929 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Waldemar Kmentt, Austrian operatic tenor (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993)
• 1931 – Glynn Edwards, Malaysian-English actor (d. 2018)
• 1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2021)
• 1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2024)
• 1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author
• 1932 – Arthur Lyman, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor (d. 2018)
• 1933 – M'el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Tony Jay, English-American actor (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Cuban bassist and composer (d. 2009)
• 1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese general and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma
• 1934 – Khalil Ullah Khan, Bangladeshi actor (d. 2014)
• 1935 – Pete Brown, American golfer (d. 2015)
• 1935 – Evgeny Velikhov, Russian physicist and academic
• 1936 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 1991)
• 1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player and coach
• 1937 – Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer and politician, President of Panama (d. 2015)
• 1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest, British journalist, poet, and critic
• 1937 – Remak Ramsay, American actor
• 1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist (d. 2023)
• 1937 – Alexandra Strelchenko, Ukrainian actress and singer (d. 2019)
• 1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
• 1938 – Bo Hopkins, American actor (d. 2022)
• 1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
• 1939 – Jackie Burroughs, English-born Canadian actress (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Mary-Dell Chilton, American chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology
• 1939 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Alan Caddy, English guitarist and producer (d. 2000)
• 1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (d. 2008)
• 1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football player and coach
• 1940 – David Jason, English actor, director, and producer
• 1941 – Terry Biddlecombe, English jockey (d. 2014)
• 1941 – Lee Redmond, American woman with the longest fingernails (d. 2023)
• 1942 – Bo Hopkins, American actor (d. 2022)
• 1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor
• 1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)
• 1944 – Ursula Oppens, American pianist and educator
• 1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic
• 1946 – John Armitt, English engineer and businessman
• 1946 – Blake Clark, American comedian and actor
• 1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Malian academic and politician, 3rd President of Mali
• 1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Greg Antonacci, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
• 1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (d. 2009)
• 1948 – Ina Garten, American chef and author
• 1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1948 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (d. 1973)
• 1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
• 1949 – Jack McGee, American actor
• 1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)
• 1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor and singer
• 1949 – Ross Valory, American bass player and songwriter
• 1950 – Osamu Kido, Japanese wrestler (d. 2023)
• 1950 – Libby Purves, British journalist and author
• 1950 – Bárbara Rey, Spanish singer and actress
• 1950 – Barbara Sukowa, German actress
• 1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler
• 1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1951 – Ken Bruce, Scottish radio host
• 1952 – Dave Casper, American football player
• 1952 – John Cornyn, American lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas
• 1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea
• 1952 – Ralph Merkle, American computer scientist and academic
• 1952 – Carol Ann Susi, American actress (d. 2014)
• 1953 – Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter
• 1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013)
• 1954 – Christie Brinkley, American actress, model, and businesswoman
• 1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier and actor
• 1954 – Nelson Ne'e, Solomon Islander politician (d. 2013)
• 1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
• 1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author (d. 2022)
• 1955 – Bob Schreck, American author
• 1955 – Michael Talbott, American actor
• 1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress
• 1956 – Adnan Oktar, Turkish cult leader
• 1957 – Phil Barney, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright
• 1959 – Dexter Manley, American football player
• 1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013)
• 1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress and academic
• 1962 – Philippe Claudel, French author, director, and screenwriter
• 1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player (d. 2021)
• 1962 – Paul Kilgus, American baseball player
• 1962 – Kate Raison, Australian actress
• 1962 – Michael T. Weiss, American actor
• 1963 – Ilya Byakin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (d. 1996)
• 1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1963 – Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia
• 1963 – Philip Laats, Belgian martial artist
• 1963 – Stephen McGann, English actor
• 1963 – Vigleik Storaas, Norwegian pianist
• 1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer
• 1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
