February 03

Sunday 03, 2008:

Super Bowl XLII will take place from the new Arizona Cardinals stadium currently under construction in Glendale, Arizona.

Sunday 03, 2002:

Super Bowl XXXVI: The New England Patriots defeat the St. Louis Rams, 20-17, to win their first Super Bowl championship.

Tuesday 03, 1998:

Cavalese cable-car disaster: a United States Military pilot causes the death of 20 skiers in Italy riding on a lift suspended by a cable snapped by the low-flying plane.

Friday 03, 1989:

After a stroke, P.W. Botha resigns party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.

Wednesday 03, 1988:

Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

Friday 03, 1984:

Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on the tenth space shuttle mission.

Thursday 03, 1972:

The first Winter Olympics to be held in Asia open in Sapporo, Japan.

Monday 03, 1969:

In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

Friday 03, 1967:

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

Thursday 03, 1966:

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

Tuesday 03, 1959:

The Day The Music Died: A plane crash kills rock-and-roll performers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.

Sunday 03, 1957:

Senegalese political party Democratic Rally merges into the Senegalese Party of Socialist Action (PSAS).

Sunday 03, 1952:

The earliest known tropical storm makes landfall in South Florida.

Saturday 03, 1951:

Dick Button wins the American figure skating championship for the fourth consecutive time.

Monday 03, 1947:

Percival Prattis becomes the first African American news correspondent allowed in the United States House and Senate press gallery.

Saturday 03, 1945:

World War II: Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific Theatre conflict against Japan.

Thursday 03, 1944:

United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.

Monday 03, 1941:

World War II: The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy, France.

Tuesday 03, 1931:

258 die in New Zealand's worst natural disaster, the Napier earthquake.

Sunday 03, 1918:

The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long).

Saturday 03, 1917:

World War I: The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany a day after Germany announces a new policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

Thursday 03, 1916:

Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada burn down.

Monday 03, 1913:

The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect income tax.

Saturday 03, 1900:

Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky. Former-Secretary of State Caleb Powers was later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebel.

Thursday 03, 1870:

The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.

Sunday 03, 1867:

Prince Mutsuhito becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan.

Friday 03, 1815:

The first commercial cheese factory is founded (Switzerland).

Friday 03, 1809:

Illinois Territory is created.

Saturday 03, 1787:

Shays' Rebellion is crushed, ending an uprising that would prompt negotiations that would result in the drafting of the Constitution of the United States.

Monday 03, 1783:

American Revolutionary War: Spain recognizes United States independence.

Friday 03, 1690:

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

Friday 03, 1488:

Bartholomeu Diaz of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, becoming the first known European to travel this far south.

Monday 03, 1451:

Murad II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Mehmed II.

More on February, 03

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