On this day: February 2

Events on February 2

• 880 Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III of France is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony. Wikipedia
• 1207 Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established. Wikipedia
• 1207 Terra Mariana, comprising present-day Estonia and Latvia, was established as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1536 Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina. Wikipedia
• 1659 Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of Cape Town, produced the first bottle of South African wine. Wikipedia
• 1709 Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was rescued by English captain Woodes Rogers and his crew after spending four years as a castaway on an uninhabited island in the Pacific, providing the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe. Wikipedia
• 1725 J. S. Bach led the first performance of his chorale cantata Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, based on Luther's paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis. Wikipedia
• 1725 J. S. Bach leads the first performance of his chorale cantata Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, based on Luther's paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis. Wikipedia
• 1797 The siege of Mantua ends after eight months when Count Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser surrenders the fortress of Mantua to Napoleon Bonaparte. The fall of Mantua secures French control over Northern Italy and marks the beginning of the conclusion of the Italian campaign of 1796-1797, and sets the stage for the end of the War of the First Coalition. Wikipedia
• 1848 Mexican–American War: During the American occupation of Mexico City, diplomats signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war and had Mexico cede 1.36 million square kilometres (530,000 sq mi) of territory and the United States pay US$15 million. Wikipedia
• 1899 The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne. Wikipedia
• 1901 Funeral of Queen Victoria. Wikipedia
• 1920 The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia. Wikipedia
• 1922 Ulysses by James Joyce is published. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last organized German troops in the city. Wikipedia
• 1959 Nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union die under mysterious circumstances. Wikipedia
• 1971 Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda. Wikipedia
• 1982 Hama massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama. Wikipedia
• 1987 After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution. Wikipedia
• 1989 Soviet–Afghan War: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul. Wikipedia
• 1990 Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 2004 Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became the top-ranked men's singles player, a position he held for a record 237 consecutive weeks. Wikipedia
• 2005 The Government of Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act. This legislation would become law on July 20, 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage. Wikipedia
• 2012 The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 146–165 dead. Wikipedia
• 2025 Slovenian NBA player Luka Doncic is traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis in one of the largest trades in American sports history. Wikipedia

Born on February 2

• 1208 James I of Aragon (died 1276) Wikipedia
• 1650 Nell Gwyn, English actress, mistress of King Charles II of England (died 1687) Wikipedia
• 1650 Pope Benedict XIII (died 1730) Wikipedia
• 1754 Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1838) Wikipedia
• 1861 Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (died 1949) Wikipedia
• 1872 Abul Kasem, Bengali politician (died 1936) Wikipedia
• 1882 James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (died 1941) Wikipedia
• 1885 Mikhail Frunze, Soviet revolutionary, politician, army officer and military theorist (died 1925) Wikipedia
• 1905 Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist and philosopher (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1922 James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (died 2002) Wikipedia
• 1926 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1928 Ciriaco De Mita, 47th Prime minister of Italy (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1939 Mary-Dell Chilton, American chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology Wikipedia
• 1939 Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1946 Blake Clark, American comedian and actor Wikipedia
• 1947 Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (died 2009) Wikipedia
• 1952 Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea Wikipedia
• 1953 Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter[citation needed] Wikipedia
• 1963 Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia Wikipedia
• 1969 Dana International, Israeli singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1977 Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Wikipedia
• 1987 Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer Wikipedia

Died on February 2

• 880 Bruno, duke of Saxony Wikipedia
• 1529 Baldassare Castiglione, Italian soldier and diplomat (born 1478) Wikipedia
• 1594 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer and educator (born 1525) Wikipedia
• 1769 Pope Clement XIII (born 1693) Wikipedia
• 1907 Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (born 1834) Wikipedia
• 1970 Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1872) Wikipedia
• 1974 Imre Lakatos, Hungarian-English mathematician and philosopher (born 1922) Wikipedia
• 1979 Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (born 1957) Wikipedia
• 1980 William Howard Stein, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 1994 Marija Gimbutas, Lithuanian-American archeologist (born 1921) Wikipedia
• 1995 Donald Pleasence, English-French actor (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 1996 Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 2014 Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (born 1967) Wikipedia
• 2020 Mad Mike Hoare, British-Irish military officer and mercenary (born 1919) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Groundhog Day Wikipedia
• Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Adalbard Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Catherine de' Ricci Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Jeanne de Lestonnac Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Martyrs of Ebsdorf Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Presentation of Jesus Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances: A quarter day in the Christian liturgical calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland) Wikipedia
• Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances: Celebration of Yemanja or Our Lady of Navigators (Candomblé) Wikipedia
• Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances: Chandeleur (France) Wikipedia
• Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances: Liichtmëssdag (Luxembourg) Wikipedia
• Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances: Our Lady of the Candles (Filipino Catholics) Wikipedia
• Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances: Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain) Wikipedia
• Victory of the Battle of Stalingrad (Russia) Wikipedia
• World Wetlands Day Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “February 2” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.