Calendar date · February

What happened on February 3

On February 3, 1047: Drogo of Hauteville is elected as count of the Apulian Normans during the Norman conquest of Southern Italy.

Events

53

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Aquarius

Featured moment · 1047

Drogo of Hauteville is elected as count of the Apulian Normans during the Norman conquest of Southern Italy.

Drogo of Hauteville was the second Norman Count of Apulia. He led the Normans of Southern Italy after the death of his brother, William Iron Arm.

People

Born on February 3

Rei 2004– Japanese singer and rapper (born 2004)
Scoot Henderson 2004– American basketball player (born 2004)
Tre Mann 2001– American basketball player (born 2001)
Rhys Williams 2001– English footballer
Kanna Hashimoto 1999– Japanese actress and singer (born 1999)
Tyler Huntley 1998– American football player (born 1998)
Isaiah Roby 1998– American basketball player (born 1998)
Tao Tsuchiya 1995– Japanese actress and model (born 1995)
Rougned Odor 1994– Venezuelan baseball player (born 1994)
Show 9 more — notable births on February 3
Adam Reach 1993– English footballer
Olli Aitola 1992– Finnish ice hockey player
James White 1992– American football player (born 1992)
Sean Kingston 1990– American singer (born 1990)
Jia 1989– Chinese singer and actress
Slobodan Rajković 1989– Serbian footballer (born 1989)
Cho Kyu-hyun 1988– South Korean singer (born 1988)
Elvana Gjata 1987– Albanian singer and songwriter (born 1987)
Mathieu Giroux 1986– Canadian speed skater

People

Died on February 3

Harry Jayawardena Sri Lankan industrialist (1942–2025)
Kandiah Balendra Sri Lankan businessman (1940–2025)
George Steiner French and American Writer, literary critic and philosopher (1929–2020)
Julie Adams American actress (1926–2019)
Kristoff St. John American actor (1966–2019)
Dritëro Agolli Albanian poet, writer, and politician
Joe Alaskey American actor (1952–2016)
Balram Jakhar Indian politician (1923–2016)
József Kasza Serbian politician
Show 9 more — notable deaths on February 3
Martin Gilbert British historian (1936–2015)
Mary Healy American actress (1918-2015)
Charlie Sifford American professional golfer (1922–2015)
Nasim Hasan Shah Pakistani judge (1929–2015)
Cardiss Collins American politician (1931–2013)
Oscar Feltsman Russian composer
James Muri US Air Force officer
Jam Mohammad Yousaf Pakistani politician (1954–2012)
Toh Chin Chye Singaporean politician (1921–2012)

Timeline

Every February 3 on record

  1. 1047 Drogo of Hauteville is elected as count of the Apulian Normans during the Norman conquest of Southern Italy.

    Second Count of Apulia and Calabria

    Drogo of Hauteville was the second Norman Count of Apulia. He led the Normans of Southern Italy after the death of his brother, William Iron Arm.

  2. 1112 Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.

    12th c. Catalan ruler and Holy Roman Empire nobleman

    Ramon Berenguer III the Great was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1086, Besalú from 1111, Cerdanya from 1117, and count of Provence in the Holy Roman Empire, from 1112, all until his death in Barcelona in 1131. As Ramon Berenguer I, he was Count of Provence in right of his wife.

  3. 1451 Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

    Noble title with several historical meanings

    Sultan is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty without claiming the overall caliphate, or to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate.

  4. 1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.

    Portuguese maritime explorer (c. 1450–1500)

    Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. In February 1488, he became the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa and to demonstrate that the most effective southward route for ships is in the open ocean, well to the west of the African coast. His discoveries were later used by Vasco da Gama to establish a sea route between Europe and Asia.

  5. 1509 The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India.

    Colonial empire between 1415 and 1999

    The Portuguese Empire was the first European colonial empire, existing between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa and various islands in Asia and Oceania.

  6. 1583 Battle of São Vicente takes place off Portuguese Brazil where three English warships led by navigator Edward Fenton fight off three Spanish galleons sinking one in the process.
  7. 1637 Tulip Mania collapses within the Dutch Republic.
  8. 1639 The House of Assembly of Barbados meets for the first time.
  9. 1690 The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas.
  10. 1706 During the Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment.
  11. 1716 The 1716 Algiers earthquake sequence began with an Mw  7.0 mainshock that caused severe damage and killed 20,000 in Algeria.
  12. 1781 American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
  13. 1783 Spain–United States relations are first established.
  14. 1787 Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of Shays' Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts.
  15. 1807 A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay.
Show 15 earlier entries from February 3
  1. 1809 The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress.
  2. 1813 José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence.
  3. 1830 The 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.
  4. 1862 Moldavia and Wallachia formally unite to create the Romanian United Principalities.
  5. 1870 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.
  6. 1913 The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.
  7. 1916 The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of seven lives.
  8. 1917 World War I: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
  9. 1918 The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,630 meters) long.
  10. 1927 A revolt against the military dictatorship of Portugal breaks out at Porto.
  11. 1930 The Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a "Unification Conference" held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong.
  12. 1931 The Hawke's Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst natural disaster, kills 258.
  13. 1933 Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Nazi foreign policy.
  14. 1943 The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive.
  15. 1944 World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison.

Around the world

Holidays on February 3

Keep going

More to explore

The zodiac sign covering February 3 Aquarius Browse the calendar Every day in February Browse the calendar Every day in February