On This Day: 3 February

3 February in world history

• 2023Ohio train derailment: A freight train containing vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials derails and burns in East Palestine, Ohio, United States, releasing hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air and contaminating the Ohio River.
• 1995In mission STS-63, astronaut Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle.
• 1989A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
• 1986Steve Jobs purchased Pixar from Lucasfilm and launched it as an independent computer-animation studio.
• 1961The United States Air Force begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC'
• 1959American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash shortly after takeoff from Mason City Municipal Airport in Iowa.
• 1953The Batepá massacre occurs in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleash a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros.
• 1945World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000.
• 1944World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison.
• 1941World War II: Free French and British forces began the Battle of Keren to capture the strategic town of Keren in Italian East Africa.
• 1933Adolf Hitler announced that the conquest of Lebensraum in Eastern Europe, and its "ruthless Germanisation", were the geopolitical objectives of Reich foreign policy.
• 1927A revolt against the military dictatorship of Portugal breaks out at Porto.
• 1870Reconstruction era: The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, formally prohibiting race-based disenfranchisement in the United States.
• 1852The Argentine Confederation was defeated in the Platine War by an alliance consisting of Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes.
• 1830The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
• 1783Spain–United States relations are first established.
• 1781American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
• 1266Mudéjar revolt: King James I of Aragon entered the formerly Muslim-held city of Murcia following its surrender three days earlier.

Born on 3 February

• 1984Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of Theranos
• 1963Raghuram Rajan, Indian economist and academicIndia
• 1926Hans-Jochen Vogel, German lawyer and politician, 8th Mayor of Berlin (died 2020)
• 1906George Adamson, Indian-English author and activist (died 1989)India
• 1898Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect, designed the Finlandia Hall and Aalto Theatre (died 1976)
• 1816Ram Singh Kuka, Indian credited with starting the Non-cooperation movementIndia

Died on 3 February

• 2016Balram Jakhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Madhya Pradesh (born 1923)India
• 2016Joe Alaskey, American actor (born 1952)
• 1969C. N. Annadurai, Indian journalist and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Madras State (born 1909)India
• 1116Coloman, king of Hungary

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 3 February in history?

2023: Ohio train derailment: A freight train containing vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials derails and burns in East Palestine, Ohio, United States, releasing hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air and contaminating the Ohio River. 1995: In mission STS-63, astronaut Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle. 1989: A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954. 1986: Steve Jobs purchased Pixar from Lucasfilm and launched it as an independent computer-animation studio.

Which famous people were born on 3 February?

Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of Theranos (1984); Raghuram Rajan, Indian economist and academic (1963); Hans-Jochen Vogel, German lawyer and politician, 8th Mayor of Berlin (died 2020) (1926); George Adamson, Indian-English author and activist (died 1989) (1906).

Which day is observed on 3 February?

Day of the Virgin of Suyapa (Honduras); Earliest day on which Shrove Tuesday can fall, while March 9 is the latest; celebrated on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity); Four Chaplains Day (United States, also considered a Feast Day by the Episcopal Church); Communist Party of Vietnam Foundation Anniversary (Vietnam); Day of Finnish architecture and design, birthday of Alvar Aalto (Finland).