Nicosia, Cyprus. A range of significant events have occurred on February 2 across sports, literature, royalty, science, and natural disasters.
1918: Death of John L. Sullivan
U.S. professional boxer John L. (Lawrence) Sullivan died. He won the world heavyweight boxing title as a bare-knuckle fighter in 1882 and lost it in 1892 under Queensberry Rules.
1922: Publication of Ulysses
Ulysses by James Joyce was published.
1996: Death of Gene Kelly
Hollywood song and dance legend Gene Kelly, star of such classic movies as “Singing in the Rain” and “An American in Paris”, died.
2002: Dutch royal wedding
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands wed Maxima Zorreguieta, an Argentine whose father’s military junta past revived a tradition of controversial Dutch royal matches.
2004: Federer reaches No. 1
Roger Federer became the No.1 ranked men’s singles tennis player.
2005: Jazz memorabilia auction in New York
The biggest collection of jazz memorabilia went under the hammer in New York.
2005: Death of Max Schmeling
Germany’s former world heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, who fought two bouts with American Joe Louis in the 1930s and fell out of favour with the Nazis after resisting Hitler’s embrace, died aged 99.
2008: Death of Joshua Lederberg
Joshua Lederberg, a geneticist and microbiologist who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1958 at the age of 33 for his work in bacterial genetics, died. His work helped prepare the ground for genetic engineering and biotechnology.
2009: Volcano near Tokyo erupts
A volcano near Tokyo erupted, spewing hot rocks, ash and smoke up to 2 km into the air and covering parts of the capital in a light dusting of ash.
Which of these February 2 events do you find most significant?
