http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Feb 3, 1950: Klaus Fuchs arrested for passing atomic bomb information to Soviets
Klaus Fuchs, a German-born British scientist who helped developed the atomic bomb, is arrested in Great Britain for passing top-secret information about the bomb to the Soviet Union. The arrest of Fuchs led authorities to several other individuals involved in a spy ring, culminating with the arrest of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and their subsequent execution.
Fuchs and his family fled Germany in 1933 to avoid Nazi persecution and came to Great Britain, where Fuchs earned his doctorate in physics. During World War II, British authorities were aware of the leftist leanings of both Fuchs and his father. However, Fuchs was eventually invited to participate in the British program to develop an atomic bomb (the project named "Tube Alloys") because of his expertise. At some point after the project began, Soviet agents contacted Fuchs and he began to pass information about British progress to them. Late in 1943, Fuchs was among a group of British scientists brought to America to work on the Manhattan Project, the U.S. program to develop an atomic bomb. Fuchs continued his clandestine meetings with Soviet agents. When the war ended, Fuchs returned to Great Britain and continued his work on the British atomic bomb project.
Fuchs' arrest in 1950 came after a routine security check of Fuchs' father, who had moved to communist East Germany in 1949. While the check was underway, British authorities received information from the American Federal Bureau of Investigation that decoded Soviet messages in their possession indicated Fuchs was a Russian spy. On February 3, officers from Scotland Yard arrested Fuchs and charged him with violating the Official Secrets Act. Fuchs eventually admitted his role and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. His sentence was later reduced, and he was released in 1959 and spent his remaining years living with his father in East Germany.
Fuchs' capture set off a chain of arrests. Harry Gold, whom Fuchs implicated as the middleman between himself and Soviet agents, was arrested in the United States. Gold thereupon informed on David Greenglass, one of Fuchs' co-workers on the Manhattan Project. After his apprehension, Greenglass implicated his sister-in-law and her husband, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. They were arrested in New York in July 1950, found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage, and executed at Sing Sing Prison in June 1953.
Feb 3, 1917: U.S. breaks diplomatic relations with Germany
On this day in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson speaks for two hours before a historic session of Congress to announce that the United States is breaking diplomatic relations with Germany.
Due to the reintroduction of the German navy's policy of unlimited submarine warfare, announced two days earlier by Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollwegg, Wilson announced that his government had no choice but to cut all diplomatic ties with Germany in order to uphold the honor and dignity of the United States. Though he maintained that We do not desire any hostile conflict with the German government, Wilson nevertheless cautioned that war would follow if Germany followed through on its threat to sink American ships without warning.
Later that day, Count von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the U.S., received a note written by Secretary of State Robert Lansing stating that The President hasdirected me to announce to your Excellency that all diplomatic relations between the United States and the German empire are severed, and that the American Ambassador at Berlin will be immediately withdrawn, and in accordance with such announcement to deliver to your Excellency your passports. Bernstorff was guaranteed safe passage out of the country, but was ordered to leave Washington immediately. Also in the wake of Wilson's speech, all German cruisers docked in the United States were seized and the government formally demanded that all American prisoners being held in Germany be released at once.
On the same day, a German U-boat sunk the American cargo ship Housatonic off the Scilly Islands, just southwest of Britain. A British ship rescued the ship's crew, but its entire cargo of grain was lost.
In Berlin that night, before learning of the president's speech, German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann told U.S. Ambassador James J. Gerard that Everything will be alright. America will do nothing, for President Wilson is for peace and nothing else. Everything will go on as before. He was proved wrong the following morning, as news arrived of the break in relations between America and Germany, a decisive step towards U.S. entry into the First World War.
Feb 3, 1820: Keats falls deathly ill
On this day, poet John Keats, age 24, coughs up blood and realizes he, like his brother Tom, is doomed to die of tuberculosis. Despite the tender care of his fiancÝe, Fanny Brawne, and a journey to Italy in the hopes of improving his condition, he dies in February 1821, only 25 years old. But in that short time, he achieved a remarkable reputation as a leading poet.
