Notable Birthdays for February 2
William Phips (1651-1695) - The first Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Nathaniel Collins McLean (1815-1905) - Brigadier General for the Union Army.
Frederick William Vanderbilt (1856-1938) - Railway magnate.
Solomon R. Guggenheim (1861-1949) - Founder of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Cornelius McKane (1862-1912) - Black physician, educator, and hospital founder through GA.
Johnston McCulley (1883-1958) - Created of Zorro.
George "Papa Bear" Halas (1895-1983) - Founder of the Chicago Bears football team.
Howard Deering Johnson (1897-1972) - Founder of the Howard Johnson hotel chains.
John Russell (1920-2020) - Olympic equestrian.
Liz Smith (1923-2017) - Gossip columnist known as The Grand Dame of Dish.
John Henry Holland (1929-2015) - Computer scientist known for his work on genetic algorithms.
Lee Redmond (1941-2023) - Woman who holds the record for the longest fingernails.
Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009) - Actress remembered for her role in Charlie's Angels.
Ina Garten (1948-Still Living) - Chef and author.
Ralph Merkle (1952-Still Living) - Computer scientist who invented the cryptographic hashing.
Jerry Sisk Jr. ((1953-2013) - Co-founder of Jewelry Television.
Lance Allred (1981-Still Living) - Former NBA player who was labeled legally deaf (75%-80% hearing loss) at birth due to Rh complications at birth.
Memorable Events for February 2
1653 - New Amsterdam becomes a city, later renamed NY City.
1787 - Arthur St. Clair is elected the 9th President of the Continental Congress.
1802 - The first leopard exhibited opens in MA.
1848 - The first Chinese immigrants arrive in CA.
1869 - James Oliver invents removable steel plow blade.
1892 - The beverage bottle cap is patented by William Painter.
1901 - The Female Army Nurse Corps is formed.
1901 - The Army Reorganization Act is passed.
1912 - Frederick R. Law parachutes from Statue of Liberty.
1923 - Ethyl gasoline is marketed for the first time in OH.
1942 - The LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans.
1942 - Auto factories switch to war production in support of the war effort.
1944 - Allied troops set foot on Japanese territory.
1948 - President Truman urges Congress to adopt a civil rights program.
1991 - The stamp is raised from 25 cents to 29 cents.
