Famous Events For February 3 – Today In History

February 3: Today in History – Historical Events

Early Centuries – February 3 Historic Events – Before the 1700s

1. 3rd Feb 1690: America uses its first paper money (colony of Mass).

18th Century – What Happened on February 3 – The 1700s

2. 3rd Feb 1740: Jews are invited to return to Sicily by the King of Naples, Charles de Bourbon.
3. 3rd Feb 1743: “Pesthouse” was established in Philadelphia to quarantine immigrants.
4. 3rd Feb 1752: The export of windmills was forbidden by the Dutch States-General.
5. 3rd Feb 1783: Spain recognizes the independence of the US.

19th Century – February 3 This Day That Year – The 1800s

6. 3rd Feb 1807: Brig-Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty led a British force that captured the city of Montevideo, which was then part of the Spanish Empire. It is now the capital of Uruguay.
7. 3rd Feb 1815: Marks the establishment of the world’s first commercial cheese factory in Switzerland.
8. 3rd Feb 1830: London Protocol confirms the sovereignty of Greece.
9. 3rd Feb 1834: Marks the establishment of Wake Forest University.
10. 3rd Feb 1855: Wisconsin Supreme Court declares the US Fugitive Slave Law is unconstitutional.
11. 3rd Feb 1860: Thomas Clemson assumes office as the first superintendent of agriculture.
12. 3rd Feb 1865: Lincoln and Stephens reach an impasse at Hampton Roads Peace Conference.
13. 3rd Feb 1867: Prince Mutsuhito, at the age of 14 becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan.
14. 3rd Feb 1870: The fifteenth amendment to the US Constitution which allows suffrage for all races and color was ratified by the state of Iowa.

15. 3rd Feb 1887: Congress created the Electoral Count Act to avoid disputed national elections.
16. 3rd Feb 1892: Russia closes down the Volozhin Yeshiva, a Lithuanian Talmudical college.
17. 3rd Feb 1894: The first steel sailing vessel, Dirigo, was launched at Bath Maine.

20th Century – Important Events On This Day February 3rd – The 1900s

18. 3rd Feb 1900: William Goebel, the gubernatorial candidate was assassinated on this day in Frankfort, Kentucky.
19. 3rd Feb 1900: Rival forces fight for control of the Union Park ball grounds in Balt.
20. 3rd Feb 1901: Batu llië on Sumatra was conquered by Dutch troops under Gen Van Heutsz.
21. 3rd Feb 1908: Supreme Court rules a union boycott violates the Sherman Antitrust Act.
22. 3rd Feb 1913: The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, federal income tax, ratified on this day.
23. 3rd Feb 1915: The Turkish army and the German army reached the Suez Canal.
24. 3rd Feb 1916: The original Parliament buildings in Ottawa burn down.
25. 3rd Feb 1917: US liner Housatonic was sunk by a German submarine. This happened on the same day President Wilson broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.
26. 3rd Feb 1918: The longest streetcar tunnel, Twin Peaks Tunnel, which is 11920 feet long begins service.

27. 3rd Feb 1919: The first meeting of the League of Nations was held on this day in Paris.
28. 3rd Feb 1919: The Socialist Conference convenes in Berne, Switzerland.
29. 3rd Feb 1919: The White Russians who were fighting to reclaim government after the 1917 revolution defeated the Bolshevik army in a series of clashes.
30. 3rd Feb 1923: The Alpha Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia was founded on this day at Pennsylvania State University.
31. 3rd Feb 1924: Alexei Ryko succeeds Lenin after being elected as President of the People’s Commission.
32. 3rd Feb 1927: There was an uprising in Portugal against the regime of General Carmona.
33. 3rd Feb 1927: The Federal Radio Commission was created on this day when President Calvin Coolidge signed the bill. This organization issues licenses to people who want to broadcast over the radio.
34. 3rd Feb 1928: Davidson Black, a Paleoanthropologist, reported finding ancient human fossils at Zhoukoudian, China in the journal Nature. He declared them to be new species and called them ‘Sinanthropus perkiness’. It is now known as ‘Homo erectus’.
35. 3rd Feb 1929: This day marks the formation of the Revolutionary Socialist Party in Amsterdam.
36. 3rd Feb 1930: The US Chief Justice William Howard Taft resigns for reasons of health.
37. 3rd Feb 1931: Sir Malcolm Campbell brought his bluebird racing machine to Daytona Beach in an attempt to achieve a land speed of 231 MPH. He achieved 240 MPH in an official test. He broke the record on 5th Feb 1931 clocking 253.96 MPH.

