1602 – Paulus Melissus, German humanist Neo-Latin writer, translator, diplomat, and composer, dies at 62
1803 – Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes, 1st Count of Campomanes, Spanish economist and politician, dies at 79
1813 – Samuel Ashe, American 9th Governor of North Carolin (1795-8), dies at 87
1960 – Ferdinando “Fred” Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor, dies in an automobile accident at 38
1962 – Werner Bock, German writer, dies at 68
1989 – Lionel Newman, American film music composer (Hello Dolly!, Star Wars, Cleopatra), dies from cardiac arrest at 73
1998 – Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer, executed at 38
2006 – Tilo Medek [Müller-Medek], German composer (Die Todesfuge), musicologist, and music publisher, dies at 66
2021 – Jean-Pierre Bastiat, French rugby union lock (32 Tests; US Dax), dies from a stroke at 71
2024 – Aston Barrett, Jamaican reggae bassist (Bob Marley and the Wailers – “I Shot the Sheriff”; Burning Spear), sound engineer, and producer, dies of heart failure after a series of strokes at 77
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 3rd February 2026
1576 – Henry of Navarre (future Henry IV) escapes from Paris
1908 – Supreme Court rules a union boycott violates Sherman Antitrust Act
1943 – “The Four Chaplains” drown after giving up their life jackets to others as the US Army transport ship Dorchester sinks in the North Atlantic
1962 – US President John F. Kennedy bans all trade with Cuba except for food and drugs
1992 – Labor strike at Royal Canadian Mint ends
1997 – Public memorial held for Carl Sagan at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1998 – Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas, first woman executed in the United States since 1984
2013 – 33 people are killed by a suicide bombing by an explosive-packed truck in Kirkuk, Iraq
Today in History for 3rd February 2026
Historical Events
1913 – Paul A. Rubens and Arthur Wimperis’ musical “The Sunshine Girl”, with additional songs by and John Golden and Joseph Cawthorne, opens at the Knickerbocker Theatre, NYC, runs for 181 performances
1928 – Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China, in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names ‘Sinanthropus pekinensis’ (now known as ‘Homo erectus’)
1942 – Baseball owners agree to permit each club up to 14 night games in 1942
1947 – -81°F (-63°C), Snag Yukon (North American record)
1972 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Famous Birthdays
1817 – Samuel Ryan Curtis, American politician and Major General (Union Army), born in Champlain, New York (d. 1866)
1899 – Lao She, Chinese writer and playwright (Rickshaw Boy, Teahouse), born in Beijing, China (d. 1966)
1940 – Jim Hartz, American journalist and newscaster (NBC-TV Today, 1974-77; PBS – Innovations), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 2022)
1941 – Gary Bartlett, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (10 Tests, 24 wickets, BB 6/38; Central Districts, Canterbury, Marlborough), born in Blenheim, New Zealand
1977 – Daddy Yankee [Ramón Rodríguez], Puerto Rican reggaeton singer and rapper (“Despacito”; “Gasolina”), born in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Famous Deaths
1558 – Alfonsus de Castro, Spanish theologist (Council of Trent), dies
1959 – Buddy Holly [Charles Holley], American rock and roll musician and songwriter (“Peggy Sue”; “That’ll Be the Day”; “Words Of Love”), dies in a plane crash at 22
1989 – Lionel Newman, American film music composer (Hello Dolly!, Star Wars, Cleopatra), dies from cardiac arrest at 73
1996 – Wild Jimmy Spruill, American blues guitarist, dies at 61
1998 – Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer, executed at 38
Famous Deaths for 2nd February 2026
1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, British statesman (b. 1713)
1867 – Forceythe Willson, American poet (The Old Sergeant), dies at 29
1973 – Hendrik Elias, Flemish historian and Mayor of Ghent (1941-44), dies at 70
1982 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer and politician (Senator for Wellington, Quebec), dies at 76
1994 – Zilner Randolph, American jazz trumpeter, arranger, and music educator, dies at 95
1994 – Stephen Barclay, American actor (Pride of the Plains), dies at 75
1997 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (grandmaster 1952), dies at 83
2007 – Eric von Schmidt, American folk/blues singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
2022 – Roy Purdon, New Zealand harness-racing trainer (21 x NZ trainers premierships; 4 x NZ cup winners; 54 x Group One wins), dies at 94
2025 – Gene Barge, American RandB and rock saxophonist, known as “Daddy G” (Gary Bonds – “Quarter to Three”, Fontella Bass – “Rescue Me”, Jackie Wilson – “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher and Higher)”), dies at 98
Historical Events for 2nd February 2026
1787 – Arthur St. Clair is elected the 9th President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation
1852 – Alexandre Dumas Jr’s play, an adaptation of his novel “La Dame aux Camélias” premieres in Paris
1924 – International Ski Federation (FIS) forms
1974 – The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.