Unlike many writers of his day, Keats came from a lower-middle-class background. His father worked at a stable in London and eventually married the owners' daughter. John was the first of the couple's five children. At private school, John was high-spirited and boisterous, given to fist fights and roughhousing despite his small stature-even as an adult, he was barely over five feet tall. Keats' schoolmasters encouraged his interest in reading and later introduced him to poetry and theater.
When John was eight, his father died after falling off a horse, launching a long economic struggle that would keep Keats in poverty throughout his life, despite the large inheritance due him. His mother quickly remarried, and the five Keats children were sent to live with their maternal grandparents. The marriage failed, and their mother soon joined them. However, she died in 1810, and John's grandparents died by 1814. An unscrupulous guardian kept the Keats children away from their money and apprenticed John to a surgeon in 1811. Keats worked with the surgeon until 1814, then went to work for a hospital in London as a junior apothecary and surgeon in charge of dressing wounds.
In London, Keats pursued his interest in literature while working at the hospital. He became friends with the editor of the Examiner, Leigh Hunt, a successful poet and author who introduced him to other literary figures, including Percy Bysshe Shelley. Although Keats did not write his first poem until age 18, he quickly showed tremendous promise, encouraged by Hunt and his circle. Keats' work first appeared in the Examiner on this day in 1816, followed by Keats' first book, Poems (1817). After 1817, Keats devoted himself entirely to poetry, becoming a master of the Romantic sonnet and trying his hand at epic poems like Hyperion.
In 1818, Keats' brother Tom fell ill with tuberculosis. Another brother's poor investment left him stranded and penniless in Kentucky. Keats' economic struggles worsened, and a strenuous walking tour of England's Lake District damaged his health. The one bright spot in his life was Fanny Brawne, a young woman with whom he fell madly in love. They became engaged, but Keats' poverty did not allow them to marry. From January to September 1819, Keats produced an outpouring of brilliant work, including poems like "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode to a Nightingale," and "La Belle Dame Sans Merci."
Feb 3, 2008: New York Giants upset New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII
On this day in 2008, the New York Giants stunned the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.
The Patriots and Giants met at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona in front of 71,101 fans. New England came into the game with an unblemished 18-0 record, and was attempting to become the second team to finish an undefeated season with a Super Bowl victory. The first was the Miami Dolphins, who went 17-0 in 1972 after besting the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
Led by quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Randy Moss, the Patriots averaged 36.8 points per game during the 2007 regular season. Brady threw an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes and was named NFL MVP. The Giants, on the other hand, had finished just 10-6 in the regular season and needed three straight playoff wins on the road to make the Super Bowl. Their toughest test came in the NFC Championship game, when they managed to escape with an overtime win over the Green Bay Packers in sub-zero temperatures. They entered Super Bowl XLII as 12-point underdogs.
Five weeks before the Super Bowl, the Patriots and Giants had faced off in the final game of the regular season, when New England was able to clinch its perfect 16-0 season with a close 38-35 win at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. But when the two teams met in the big game on February 3, the score would be much lower. At halftime, New England was holding on to a slim 7-3 lead. The Patriots were up again late in the fourth quarter, by a score of 14-10, but the Giants had possession, setting up a dramatic Super Bowl finish.
With just one minute, 15 seconds remaining and their Super Bowl hopes dwindling, Giants quarterback Eli Manning pulled away from several Patriots defensive players and threw the ball down the field. Little-used wide receiver David Tyree, who had scored his first touchdown of the season earlier in the game, out-jumped Patriots safety and four-time All-Pro Rodney Harrison to catch the ball, cradling it against his helmet with one hand as the two men fell to the ground. Four plays later, with only 35 seconds on the clock, Manning tossed the game-winning touchdown into the hands of Plaxico Burress. The Giants’ defense, which sacked Brady five times during the game, stopped New England on the next four plays to seal the win. Manning, the younger brother of superstar QB Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts, took home Super Bowl MVP honors, matching his brother's feat one year earlier in Super Bowl XLI.
