2 February

2 February 962	Germany, Holy Roman Empire [political events]	King Otto I of Germany is crowned Roman emperor by Pope John XII, an event which marks the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire.
2 February 988	Kiev [political events]	Prince Vladimir of the Rus principality of Kiev is baptized as a condition of a proposed marriage with Anna, the sister of the Byzantine emperor, Basil II. The marriage is a reward for Vladimir's help against the rebel Byzantine general Bardas Phocas.
2 February 1033	Burgundy, Holy Roman Empire [political events]	Emperor Conrad II is crowned as king of Burgundy, which now becomes known as the kingdom of Arles and is attached to the German crown. This marks the end of the independent kingdom of Burgundy.
2 February 1102	Papal States, Italy [administration]	Albert is elected as pope by the supporters of the former antipope Clement III. However, he is deposed in a matter of days following popular rioting.
2 February 1119	Italy [administration]	Guy, archbishop of Vienne, is elected as Pope Calixtus II following the death of Pope Gelasius II.
2 February 1130	Principality of Antioch, Danishmend Emirate [Crusades (1095–1272)]	Prince Bohemond II of Antioch and his army, en route to attack the Armenians, are massacred by the Danishmend Turks on the Jihan.
2 February 1288	Papal States, Italy, Ilkhanate, Persia [administration]	Jerome of Ascoli is elected Pope Nicholas IV. He soon receives an ambassador from the Ilkhan Arghun of Persia, who has been visiting the European kings to organize a joint crusade against Egypt.
2 February 1323	Italy [wars]	The papal legate Bertrand du Poujet opens his campaign against the Lombard ‘Ghibellines’, the German imperialists, with the capture of Tortona and Monza in Italy.
2 February 1325	Byzantine Empire [administration]	Andronicus III is crowned co-emperor with his father Andronicus II in order to end the civil war in the Greek Empire.
2 February 1390	Champa [political events]	Che Bong Nga, King of Champa (modern southern Vietnam), is assassinated. His conquests in Dai Viet (northern Vietnam) are abandoned by his successor La Khai.
2 February 1448	Papal States, Italy, Germany, Holy Roman Empire [diplomacy]	Envoys of Pope Nicholas V conclude the Concordat of Vienna with Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg, and other German princes. In return for the right to exercise some papal powers in their territories, they abandon the General Council of Basel.
2 February 1510	Papal States, Italy, Venice [political events]	In a diplomatic volte-face, Pope Julius II leaves the League of Cambrai and makes peace with Venice. He absolves Venice from excommunication and the Venetians restore his rights in their territory.
2 February 1534	England [political events]	The Act of Supremacy, which establishes King Henry VIII of England as the supreme head of the Church of England, completes the breach with Rome and marks the beginning of the English Reformation.
2 February 1701	Spain, France, Spanish Netherlands [War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714)]	The French prince Philippe d'Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV and the nominated heir of the late king Charles II of Spain, enters the Spanish capital, Madrid, as King Philip V of Spain, while French troops also occupy the southern part of the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium); this may be said to mark the effective outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, although hostilities in the first year are largely confined to Italy.
2 February 1727	UK, Spain [wars]	Without a formal declaration, war begins between Britain and Spain. Spain lays siege to Gibraltar until 24 February. In addition, Spain issues commissions for attacks against British islands and against British shipping.
2 February 1736	Persia, Safavid Empire [political events]	Nadir Shah becomes king of Persia, succeeding Abbas III, the last member of the Safavid dynasty.
2 February 1808	France, Papal States [political events]	A French force under General Sextius Miollis occupies Rome after Pope Pius VII refuses to recognize the Kingdom of Naples, grant a concordat with the Confederation of the Rhine (association of German states under French protection) on the same lines as that agreed with France, or join in the alliance against Britain.
2 February 1831	Papal States [political events]	Pope Gregory XVI is elected. He is believed by many to have liberal sympathies.
2 February 1848	USA, Mexico [wars]	The Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War. By its terms, Mexico sells territory comprising the modern states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, and western Colorado to the USA for a payment of $15 million.
2 February 1876	USA [baseball]	The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, the first major league, is established in New York City by representatives of eight teams brought together by the Chicago White Stockings president William A Hulbert.
2 February 1882	Ireland [births and deaths]	James Joyce, Irish novelist and poet, born in Dublin, Ireland (–1941).
2 February 1896	Crete, Greece, Ottoman Empire [revolution]	A revolution inspired by the Greeks begins on the Ottoman island of Crete in the search for independence from Turkey.
2 February 1907	[births and deaths]	Dmitry Mendeleyev, Russian chemist who developed the periodic table of elements, dies in St Petersburg, Russia (72).
2 February 1920	[treaties]	In a treaty signed at Tartu in Estonia, the Bolsheviks recognize the independence of Estonia and renounce all claims to Russian sovereignty over the Baltic state.
2 February 1932	Europe, USA, USSR, Japan [diplomacy]	Sixty nations, including the USA and the USSR, attend the Geneva Disarmament Conference, at which a French proposal for an armed force under international control is opposed by Germany.
2 February 1995	England [births and deaths]	Fred (Frederick John) Perry, English lawn-tennis player who dominated men's singles tennis in the mid-1930s and was the last Briton to win the men's singles at Wimbledon (1936), dies in Melbourne, Australia (85).
2 February 2004	Israel, Palestine [diplomacy]	In the Middle East, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon announces that he will remove all Jewish settlements in Gaza as part of his plan to disengage unilaterally from territories occupied since 1967, leaving a rump self-governing Palestinian state behind Israel's controversial West Bank security wall.

February 2 (redirected from Groundhog Day)

2 February

February 2
(redirected from Groundhog Day)