1986 – Oscar Arias Sanchez elected president of Costa Rica
2012 – MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea with 246 people saved and 126 missing (100 of these estimated to be trapped inside)
2013 – Shinzō Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister vows to defend the Senkaku Islands “at all costs”
2022 – More than one million Afghans have fled the country for Iran since October due to the country’s economic crisis, according to immigration authorities threatening a new migrant crisis
Today in History for 2nd February 2026
Historical Events
1653 – New Amsterdam becomes a city, later renamed New York City
1900 – Gustave Charpentiers opera “Louise” premieres at the Salle Favart, in Paris France; performed by the Opéra-Comique conducted by André Messageri
1957 – Leonard Bernstein’s musical “Candide” closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 73 performances
2014 – Protests in Ukraine turn violent after parliament passes legislation that outlaws protest
2020 – Palindrome Day: the date 02022020 reads the same forward and backward including in the US and China (last one like this 11 November 1111)
Famous Birthdays
1827 – Oswald Aschenbach, German landscape painter, born in Düsseldorf, Prussia (d. 1905)
1883 – S Z Sakall [Gerö Jenö], Hungarian stage and film character actor (Dolly Sisters, Casablanca), born in Budapest Hungary (d. 1955)
1899 – Benny Rubin, American actor and comedian (Benny Rubin Show), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1986)
1907 – Bernardas Brazdzionis, Lithuanian poet, editor and critic, born in Stebeikėliai, Lithuania, Russian Empire (d. 2002)
1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, British actor (Keeping Up Appearances, Coronation Street), born in Wallasey, England, (d. 2012)
Famous Deaths
1673 – Kaspar Förster, German composer, dies at 56
1881 – Alekey Pisemski, Russian novelist and playwright (A Bitter Lot), dies at 59 (OS 21 Jan)
1993 – Alexander Schneider, Lithuanian violinist (Budapest String Quartet), dies at 84
1999 – Marie Van Brittan Brown, American nurse and co-inventor of the home security system with her husband Albert L. Brown, dies at 76
2021 – Tom Moore, English army captain knighted for raising £32 million for the NHS, dies with COVID-19 at 100
Famous Deaths for 1st February 2026
1718 – Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician, helped lead Glorious Revolution to put William III on the throne, dies at 57
1761 – Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French Jesuit prince and historian, dies at 78
1916 – Anton Simon, Russian composer, dies at 65
1944 – Martin Lunssens, Belgian composer, dies at 72
1954 – Julius P. Hoste, Belgian journalist, daily newspaper publisher (Last News), and politician (Minister of Education, 1936-38; Senator 1949-54), dies at 69
1959 – Madame Sul-Te-Wan [Nellie Crawford], American actress (The Birth of a Nation, Uncle Tom’s Cabin), dies of a stroke at 85
1977 – Edmond Hamilton, American sci-fi author (“City at World’s End”; “The Star Kings”), dies at 72
1989 – Elaine de Kooning, American artist, dies at 70
1992 – Irving Kaufman, American federal judge (Rosenberg Case), dies at 81
2017 – Desmond Carrington, British radio host (The Music Goes Round), dies at 90
Historical Events for 1st February 2026
1662 – Dutch garrison on Formosa surrenders to Chinese pirates
1790 – US Supreme Court convenes for 1st time (NYC)
1809 – Dutch King Louis Napoleon accepts metric system
1965 – Australian Championships Women’s Tennis: Australian Margaret Smith wins 6th straight home singles title; beats Maria Bueno of Brazil 5-7, 6-4, 5-2; Bueno retired injured
1970 – West-Germany and USSR sign gas contract
1981 – NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 21-7; MVP: Eddie Murray, Detroit Lions, PK
1984 – China and Netherlands regain diplomatic relations
1998 – NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 29-24; MVP: Warren Moon, Seattle Seahawks, QB, HI
Today in History for 1st February 2026
Historical Events
1940 – Soviet Union begins new offensive against Finland
1954 – Australian Championships Men’s Tennis: Mervyn Rose wins his first Grand Slam title; beats fellow Australian Rex Hartwig 6-2, 0-6, 6-4, 6-2
1968 – Former US VP Richard Nixon announces candidacy for president
1980 – Sears Radio Theater moves from CBS to Mutual Broadcasting System
1985 – -61°F (-52°C), Maybell, Colorado (state record)
Famous Birthdays
1877 – Thomas Dunhill, British light classical composer (The Wind Among The Reeds; Tantivy Towers), teacher, and musicologist, born in London, England (d. 1946)
1942 – Muna Wassef, Syrian actress (The Message) and UN Goodwill ambassador, born in Damascus, Syria
1951 – (Clide) “Sonny” Landreth, American blues and zydeco slide guitar player, born in Canton, Mississippi
1962 – Takashi Murakami, Japanese artist (Superflat), born in Tokyo, Japan
1980 – Moisés Muñoz, Mexican soccer goalkeeper (19 caps; Morelia, América), born in Aguililla, Mexico
Famous Deaths
1328 – Charles IV, the Handsome, King of France (1322-28), dies at 33
1905 – Oswald Aschenbach, German landscape painter, dies at 77
1966 – William Harrigan, American actor (Invisible Man, Girl in 419), dies at 71
1991 – Jimmy MacDonald, Scottish-American voice actor (Mickey Mouse), dies at 84
2003 – Mongo Santamaria, Cuban Latin jazz percussionist and bandleader, dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 31st January 2026
1030 – William V (‘the Great”), Duke of Aquitaine (995-10300 and Count of Poitier (969-1030), dies at 60
1794 – Marriott Arbuthnot, British admiral and naval commander during the American War for Independence, dies at 82 or 83
1952 – George Howells Broadhurst, British-American playwright, director and producer responsible for opening Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre, dies at 85
1972 – Bir Bikram Shah Deva Mahendra, King of Nepal (1955-72), dies at 51
1979 – Grant Green, American jazz, blues and funk guitarist, and songwriter, dies of a heart attack at 43
1994 – Pierre Boulle, French writer known for “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Planet of the Apes”, dies at 81
2000 – (Simon) “Si” Zentner, American jazz, session, and pop trombonist and big-band lbandeader, dies of leukemia at 82
2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American sci-fi author (Genetic General), dies at 77
2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal, dies at 88
2023 – Lou Campanelli, American basketball coach (James Madison University 1972-85; University of California, Berkeley 1986-93), dies at 84