The two teams would meet again in 2012 in Super Bowl XLVI, with the Giants dealing New England a 21-17 defeat in near-identical fashion, coming from behind in the game's final minutes. Manning, who completed 30 of 40 passes in the game for 296 yards, with one touchdown pass and zero interceptions, was again named Super Bowl MVP.
Feb 3, 2002: New England Patriots win first Super Bowl
On this day in 2002, the New England Patriots shock football fans everywhere by defeating the heavily favored St. Louis Rams, 20-17, to take home their first Super Bowl victory. Pats’ kicker Adam Vinatieri made a 48-yard field goal to win the game just as the clock expired.
Super Bowl XXXVI took place at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans with a crowd of almost 73,000 in attendance. In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, the game was played amidst intense security and included a tribute to the 9/11 victims. Former President George H.W. Bush conducted the coin toss, the first president to ever do so in person. Mariah Carey sang the National Anthem and U2 performed during the halftime show.
The NFC champion Rams were coached by Mike Martz, who joined the team in 1999 as offensive coordinator and became head coach in 2000. The team’s offense--nicknamed “The Greatest Show on Turf”--was believed to be one of the best in football history. Kurt Warner, a two-time NFL MVP, quarterbacked the Rams, who had won their first Super Bowl in 2000. The American Football Conference champion Patriots were coached by Bill Belichick, who joined the team in 2000, the same year quarterback Tom Brady was drafted. Brady took over for Pats’ starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe after he was injured early in the 2001-2002 season, and Belichick made the decision to stay with the younger quarterback even after Bledsoe recovered, a call that initially met with controversy. (Bledsoe did play in the AFC Championship game, after Brady was forced to leave with an injury.)
Going into the Super Bowl on February 3, the Rams’ high-powered offense and Super Bowl experience combined to make them 14-point favorites. True to form, the Rams scored first, but by halftime, the underdog Patriots had stifled the Rams offense, and capitalized on two St. Louis turnovers to pull ahead, 14-3.
The Pats converted another Rams turnover into a 17-3 lead in the third quarter before the Rams finally seemed to come alive. Warner ran in a touchdown and then connected with wide receiver Ricky Proehl with just one minute, 30 seconds remaining to tie the score. In the end, though, it proved too little, too late: Brady deftly led the Pats on a 53-yard drive and into field goal range, and with seven seconds left on the clock, Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal to give the Pats the victory, 20-17. It was the first time a Super Bowl had ever been won with a team scoring on the last play of the game.
Brady completed 16 of 27 passes for 145 yards, scored one touchdown and was named the game’s MVP. (Warner completed 28 of 44 passes for 365 yards, scored one touchdown and had two interceptions.) Brady went on to lead the Patriots to Super Bowl championships in 2004, against the Carolina Panthers, and in 2005, against the Philadelphia Eagles, and is considered one of the best quarterbacks in football history. Meanwhile, Drew Bledsoe left the Patriots after the 2001 season to play for the Buffalo Bills.
Adam Vinatieri played for the Pats from 1996 to 2005 and earned a reputation as the best clutch place kicker in NFL history. At Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, he repeated his 2002 Super Bowl performance by kicking a game-winning 41-yard field goal in the final seconds.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
1377 - Cardinal Robert of Geneva (anti-pope Clemens VII)
starts term
1377 - Mass execution of population of Cesena, Italy
1451 - Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman
Empire.
1488 - Bartholomeus Diaz discovers Mosselbaai (Angra dos
Vaqueros)
1509 - The Battle of Diu, between Portugal and the Ottoman
Empire takes place in Diu, India.