38. 3rd Feb 1930: The Communist Party of Vietnam was established on this day.
39. 3rd Feb 1931: This was the day of New Zealand’s worst national disaster, the Hawke’s Bay earthquake. 258 people lost their lives in the quake.
40. 3rd Feb 1933: The first interstate legislative conference opens in Washington DC.
41. 3rd Feb 1933: When a fire broke out in a mental hospital nine women fled back to their rooms. They died despite the efforts of coworkers to help them out of the building.
42. 3rd Feb 1933: The social-democratic newspaper Vorwarts was banned by the Nazi Politician and German Minister Hermann Goering.
43. 3rd Feb 1937: President Roosevelt presented a request to Congress for close to three million dollars for flood control improvements. This money was to be spent on improving dikes and levee systems in areas such as the Ohio River and lower Mississippi River.
44. 3rd Feb 1937: Australian cricketer Don Bradman scored 212 in 441 minutes in the fifth test match against England.

45. 3rd Feb 1941: The Federal Wage and Hour law which sets minimum wages and maximum hours was upheld by the US Supreme Court.
46. 3rd Feb 1942: The Japanese launch their first air raid on Java on this day.
47. 3rd Feb 1943: Four chaplains who gave their life jackets to others died on this day.
48. 3rd Feb 1944: During World War II the Marshall Islands was captured by the United States troops on this day.
49. 3rd Feb 1945: About 3000 tons of bombs were dropped on Berlin by almost 1000 Flying Fortresses.
50. 3rd Feb 1945: Wald Disney’s “3 Caballeros” was released on this day.
51. 3rd Feb 1947: North America records its lowest temperature of -63°C or -81°F at Snag Yukon.
52. 3rd Feb 1947: Percival Prattis was the first black reporter in the US Congressional press gallery.
53. 3rd Feb 1947: The legendary Australian batsman Don Bradman was bowled for a duck by Alec Bedser in the 4th Cricket test.

54. 3rd Feb 1948: Cadillac rolls out the first of the next generation of car design with big tailfins.
55. 3rd Feb 1950: Klaus Fuchs a Nuclear physicist was arrested on charges of spying.
56. 3rd Feb 1951: Great Circle won $144,323, the largest purse to date in horse racing.
57. 3rd Feb 1956: Toni Sailor the Olympic skier sweeps 3 alpine events. He became the first Olympic skier to achieve this feat.
58. 3rd Feb 1959: Residents of Iowa were expected to pay as high as 73% more for water this year than the previous year. This was to help pay for the improvement and expansion of the water system in the area.
59. 3rd Feb 1959: Sixty-five people were killed when an American Airlines Electra crashed in New York’s East River.
60. 3rd Feb 1960: The famous “Wind of Change” speech delivered by the Prime Minister of the UK Harold Macmillan in Africa against the apartheid regime. This angered the South African politicians.
61. 3rd Feb 1962: A ban on all trades except food and drugs was imposed against Cuba by US President John Kennedy.
62. 3rd Feb 1964: NYC public schools were boycotted by black and Puerto Rican students.

63. 3rd Feb 1965: This day marked the resignation of 105 USAF cadets for cheating in examinations.
64. 3rd Feb 1966: The Soviet Union accomplished the first controlled landing of the spacecraft on the moon. The unmanned ship Lunix 9 landed in the Ocean of Storms on the moon’s surface.
65. 3rd Feb 1969: Prime Minister Terence O’Neill of Northern Ireland announces the dissolution of the Stormont parliament and the holding of fresh elections.
66. 3rd Feb 1971: OPEC mandates a “total embargo” against any company that rejects a 55% tax rate.
67. 3rd Feb 1971: Serious rioting and gun battles result because of a series of house searches by the British Army in Catholic areas of Belfast.
68. 3rd Feb 1972. The US performs nuclear tests at its test site in Nevada.
69. 3rd Feb 1973: A peace treaty was signed a few days ago and the US troops were withdrawn.
70. 3rd Feb 1978: The Middle East peace process was discussed between Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and US President Jimmy Carter in Washington D.C.
71. 3rd Feb 1980: Mohammed Ali tours Africa as President Carter’s envoy.
72. 3rd Feb 1981: Gro Harlem Brundtland was elected on this day as Premier of Norway.
73. 3rd Feb 1982: Columbia Shuttle moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating for the STS-3 mission.
74. 3rd Feb 1984: This day marks the launching of the 10th Space Shuttle Mission (41B)- Challenger 4.

