February 2

February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 332 days remaining until the end of the year (333 in leap years). This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56).

Events

• 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 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, comprising present-day Estonia and Latvia, is established.
• 1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer's Cross is fought in Herefordshire, England.
• 1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 1542 – Portuguese forces under Cristóvão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hill fort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.
• 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 the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
• 1848 – Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
• 1848 – California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco.
• 1868 – Pro-Imperial forces captured Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burned it to the ground.
• 1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
• 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.
• 1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
• 1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
• 1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
• 1920 – France occupies Memel.
• 1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
• 1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
• 1933 – Working as maids, two sisters Christine and Léa Papin murder their employer's wife and daughter in Le Mans, France. The case is the subject of a number of French films and plays.
• 1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
• 1935 – Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.
• 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 German troops in the city.
• 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.
• 1972 – The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday.
• 1976 – The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
• 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 war in Afghanistan: 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.
• 2007 – The worst flooding in Indonesia in 300 years begins.
• 2012 – The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 300 people missing.

Births

• 450 – Justin I, Byzantine emperor (d. 527)
• 1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
• 1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513)
• 1457 – Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian and author (d. 1526)
• 1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher and historian (d. 1574)
• 1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583)
• 1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565)
• 1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)
• 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 (d. 1687)
• 1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732)
• 1695 – William Borlase, English geologist and archaeologist (d. 1772)
• 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 general and 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)
• 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)
• 1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and academic (d. 1927)
• 1872 – Clara Butt, English singer (d. 1936)
• 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)
• 1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
• 1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)
• 1882 – James Joyce, Irish author and poet (d. 1941)
• 1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author and screenwriter, created Zorro (d. 1958)
• 1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet and author (d. 1950)
• 1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975)
• 1887 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (d. 1933)
• 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 – 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)
• 1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)
• 1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson's (d. 1972)
• 1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player and manager (d. 1988)
• 1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist and educator (d. 1987)
• 1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
• 1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997)
• 1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-American author and philosopher (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
• 1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
• 1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997)
• 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 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam
• 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)
• 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 author (d. 1997)
• 1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress and producer (d. 1988)
• 1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist and author
• 1924 – Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982)
• 1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France
• 1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)
• 1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012)
• 1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player and engineer (d. 2013)
• 1928 – A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American judge, author, and activist (d. 1998)
• 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)
• 1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch lawyer, jurist, and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• 1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993)
• 1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician
• 1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author
• 1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor
• 1933 – M'el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Tony Jay, English-American actor and singer (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Cuban bassist and composer (d. 2009)
• 1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese general and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma
• 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 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist
• 1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
• 1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
• 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
• 1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor
• 1944 – Ursula Oppens, American pianist and educator
• 1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic
• 1946 – John Armitt, English engineer and businessman
• 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
• 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 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)
• 1950 – Libby Purves, English journalist and author
• 1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler
• 1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1952 – John Cornyn, American lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas
• 1952 – Rick Dufay, French-American guitarist and songwriter
• 1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea
• 1952 – Ralph Merkle, American computer scientist and academic
• 1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013)
• 1954 – Christie Brinkley, American model and actress
• 1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier and actor
• 1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
• 1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author
• 1955 – Bob Schreck, American author
• 1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress
• 1956 – Adnan Oktar, Turkish theorist and author
• 1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013)
• 1962 – Philippe Claudel, French author, director, and screenwriter
• 1962 – Luke Johnson, English businessman
• 1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (d.1996)
• 1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1963 – Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia
• 1963 – Stephen McGann, English actor
• 1964 – Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
• 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 – 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 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player and coach
• 1969 – Valeri Karpin, Estonian-Russian footballer and manager
• 1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress, singer, and screenwriter
• 1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer and sportscaster (d. 2014)
• 1971 – Jason Taylor, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1971 – Hwang Seok-jeong, South Korean actress
• 1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach
• 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 – Eden Espinosa, American actress and singer
• 1978 – Annabel Ellwood, Australian tennis player
• 1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver
• 1979 – Klaus Mainzer, German rugby player
• 1980 – Angela Finger-Erben, German journalist
• 1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer
• 1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
• 1981 – Emre Aydın, Turkish singer-songwriter
• 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 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer
• 1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1984 – Brian Cage, American wrestler
• 1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player
• 1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer
• 1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress and singer
• 1987 – Anthony Fainga'a, Australian rugby player
• 1987 – Saia Fainga'a, Australian rugby player
• 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 – Victoria Song, Chinese singer and actress (f(x})
• 1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress
• 1989 – Southside, American record producer
• 1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer
• 1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
• 1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer
• 1993 – Jake Cassidy, Welsh footballer
• 1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer
• 1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer
• 1995 – Aleksander Jagiełło, Polish footballer

Deaths

Govert Flinck

Pope Clement XIII

Jaap Eden

Carl Friedrich Goerdeler

Boris Karloff

Sid Vicious

Gene Kelly

Philip Seymour Hoffman

• 619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop and saint
• 1124 – Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064)
• 1218 – Konstantin of Rostov (b. 1186)
• 1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
• 1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)
• 1448 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1372)
• 1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief
• 1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian soldier and diplomat (b. 1478)
• 1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese daimyo (b. 1558)
• 1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer and educator (b. 1525)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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 – 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)
• 1956 – Charley Grapewin, American actor and singer (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)
• 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)
• 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 and sportscaster (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)
• 1983 – Sam Chatmon, American singer and guitarist (b. 1897)
• 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)
• 1995 – Thomas Hayward, American tenor and actor (b. 1917)
• 1995 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player (b. 1909)
• 1995 – Donald Pleasence, English-French actor (b. 1919)
• 1996 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (b. 1912)
• 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 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)
• 2007 – Billy Henderson, American singer (b. 1939)
• 2007 – Eric Von Schmidt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931)
• 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 – Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926)
• 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)
• 2014 – Gerd Albrecht, German conductor (b. 1935)
• 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 – Werner Husemann, German soldier and pilot (b. 1919)
• 2015 – Joseph Alfidi, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1949)
• 2015 – Dave Bergman, American baseball player (b. 1953)
• 2015 – The Jacka, American rapper and producer (b. 1977)
• 2015 – Andriy Kuzmenko, Ukrainian singer-songwriter (b. 1968)
• 2015 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
• 2016 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
• 2016 – Marcus Turner, New Zealand singer-songwriter and television host (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Cornelius the Centurion
  • 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 calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland)
  • Celebration of Yemanja (Candomblé)
  • Le Jour des Crêpes (France)
  • Our Lady of Navigators (Brazil)
  • Our Lady of the Candles (Filipino Catholics)
  • Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain)
• Groundhog Day (United States and Canada), and its related observances:
  • Marmot Day (Alaska)
• Inventor's Day (Thailand)
• World Wetlands Day (International)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to February 2.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History