1576 - Henry of Navarre (future Henry IV) escapes from Paris
1591 - German monarchy forms Protestant Union of Torgau
1653 - Cardinal Mazarin returns to Paris from exile
1660 - General Moncks army reaches London
1690 - 1st paper money in America issued (colony of Mass)
1740 - Charles de Bourbon, King of Naples, invites Jews to
return to Sicily
1743 - Philadelphia establishes a "pesthouse" to
quarantine immigrants
1752 - Dutch States-General forbid export of windmills
1781 - Dutch West Indies island of St Eustatia taken by
British
1783 - Spain recognizes US independence
1807 - A British military force, under Brig-Gen. Sir Samuel
Auchmuty captures the city of Montevideo, then part of the Spanish Empire now
capital of Uruguay.
1809 - Territory of Illinois organizes (including
present-day Wisconsin)
1815 - World's 1st commercial cheese factory established, in
Switzerland
1825 - Dutch North Sea coast floods
1830 - The sovereignty of Greece was confirmed in a London
Protocol.
1834 - Wake Forest University is established.
1836 - Whig Party holds its 1st national convention (Albany
NY)
1844 - Hector Berlioz' "Carnaval Romain,"
premieres in Paris
1855 - Wisconsin Supreme Ct declares US Fugitive Slave Law
unconstitutional
1860 - Thomas Clemson takes office as 1st US superintendent
of agriculture
1864 - Sherman's march through Mississippi
1865 - Hampton Roads Peace Conference, Lincoln &
Stephens reach an impasse
1867 - Prince Mutsuhito, 14, becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan
(1867-1912)
1869 - Booth theater at 23rd & 6th opens in NYC (Romeo
& Juliet)
1870 - 15th Amendment (Black suffrage) passed
1876 - Albert Spalding with $800 starts sporting goods co,
manufacturing 1st official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, &
football
1882 - Circus owner PT Barnum buys his world famous elephant
Jumbo
1887 - To avoid disputed natl elections, Congress creates
Electoral Count Act
1892 - Russia closes down Yeshiva of Volozhin
1894 - 1st US steel sailing vessel, Dirigo, launched, Bath,
Me
1895 - Wilhelm Mauseth skates world record 500 m (46.8 secs)
1900 - Rival forces fight for control of the Union Park ball
grounds in Balt
1900 - Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is
assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky.
1901 - Dutch troops under Gen Van Heutsz conquer Batu Ilië
on Sumatra
1903 - Frederick Lugard occupies Kano West Africa
1908 - Supreme Court rules a union boycott violates Sherman
Antitrust Act
1908 - Foundation of Panathinaikos in Athens, Greece.
1913 - 16th Amendment, federal income tax, ratified
1913 - Golden/Cawthorne's musical "Sunshine Girl,"
premieres in NYC
1915 - Turkish & German army reach Suez Canal
1916 - Canada's original Parliament buildings, in Ottawa,
burns down
1916 - Tristan Tzar publishes Dada-manifest in Zurich
Switzerland
1917 - US liner Housatonic sunk by German sub &
diplomatic relations severed
1918 - Twin Peaks Tunnel longest (11,920 feet) streetcar
tunnel begins service
1919 - Herbert/Blossom's musical "Velvet Lady,"
premieres in NYC
1919 - League of Nations 1st meeting (Paris)
1919 - Socialist conference convenes (Berne Switzerland)
1923 - The Alpha Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
founded at Pennsylvania State University.
1924 - Alexei Ryko elected as Pres of People's commission
(succeeds Lenin)
1927 - Uprising against regime of general Carmona in
Portugal
1929 - Revolutionary Socialist Party forms in Amsterdam
1930 - William Howard Taft, resigns as chief justice for
health reasons
1930 - The Communist Party of Vietnam is established.
Journalist and Critic H. L. MenckenJournalist and Critic H.