75. 3rd Feb 1986: US President Ronald Reagan announced the formation of a commission of inquiry on the Challenger Accident.
76. 3rd Feb 1986: Mother Teresa meets the Pope in Calcutta.
77. 3rd Feb 1986: After a two-day meeting in Vienna OPEC fails to agree upon a petroleum production agreement.
78. 3rd Feb 1988: President Ronald Regan’s request for $36 million as an aid to the Nicaraguan Contras was rejected by the House of Representatives.
79. 3rd Feb 1988: Nurses across the United Kingdom go on a strike over the issue of pay and funding for NHS.
80. 3rd Feb 1989: Dictator of Paraguay Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown in a military coup.
81. 3rd Feb 1992: Maximum unemployment benefit was raised to $300 per week.
82. 3rd Feb 1992: This day marks the end of the labor strike at the Royal Canadian Mint.
83. 3rd Feb 1994: The trade embargo on Vietnam was lifted by President Bill Clinton.
84. 3rd Feb 1994: For the first time a woman astronaut operated as a pilot when she took control of Space Shuttle Discovery.
85. 3rd Feb 1995: Instruction for aliens (people who are not citizens of the United States) to register in the post office on their arrival was given in the newspaper article printed on this day.
86. 3rd Feb 1998: Stamps commemorating Diana, Princess of Wales, go on sale in Britain.
87. 3rd Feb 1998: A US Marine Jet crashed into the Cavalese cable-car sky lift in the town of Cavalese. Twenty people crashed to the ground and died as a result.

21st Century – February 3 This Day In History – The 2000s

88. 3rd Feb 2005: Alberto Gonzalez was on this day appointed as the Attorney General of the United States. He was earlier general counsel for George Bush when he was the governor of Texas.
89. 3rd Feb 2006: Judge gives trial date for the trial of White House aide who leaked the classified cover identity of a CIA agent to the press.
90. 3rd Feb 2006: An old Egyptian ferry “The Al Salam Boccaccio” sinks in the choppy waters of the Red Sea following a fire breaking out. It was carrying over 1400 people on board. They were mainly Egyptian workers returning from Saudi Arabia.
91. 3rd Feb 2007: More than 150 Shiite Muslims were killed in the Bagdad market when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives and committed suicide.
92. 3rd Feb 2007: Senator Obama by announcing his presidential intentions at the Old State Capitol in Springfield is wrapping himself in the mystique of Abraham Lincoln. The Old Capitol is the place where Lincoln served his fourth and final term.
93. 3rd Feb 2008: Five women who had been herded to the back room of the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois during the robbery attempt were killed by the gunman.
94. 3rd Feb 2009: Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination as the Health and Human Services Secretary after the controversy of his unpaid taxes. He had failed to pay about $130,000 in taxes.
95. 3rd Feb 2009: Hillary Clinton has her first ministerial-level talks after Obama’s inauguration. She met the foreign ministers of Britain David Milibandas and Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

96. 3rd Feb 2009: J. K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter received Frances’s highest civilian award “Knight of Legion d’Honneur”.
97. 3rd Feb 2010: The box office movie Avatar becomes the highest-grossing film, in the US and Canada. It surpassed the 2 billion dollar mark in worldwide sales.
98. 3rd Feb 2011: Large winter storm hits the United States and Canada. Spanning nearly 2,000 miles across the US and Canada it brought heavy snowfall. There were two feet of snow in some areas.
99. 3rd Feb 2012: The decision of Motorola to enforce a patent injunction against Apple forces Apple to pull some iPad and iPhone models from its online stores in Germany.
100. 3rd Feb 2014: Russia warned leaders of the Ukrainian anti-government protesters against continuing their protests.

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