What happened on February 2 ?

1208 - James I of Aragon (d. 1276)

1455 - King John of Denmark (d. 1513)

1494 - Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)

1502 - Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1574)

1506 - René de Birague, French cardinal and chancellor (d. 1583)

1522 - Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d. 1565)

1600 - Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)

1613 - Noël Chabanel, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)

1621 - Johannes Schefferus, Alsatian-born humanist (d. 1679)

1649 - Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)

1650 - Nell Gwynne, English actress and royal mistress (d. 1687)

1669 - Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (d. 1732)

1695 - William Borlase, English naturalist (d. 1772)

1695 - François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)

1700 - Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (d. 1766)

1711 - Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, Austrian diplomat (d. 1794)

1714 - Gottfried August Homilius, German composer (d. 1785)

1717 - Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)

1754 - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French politician (d. 1838)

1802 - Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (d. 1887)

1803 - Albert Sidney Johnston, American Confederate general (d. 1862)

1829 - Alfred Brehm, German zoologist (d. 1884)

1841 - François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (d. 1912)

1875 - Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist (d. 1962)

1878 - Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1955)

1882 - James Joyce, Irish author (d. 1941)

1887 - Ernst Hanfstängl, German pianist and politician (d. 1975)

1888 - Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)

1890 - Charles Correll, American actor (d. 1972)

1893 - Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1974)

1895 - George Halas, American football player, coach, and league founder (d. 1983)

1897 - Howard Johnson, American hotelier (d. 1972)

1901 - Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (d. 1987)

1905 - Ayn Rand, Russian-born author (d. 1982)

1913 - Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (d. 1985)

1915 - Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (d. 2002)

1916 - Xuân Di?u, Vietnamese poet (d. 1985)

1918 - Hella S. Haasse, Dutch writer

1923 - James Dickey, American poet and author (d. 1997)

1923 - Bonita Granville, American actress (d. 1988)

1923 - Red Schoendienst, baseball player and manager

1923 - Liz Smith, American gossip columnist

1924 - Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American producer and musician

1925 - Elaine Stritch, American actress

1926 - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French politician

1927 - Stan Getz, American musician (d. 1991)

1928 - Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., civil rights activist and author

1931 - Dries van Agt, Dutch politician

1931 - Judith Viorst, American author

1932 - Robert Mandan, American actor

1937 - Tom Smothers, American musician and comedian

1940 - David Jason, English actor

1942 - Christine Keeler, British model

1942 - Graham Nash, British musician

1944 - Geoffrey Hughes, British actor

1947 - Farrah Fawcett, American actress

1947 - Melanie Safka, American singer

1949 - Brent Spiner, American actor

1949 - Ross Valory, American musician (Journey)

1954 - Christie Brinkley, American model

1963 - Eva Cassidy, American singer (d. 1996)

1965 - Carl Airey, English footballer

1966 - Robert DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)

1967 - Arturs Irbe, Latvian hockey player

1969 - Valeri Karpin, Russian footballer

1972 - Dana International, Israeli singer

1975 - Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek football player

1975 - Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian hockey player

1976 - James Hickman, British swimmer

1977 - Shakira, Colombian singer

1977 - Libor Sionko, Czech football player

1981 - Jason Kapono, American basketball player

1983 - Jordin Tootoo, Canadian hockey player

1987 - Martin Spanjers, American actor

1992 - Asya, Singer(Smoosh)