February 3rd in History

1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

1451 - Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

1534 - The Irish rebel Silken Thomas is executed by the order of  Henry VIII in of England.

1690 - The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in America.


1781 - American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.

1783 - American Revolutionary War: Spain recognizes United States independence.

1809 - The Illinois Territory is created.

1870 - The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to citizens regardless of race.


1913 - The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.

1916 - Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burn down.

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.

1960 - British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of the "a wind of change" of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government is likely to support decolonisation.


1966 - The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.

1967 - Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia, is hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.

1989 - A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.

2007 - A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.

Famous Birthdays


995 - William IV, Duke of Aquitaine

1338 - Jeanne de Bourbon, wife of Charles V of France

1808 - Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Princess of Prussia

1830 - Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1899 - Lao She, writer

1925 - Leon Schlumpf, member of the Swiss Federal Council

1943 - Dennis Edwards, singer

1948 - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, Nobel Peace laureate

1950 - Pamela Franklin, actress

1959 - Lol Tolhurst, musician

1967 - Bob Taylor, footballer

1976 - Isla Fisher, actress

1982 - Bridget Regan, actress

1991 - Nikola Hofmanova, tennis player