• 1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player and coach
• 1966 – Robert DeLeo, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
• 1966 – Adam Ferrara, American actor and comedian
• 1966 – Michael Misick, Caicos Islander politician, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands
• 1967 – Artūrs Irbe, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
• 1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese general
• 1968 – Kenny Albert, American sportscaster
• 1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player and coach
• 1969 – Dana International, Israeli singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Valeri Karpin, Estonian-Russian footballer and manager
• 1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer
• 1970 – Erik ten Hag, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress and singer
• 1971 – Michelle Gayle, English singer-songwriter and actress
• 1971 – Arly Jover, Spanish actress
• 1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer and sportscaster (d. 2014)
• 1971 – Rockwilder, American rapper and producer
• 1971 – Hwang Seok-jeong, South Korean actress
• 1971 – Jason Taylor, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1972 – Hisashi, Japanese musician
• 1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1972 – Aleksey Naumov, Russian footballer
• 1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach
• 1973 – Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower
• 1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress and singer
• 1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Donald Driver, American football player
• 1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
• 1976 – Ryan Farquhar, Northern Irish motorcycle racer
• 1976 – James Hickman, English swimmer
• 1976 – Ana Roces, Filipino actress
• 1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
• 1978 – Adam Christopher, New Zealand writer
• 1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1978 – Dan Gadzuric, Dutch basketball player
• 1978 – Lee Ji-ah, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Rich Sommer, American actor
• 1978 – Faye White, English footballer
• 1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver
• 1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek hurdler and sprinter
• 1979 – Christine Lampard, Irish television host
• 1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
• 1979 – Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter
• 1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian wrestler
• 1980 – Zhang Jingchu, Chinese actress
• 1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer
• 1981 – Lance Allred, American basketball player and activist
• 1981 – Emre Aydın, Turkish singer-songwriter
• 1981 – Michelle Bass, English model and singer
• 1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
• 1982 – Sergio Castaño Ortega, Spanish footballer
• 1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player
• 1982 – Kan Mi-youn, South Korean singer, model, and host
• 1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish heptathlete and jumper
• 1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Jason Vargas, American baseball player
• 1983 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer
• 1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1984 – Brian Cage, American wrestler
• 1984 – Chin-Lung Hu, Taiwanese baseball player
• 1984 – Mao Miyaji, Japanese actress
• 1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player
• 1985 – Morris Almond, American basketball player
• 1985 – Masoud Azizi, Afghan sprinter
• 1985 – Renn Kiriyama, Japanese actor
• 1985 – Kristo Saage, Estonian basketball player
• 1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer
• 1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress and singer
• 1986 – Miwa Asao, Japanese volleyball player
• 1987 – Anthony Fainga'a, Australian rugby player
• 1987 – Saia Fainga'a, Australian rugby player
• 1987 – Faydee, Australian singer
• 1987 – Athena Imperial, Filipino journalist, Miss Earth-Water 2011
• 1987 – Mimi Page, American singer-songwriter and composer
• 1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer
• 1987 – Javon Ringer, American football player
• 1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer
• 1987 – Martin Spanjers, American actor and producer
• 1988 – JuJu Chan, Hong Kong-American actress, martial artist, singer, and writer
• 1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress
• 1988 – Brad Peacock, American baseball player
• 1989 – Harrison Smith, American football player
• 1989 – Southside, American record producer
• 1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer
• 1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
• 1991 – Shohei Nanba, Japanese actor
• 1992 – Lammtarra, American race horse (d. 2014)
• 1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer
• 1993 – Bobby Decordova-Reid, English footballer
• 1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer
• 1994 – Caterina Bosetti, Italian volleyball player
• 1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer
• 1995 – Aleksander Jagiełło, Polish footballer
• 1995 – Arfa Karim, Pakistani student and computer prodigy (d. 2012)
• 1995 – Curtis Lazar, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1996 – Christian Dvorak, American ice hockey player
• 1996 – Paul Mescal, Irish actor
• 1996 – Harry Winks, English footballer
• 1997 – Ellie Bamber, English actress
• 1998 – Shiho Katō, Japanese singer and model
• 1999 – Jeff Okudah, American football player
• 2000 – Munetaka Murakami, Japanese baseball player
• 2004 – Eleonore Caburet, French rhythmic gymnast

