On This Day
What Happened on February 3 in History
9 events that happened on February 3, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
The Young Republic and the Civil War Era
1865
Abraham Lincoln meets Confederate envoys at Hampton Roads, Virginia, in failed peace talks.
Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward met Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens and two other commissioners aboard a steamboat near Fort Monroe. Lincoln insisted on reunion and an end to slavery, the Confederates wanted independence, and the war went on.
Source: nps.gov
1870
The Fifteenth Amendment is ratified, barring states from denying the vote because of race.
The amendment protected the voting rights of Black men after the Civil War. Within a few decades many states used poll taxes, literacy tests and violence to get around it, and its promise was not fully enforced until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Source: archives.gov; constitutioncenter.org
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1913
The Sixteenth Amendment is ratified, giving Congress the power to levy a federal income tax.
The amendment allowed an income tax without dividing it among the states by population, getting around an 1895 Supreme Court ruling. Congress passed an income tax later that year, and it grew into the main source of federal revenue.
Source: archives.gov; constitutioncenter.org
1917
The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany over submarine warfare.
Germany had announced that its U-boats would sink ships without warning in the waters around Britain. President Woodrow Wilson told Congress the same day that ties had been cut, and the United States entered World War I that April.
Source: archive.nytimes.com; presidency.ucsb.edu
1924
Former President Woodrow Wilson dies at his home in Washington, D.C.
Wilson had led the country through World War I and campaigned for the League of Nations, which the Senate refused to join. A severe stroke in 1919 left him weakened for the rest of his term, and he stayed in Washington after leaving office.
The Cold War
1966
The Soviet probe Luna 9 makes the first soft landing on the Moon.
The small lander came down in the Ocean of Storms and sent back the first pictures taken from the lunar surface. Its success showed that the ground could support a spacecraft, an open question for crewed landing plans at the time.
Source: history.com
The Modern Era
1995
Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot a space shuttle as Discovery lifts off.
Mission STS-63 flew close to the Russian space station Mir in a rehearsal for later docking flights. Collins went on to become the first woman to command a shuttle mission in 1999.
Source: nasa.gov
1998
A low-flying U.S. Marine jet cuts a cable car line in the Italian Alps near Cavalese, and 20 people are killed.
The EA-6B Prowler was on a training flight and severed the cable of a ski lift, sending a gondola to the ground. The pilots were later cleared of manslaughter by a U.S. military court, which angered many Italians, and the United States paid compensation.
Source: history.com
2002
The New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams to win their first Super Bowl.
Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal as time ran out to give the heavy underdogs a 20 to 17 win in New Orleans. Young quarterback Tom Brady was named the game's most valuable player, the start of a long run of Patriots titles.
Source: history.com