L. Mencken 1931 - Arkansas legislature passes motion to pray for soul of H L
Mencken after he calls state "apex of moronia"
1931 - The Hawke's Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst
natural disaster, kills 258
1933 - 1st interstate legislative conference in US opens,
Washington, DC
1933 - German Minister Hermann Goering bans
social-democratic newspaper Vorwarts
1933 - Marinus van der Lubbe departs to Berlin
1937 - Bradman scores 212 (in 441 minutes!) in 5th Test
Cricket v England
1938 - Paul Osborn's "On Borrowed Time," premieres
in NYC
1941 - Supreme Court upheld Federal Wage & Hour law,
sets min wages & max hrs
1942 - 1st Japanese air raid on Java
1942 - Baseball owners agree to permit each club up to 14
night games in 1942
1943 - 4 chaplains drown after giving up their life jackets
to others
1944 - World War II: United States troops capture the
Marshall Islands.
1945 - Almost 1,000 Flying Fortresses drop 3,000 tons of
bombs on Berlin
1945 - Walt Disney's "3 Caballeros" released
1947 - -81°F (-63°C), Snag Yukon (North American record)
Nazi Politician Hermann GoeringNazi Politician Hermann
Goering 1947 - 1st black reporter in Congressional press gallery (Percival
Prattis)
1947 - Bradman bowled by Alec Bedser for a duck in 4th Test
Cricket
1948 - Dick Button becomes 1st world figure skating champion
from US
1950 - Nuclear physicist Klaus Fuchs arrested on spying
charges
1951 - "Victor Borge Show," debuts on NBC TV
1951 - Dick Button wins US skating title for 6th time
1951 - Largest purse to date in horse racing, $144,323, won
by Great Circle
1951 - Tennessee Williams' "Rose Tattoo,"
premieres in NYC
1953 - J Fred Muggs, a chimp, becomes a regular on NBC's
Today Show
1954 - Jeen van den Berg wins Dutch Eleven Cities Skating
race (7:32)
1956 - Autherine J Lucy admitted to U of Alabama, suspended
2/7 after a riot
1956 - Toni Sailor becomes 1st Olympic skier to sweep 3
alpine events
1957 - Patty Berg wins LPGA Havana Golf Open
1958 - Royal Teens' "Short Shorts" enters Top 40
chart & peaks at #3
1959 - American Airlines Electra crashes in NY's East River,
killing 65
Playwright Tennessee WilliamsPlaywright Tennessee Williams
1961 - 6th largest snowfall in NYC history (17.4" (44.2cm))
1962 - John Uelses pole vaults record 489 cm
1962 - President Kennedy bans all trade with Cuba except for
food & drugs
1963 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Sea Island Women's Golf
Invitational
1964 - "Meet the Beatles" album goes Gold
1964 - Black & Puerto Rican students boycott NYC public
schools
1965 - 105 USAF cadets resigned for cheating on exams
1965 - Geraldine McCullough wins Widener Gold Medal for
Sculpture
1965 - Orbiting Solar Observatory 2 launches into Earth
orbit (552/636 km)
1965 - Braves offer Milwaukee $500,000 to terminate their
lease a year earlier, the proposal is turned down
1966 - 1st operational weather satellite, ESSA-1 launched US
1966 - 1st soft landing on Moon (Soviet Luna 9)
1967 - "Purple Haze" recorded by Jimi Hendrix
1967 - Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in
Australia, is hanged in Pentridge Prison, Melbourne.
