This Day in History on 2nd February
The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including that of the IAS Exam.
On this page, we will list all historical events that have occurred on 2nd February. The students can refer them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.
Important Days
World Wetlands Day
Important Events
1788: Pitt’s Regulatory Act was was introduced to modify the Indian Administration and put further controls on Government of India after the 1784 Bill.
1814: Calcutta Museum was established. It was a part of the Asiatic Society at a suggestion of a Danish surgeon Dr. Nathaniel Wallich, who was its first Director also.
1835: On 2 February 1835, British historian and politician Thomas Babington Macaulay presented his ‘Minute on Indian Education’ that sought to establish the need to impart English education to Indian ‘natives’.
1862: Pandit Shambhunath was the first Indian to become Judge of Indian High Court.
1921: Mukundrao Kirloskar was born.
1933: Adolf Hitler dissolved the German parliament.
1943: World War II – German troops surrendered to the Soviet Union after the Battle of Stalingrad, and German troops began withdrawing.
1949: Press Trust of India’ was established.
1952: Indian cricket team won the first Test in Madras.
1953: All India Khadi and Village Industries Board formed.
1956: The president inaugurated the Bhoodan padyatra led by Dr. Sushila Nayar.
1957: Goa Liberation Struggle – Nanasaheb Gore, Madhu Limaye, Jagannathrao Joshi were released from prison in Goa.
1958: Family tradition still counts for something in Indian politics. Indira Gandhi, the only daughter of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the granddaughter of a statesman, has been elected president of the Congress party in India. Mrs. Gandhi will be installed into her new office next Sunday, and her job is not expected to be an easy one. The Congress party has been wracked by internal dissension and has been on the verge of collapse. It is hoped that Mrs. Gandhi, who is 41, will breath some new life into the party. Most of the politicians who have been arguing about the future of their party and country are fairly old. Mrs. Gandhi, who is known for her leftist sentiments, is expected to act quickly to put her own mark on party policies.
1965: Government sanction was accorded to the Officers Training School for the start of Short Service Regular Commission.
1968: TERLS dedicated to the United Nations.
1971: A conference on the importance of wetlands was held in Ramsar, Iran. To understand the importance of wetlands in human life, it was decided that February 2 should be celebrated as World Wetlands Day all over the world.
1990: Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
1978: The Indian National Congress (I) recognized as a national party and allotted the election symbol ‘hand’ (Palm).
1982: Geet Sethi becomes the youngest Indian to win the National Billiards’ crown at Madras.
2000: First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) was realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.
2004: Tennis player Roger Federer held the record for the first consecutive ranking for 237 weeks.
2004: Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.
2005: The Government of Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act. This legislation would become law on July 20, 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage.
2007: Police officer Filippo Raciti is killed when a clash breaks out in the Sicily derby between Catania and Palermo, in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. This event led to major changes in stadium regulations in Italy.
2012: The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 146-165 dead.
Birth/Birth Anniversary
1882: James Joyce, an Irish novelist, short story writer, poet, teacher, and literary critic.
1889: Amrit Kaur, an Indian activist, and politician.
1897: Howard Johnson, an American entrepreneur, and businessman.
1905: Ayn Rand, a Russian-American writer, and philosopher.
1915: Khushwant Singh, an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist, and politician.
1917: Kishan Lal, an Indian field hockey player. He was the first Indian captain of the hockey team after independence, which won the first gold medal for independent India.
1917: Maharshi Vinayak Ramchandra Patwardhan (Annasaheb), collegue of Lokmanya Tilak, passed away.
1922: Kunwar Digvijay Singh, Indian field hockey player (d. 1978)
1923: Lalit Narayan Mishra, an Indian politician.
1979: Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
Death/ Death Anniversary
1314: Saint Narhari Sonar, a poet-saint of the Varkari smanaj and goldsmith (sonar) from Maharashtra had taken Samadhi. His transition from a staunch Shaiva to a Vithoba-worshipping Varkari, after a miracle that makes him realize that Vithoba and Shiva are one and the same.
1907: Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist, and inventor.
1930: Vasudev Govind Apte, editor and dictrionay creator, passed away.
1964: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, social reformer and freedom fighter, passed away.
1970: Bertrand Rusell, great philosopher, mathematician, author and chairmain of the Indian League, died at Merioneth, North Wales at the age of 98.
1978: Mahakavi G. Sankara Kurup, Malayalam poet, the first recipient of “Gyanpeeth Puraskar (Award)”, and many other awards, passed away.
1982: Mohanlal Purushottamdas Sukhadia, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, freedom fighter, passed away. He was the Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 1954-1971. He introduced Panchayati Raj in Rajasthan and worked for its industrialisation also.
1989: France’s highest civilian award, ‘Legion d’ Honour, was conferred upon Satyajit Ray by President Mitterrand at Calcutta.
1996: Doordarshan Kendra was inaugurated at Port Blair.
2007: Vijay Arora, an Indian actor in Hindi films and television.
2013: P. Shanmugam, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Puducherry (b. 1927)
2014: Philip Hoffman, an American actor, director, and producer.