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop and saint
• 880 – Bruno, duke of Saxony
• 1124 – Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064)
• 1218 – Konstantin of Rostov (b. 1186)
• 1237 – Joan, Lady of Wales
• 1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
• 1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)
• 1347 – Thomas Bek, Bishop of Lincoln, was the bishop of Lincoln (b. 1282)
• 1348 – Narymunt, Prince of Pinsk
• 1416 – Racek Kobyla of Dvorce
• 1435 – Joan II of Naples, Queen of Naples (b. 1371)
• 1446 – Vittorino da Feltre, Italian humanist (b. 1378)
• 1448 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1372)
• 1461 – Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty (b. c. 1400)
• 1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief
• 1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian soldier and diplomat (b. 1478)
• 1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese daimyō (b. 1558)
• 1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer and educator (b. 1525)

1601–1900

• 1648 – George Abbot, English author and politician (b. 1603)
• 1660 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans (b. 1608)
• 1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)
• 1661 – Lucas Holstenius, German geographer and historian (b. 1596)
• 1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1594)
• 1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French admiral (b. 1610)
• 1704 – Guillaume de l'Hôpital, French mathematician and academic (b. 1661)
• 1712 – Martin Lister, English physician and geologist (b. 1639)
• 1714 – John Sharp, English archbishop (b. 1643)
• 1723 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist and physician (b. 1666)
• 1768 – Robert Smith, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1689)
• 1769 – Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
• 1798 – Ferdinand Ashmall, English centenarian, Catholic priest, died in 73rd year of his ministry (b. 1695)
• 1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1713)
• 1804 – George Walton, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1749)
• 1831 – Vincenzo Dimech, Maltese sculptor (b. 1768)
• 1836 – Letizia Ramolino, Italian noblewoman (b. 1750)
• 1861 – Théophane Vénard, French Catholic missionary (b. 1829)
• 1881 – Henry Parker, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1808)

