1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founded Buenos Aires, Argentina on the 2nd February 1536.

1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) was incorporated on the 2nd February 1653.

1848 – During the start of the California Gold Rush, The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrived in San Francisco, California on the 2nd February 1848.

1899 – The Australian Premiers’ Conference held in Melbourne on the 2nd February 1899, decided to locate Australia‘s capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.

1901 – The Funeral of Queen Victoria was on the 2nd February 1901.

1913 – Grand Central Terminal was opened in New York City on the 2nd February 1913.

1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce was published on the 2nd February 1922.

1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reached Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum on the 2nd February 1925, inspiring the Iditarod race.

1935 – Leonarde Keeler tested the first polygraph machine on the 2nd February 1935.

1941 – Lee Redmond the American Guinness World Record holder for longest fingernails was born on the 2nd February 1941.

1942 – Graham Nash the English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist  from The Hollies, Crosby & Nash, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young was born on the 2nd February 1942.

1949 – Duncan Bannatyne the Scottish businessman and author was born on the 2nd February 1949.

1963 – Eva Cassidy the American singer and guitarist was born on the 2nd February 1963 (died 1996).

1974 – The F-16 Fighting Falcon flew for the first time on the 2nd February 1974.

1977 – Shakira the Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress was born on the 2nd February 1977.

2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player on the 2nd February 2004, a position he held for a record 237 weeks.

2007 – The worst flooding in Indonesia in 300 years began on the 2nd February 2007.

2014 ~ Philip Seymour Hoffman the American actor and director died on the 2nd February 2014 aged 46 (born in Fairport, New York on 23rd July 1967).  He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is remembered for his film roles in Scent of a Woman (1992), Twister (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), The Big Lebowski (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Almost Famous (2000), Red Dragon (2002), 25th Hour (2002), Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and Cold Mountain (2003).