1969 - "Canterbury Tales" opens at Eugene O'Neill
Theater NYC for 122 perfs
Palestinian Leader Yasser ArafatPalestinian Leader Yasser
Arafat 1969 - The Palestine National Congress appointed Yasser Arafat head of
PLO
1971 - KTSC TV channel 8 in Pueblo-Colorado Spgs, CO (PBS)
1st broadcast
1972 - 11th Winter Olympic games opens in Sapporo, Japan
(1st in Asia)
1972 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1973 - Dr Hook's "Cover of "Rolling
Stone"" enters Top 40 & peaks at #6
1973 - President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law
1974 - "Pajama Game" closes at Lunt Fontanne
Theater NYC after 65 perfs
1974 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
1975 - Billy Herman, Earl Averill, & Bucky Harris
elected to Hall of Fame
1976 - 26th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 123-109 at
Philadelphia
1977 - Martin Dihigo John Lloyd elected to Hall of Fame
1978 - Australia beat India 3-2 on 6th day of final test
1978 - India needing 493 to beat Australia at Adelaide, all
out 445
1979 - "YMCA" by Village People peaks at #2 on pop
singles chart
1979 - Minnesota Twins trade Rod Carew to California for 4
players
Rock Guitarist Jimi HendrixRock Guitarist Jimi Hendrix 1979
- US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
1979 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles
Tickner
1980 - 30th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 144-136 (OT)
at Washington
1980 - Larry Holmes TKOs Lorenzo Holmes in 6 for heavyweight
boxing title
1980 - Mohammed Ali tours Africa as Pres Carter's envoy
1981 - Australia beats NZ 3-1 to win World Series Cup
1981 - Gro Harlem Brundtland elected premier of Norway
1982 - Columbia Shuttle moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating
for STS-3 mission
1982 - Greatest helicopter lift, 56,888 kg, Podmoscovnoe,
USSR
1982 - John Sharples of England finishes 371 hours of disco
dancing
1982 - Porn star John Holmes ordered to stand trial for murder
1983 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Rosalynn
Sumners
1984 - 10th Space Shuttle Mission (41B)-Challenger 4
launched
1985 - "Harrigan 'n Hart" closes at Longacre
Theater NYC after 5 performances
1985 - Joanne Carner wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
US President & Actor Ronald ReaganUS President &
Actor Ronald Reagan 1986 - US President Reagan announces formation of Comm on
Challenger Accident
1987 - Expos trade Jeff Reardon to Twins for Neal Heaton
1987 - SD Yacht Club celebrates return of America's Cup
1989 - Bill White named NL president; 1st black major-league
sports head
1989 - Military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator
of Paraguay
1989 - Start 1st Test Cricket, NZ v Pak, washed out
1990 - Darryl Strawberry voluntarily enters Smither Center
for Alcohol rehabilitation
1990 - Jockey Billy Shoemaker (58), retires after 40,350
horse race
1991 - Meg Mallon wins Oldsmobile LPGA Golf Classic
1991 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 23-21
1992 - Defense opens calling Noriega "our ally in war
on drugs"
1992 - Labor strike at Royal Canadian Mint ends
1992 - Maximum NY State unemployment benefits raised to $300
per week
1993 - Cin Red owner Marge Schott suspended for 1 year due
to racist comments
1993 - General Hospital's Tristan Rogers convicted of drunk
driving
Victim of Police Violence Rodney KingVictim of Police
Violence Rodney King 1993 - Federal trial of 4 police officers charged with
civil rights violations in videotaped beating of Rodney King begins in LA Calif
1994 - "Les Miserables," opens at Kallang Theatre,
Singapore
1994 - President Bill Clinton lifts US trade embargo against
Vietnam
1994 - STS-60 (Discovery) launches into orbit
1995 - STS 63 (Discovery 19), launches into orbit
1997 - Carl Sagan Public Memorial at Ithaca NY
1997 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Detroit MI on
WKRK 97.1 FM
1998 - Fla Panther Dino Ciccarelli's is 9th NHLer to score
600 career goals
1998 - NY Yankees replace general manager Bob Watson with
Brian Cashman
1998 - Stamps commemorating Princess Diana go on sale in
Britain
1998 - US military plane clips cable car lines in northern
Italy, kills 20
1998 - Mary Kay LeTourneau, 36, former teacher, violates
probation with 14 year-old father of her baby
1998 - Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas becoming the
first woman executed in the United States since 1984.