1901–present

• 1904 – Ernest Cashel, American-Canadian criminal (b. 1882)
• 1904 – William Collins Whitney, American financier and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1841)
• 1905 – Henri Germain, French banker and politician, founded Le Crédit Lyonnais (b. 1824)
• 1907 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (b. 1834)
• 1909 – Carlo Acton, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1829)
• 1913 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer (b. 1845)
• 1918 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer (b. 1858)
• 1919 – Julius Kuperjanov, Estonian lieutenant (b. 1894)
• 1925 – Antti Aarne, Finnish historian and academic (b. 1867)
• 1925 – Jaap Eden, Dutch speed skater and cyclist (b. 1873)
• 1926 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general and politician (b. 1848)
• 1932 – Agha Petros, Assyrian general and politician (b. 1880)
• 1939 – Amanda McKittrick Ros, Irish author and poet (b. 1860)
• 1939 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (b. 1879)
• 1942 – Ado Birk, Estonian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1883)
• 1942 – Daniil Kharms, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1905)
• 1942 – Hugh D. McIntosh, Australian businessman (b. 1876)
• 1945 – Alfred Delp, German priest and philosopher (b. 1907)
• 1945 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German economist and politician (b. 1884)
• 1945 – Johannes Popitz, German lawyer and politician (b. 1884)
• 1948 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (b. 1870)
• 1948 – Bevil Rudd, South African runner and journalist (b. 1894)
• 1950 – Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician and academic (b. 1873)
• 1952 – Callistratus of Georgia, Georgian patriarch (b. 1866)
• 1954 – Hella Wuolijoki, Estonian-Finnish author and politician (b. 1886)
• 1955 – Mariah binti Ahmad, Indonesian homemaker and first wife of Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin
• 1956 – Charley Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
• 1956 – Truxtun Hare, American football player and hammer thrower (b. 1878)
• 1956 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b. 1876)
• 1957 – Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1890)
• 1962 – Shlomo Hestrin, Canadian-Israeli biochemist and academic (b. 1914)
• 1966 – Hacı Ömer Sabancı, Turkish businessman (b. 1906)
• 1968 – Tullio Serafin, Italian conductor and director (b. 1878)
• 1969 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)
• 1970 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (b. 1898)
• 1970 – Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872)
• 1970 – Hannah Ryggen, Norwegian textile artist (b. 1894)
• 1972 – Natalie Clifford Barney, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876)
• 1973 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian academic and politician, 9th Mayor of Ghent (b. 1902)
• 1974 – Imre Lakatos, Hungarian-English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1922)
• 1975 – Gustave Lanctot, Canadian historian and academic (b. 1883)
• 1979 – Jim Burke, Australian cricketer (b. 1930)
• 1979 – Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (b. 1957)
• 1980 – William Howard Stein, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 1982 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
• 1983 – Sam Chatmon, American singer and guitarist (b. 1897)
• 1986 – Gino Hernandez, American wrestler (b. 1957)
• 1987 – Carlos José Castilho, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1927)
• 1987 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist and screenwriter (b. 1922)
• 1988 – Marcel Bozzuffi, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
• 1989 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater and coach (b. 1951)
• 1989 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (b. 1901)
• 1990 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (b. 1905)
• 1990 – Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (b. 1934)
• 1992 – Bert Parks, American actor, singer, television personality; Miss America telecast presenter (b. 1914)
• 1993 – François Reichenbach, French director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
• 1994 – Marija Gimbutas, Lithuanian-American archeologist (b. 1921)
• 1995 – Thomas Hayward, American tenor and actor (b. 1917)
• 1995 – Fred Perry, English tennis player (b. 1909)
• 1995 – Donald Pleasence, English-French actor (b. 1919)
• 1996 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (b. 1912)
• 1997 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (b. 1913)
• 1997 – Sanford Meisner, American actor and coach (b. 1904)
• 1998 – Haroun Tazieff, German-French geologist and cinematographer (b. 1914)
• 1999 – David McComb, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1962)
• 2002 – Paul Baloff, American singer-songwriter (b. 1960)
• 2002 – Claude Brown, American author (b. 1937)
• 2003 – Lou Harrison, American composer and educator (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Bernard McEveety, American director and producer (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Birgitte Federspiel, Danish actress (b. 1925)
• 2005 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)
• 2007 – Vijay Arora, Indian actor (b. 1944)
• 2007 – Billy Henderson, American singer (b. 1939)
• 2007 – Joe Hunter, American pianist (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (b. 1967)
• 2007 – Eric Von Schmidt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931)
• 2007 – Masao Takemoto, Japanese gymnast (b. 1919)
• 2008 – Barry Morse, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
• 2008 – Katoucha Niane, Guinean model and author (b. 1960)
• 2011 – Edward Amy, Canadian general (b. 1918)
• 2011 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish actress (b. 1975)
• 2011 – Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Joyce Barkhouse, Canadian author (b. 1913)
• 2012 – Frederick William Danker, American lexicographer and scholar (b. 1920)
• 2012 – George Esper, American journalist and academic (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Dorothy Gilman, American author (b. 1923)
• 2012 – James F. Lloyd, American pilot and politician (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (b. 1961)
• 2013 – John Kerr, American actor and lawyer (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Chris Kyle, American soldier and sniper (b. 1974)
• 2013 – Lino Oviedo, Paraguayan general and politician (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Pepper Paire, American baseball player (b. 1924)
• 2013 – P. Shanmugam, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Puducherry (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Walt Sweeney, American football player (b. 1941)
• 2013 – Guy F. Tozzoli, American architect (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Gerd Albrecht, German conductor (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Tommy Aquino, American motorcycle racer (b. 1992)
• 2014 – Nicholas Brooks, English historian (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Eduardo Coutinho, Brazilian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1967)
• 2014 – Luis Raúl, Puerto Rican comedian and actor (b. 1962)
• 2014 – Bunny Rugs, Jamaican singer (b. 1948)
• 2014 – Nigel Walker, English footballer (b. 1959)
• 2015 – Joseph Alfidi, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1949)
• 2015 – Dave Bergman, American baseball player (b. 1953)
• 2015 – Andriy Kuzmenko, Ukrainian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1968)
• 2015 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (b. 1922)
• 2015 – The Jacka, American rapper and producer (b. 1977)
• 2016 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
• 2020 – Bernard Ebbers, Canadian businessman, the co-founder and CEO of WorldCom (b. 1941)
• 2021 – Captain Sir Tom Moore, British Army officer and charity campaigner (b. 1920)
• 2023 – K. Viswanath, Indian actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1930)
• 2023 – Butch Miles, American jazz drummer (b. 1944)
• 2024 – Don Murray, American actor (b. 1929)
• 2024 – Carl Weathers, American football player and actor (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances

Mosaic of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

• Groundhog Day
• Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Adalbard
  • Cornelius the Centurion
  • Martyrs of Ebsdorf
  • February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Philippines)
• Day of Youth (Azerbaijan)
• Earliest day on which Shrove Monday can fall, while March 8 is the latest; celebrated on Monday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity), and its related observances:
  • Bun Day (Iceland)
  • Fastelavn (Denmark/Norway)
  • Nickanan Night (Cornwall)
  • Rosenmontag (Germany)
• Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
  • A quarter day in the Christian liturgical calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland)
  • Celebration of Yemanja or Our Lady of Navigators (Candomblé)
  • Chandeleur (France)
  • Liichtmëssdag (Luxembourg)
  • Our Lady of the Candles (Filipino Catholics)
  • Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain)
• Victory of the Battle of Stalingrad (Russia)
• World Wetlands Day

See also

In Spanish: 2 de febrero para niños