1999 - In Jammu and Kashmir the political party Democratic
Janata Dal (Jammu and Kashmir) is revived.
2002 - Super Bowl XXXVI: New England Patriots beat St. Louis
Rams, 20-17 at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans MVP: Tom Brady, New
England, QB
42nd US President Bill Clinton42nd US President Bill Clinton
2007 - A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further
339.
2008 - Super Bowl XLII: New York Giants beat New England
Patriots, 17-14 at the University of Phoenix Stadium MVP: Eli Manning, New
York, QB
2011 - All available blocks of IPv4 internet addresses are
officially distributed to regional authorities.
2013 - 33 people are killed by a suicide bombing by an
explosive-packed truck in Kirkuk, Iraq
2013 - Super Bowl XLVII: Baltimore Ravens beat San Francisco
49ers, 34-31 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome MVP: Joe Flacco, Baltimore, QB
1488 - The Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Diaz landed at Mossal Bay in the Cape, the first European known to have landed on the southern extremity of Africa. 1690 - The first paper money in America was issued by the Massachusetts colony. The currency was used to pay soldiers that were fighting in the war against Quebec. 1783 - Spain recognized the independence of the United States. 1809 - The territory of Illinois was created. 1815 - The world's first commercial cheese factory was established in Switzerland. 1862 - Thomas Edison printed the "Weekly Herald" and distributed it to train passengers traveling between Port Huron and Detroit, MI. It was the first time a newspaper had been printed on a train. 1869 - Edwin Booth opened his new theatre in New York City. The first production was "Romeo and Juliet". 1900 - In Frankfort, KY, gubernatorial candidate William Goebels died from an assasin's bullet wounds. On August 18, 1900, Ex-Sec. of State Caleb Powers was found guilt of conspiracy to murder Gov. Goebels. 1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It authorized the power to impose and collect income tax. 1916 - In Ottawa, Canada's original parliament buildings burned down. 1917 - The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, which had announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. 1918 - The Twin Peaks Tunnel began service. It is the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet. 1927 - The Federal Radio Commission was created when U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill. 1941 - In Vichy, France, the Nazis used force to restore Pierre Laval to office. 1945 - Russia agreed to enter World War II against Japan. 1946 - The first issue of "Holiday" magazine appeared. 1947 - Percival Prattisbecame the first black news correspondent admitted to the House and Senate press gallery in Washington, DC. He worked for "Our World" in New York City. 1951 - Dick Button won the U.S. figure skating title for the sixth time. 1951 - The Tennessee Williams play, "The Rose Tattoo", opened on Broadway in New York. 1966 - The first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made by the Soviet space vehicle Luna IX. 1969 - At the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo, Yasser Arafat was appointed leader of the PLO. 1972 - The first Winter Olympics in Asia were held at Sapporo, Japan. 1984 - Challenger 4 was launched as the tenth space shuttle mission. 1988 - The U.S. House of Representatives handed rejected U.S. President Reagan's request for at least $36.25 million in aid to the Nicaraguan Contras. 1989 - South African politician P.W. Botha unwillingly resigned both party leadership and the presidency after suffering a stroke. 1998 - Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker. She was the first woman executed in the U.S. since 1984. 1998 - In Italy, a U.S. Military plane hit a cable causing the death of 20 skiers on a lift. 2009 - Eric Holder was sworn in as attorney general. He was the first African-American to hold the post. 2010 - The Alberto Giacometti sculpture L'Homme qui marche sold for $103.7 million.
1468 Johann Gutenberg, German printer and inventor, died. 1870 The 15th Amendment (black suffrage) passed. 1913 The 16th Amendment, establishing federal income tax, was ratified. 1917 The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany. 1959 Rock singers, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and Big Bopper died in a plane crash. 1995 Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot the space shuttle when the Discovery blasted off. 1998 Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/feb03.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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