Notable Deaths on February 3

Q: Who died on February 3?

Notable people who died on February 3 include: Ping, Sihyaj Chan K'awiil II, K'inich Yo'nal Ahk I, Werburgh, Ansgar.

92 people 6 – 2025

February 3 has seen 92 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 6 – 2025. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · February 3 — Wikipedia

1116 — Coloman

king of Hungary

Did you know

Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish, was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death

Did you know

Because Coloman and his younger brother Álmos were underage when their father Géza I died, their uncle Ladislaus I ascended the throne in 1077

Did you know

Ladislaus prepared Coloman—who was "half-blind and humpbacked", according to late medieval Hungarian chronicles—for a church career, and Coloman was eventually appointed bishop of Eger or Várad in the early 1090s

Did you know

The dying King Ladislaus preferred Álmos to Coloman when nominating his heir in early 1095

Did you know

Coloman fled from Hungary but returned around 19 July 1095 when his uncle died

Ping

emperor of the Han Dynasty (born 9 BC)

The 0s began on January 1, AD 1 and ended on December 31, AD 9, covering the first nine years of the Common Era.

Sihyaj Chan K'awiil II

ruler of Tikal

Sihyaj Chan Kʼawiil II, also known as Storm Sky and Manikin Cleft Sky, was an ajaw of the Maya city of Tikal. He took the throne on 26 November 411 and reigned until his death. He was a son of his predecessor Yax Nuun…

456

K'inich Yo'nal Ahk I

ruler of Piedras Negras

Kʼinich Yoʼnal Ahk I, also known as Ruler 1, was an ajaw of Piedras Negras, an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from 603–639 AD. It has been proposed that he began a new…

639

Werburgh

English nun and saint

Werburgh was an Anglo-Saxon princess who became the patron saint of the city of Chester in Cheshire. Her feast day is 3 February.

699

Ansgar

Frankish archbishop (born 801)

Ansgar, also known as Anskar, Saint Ansgar, Saint Anschar or Oscar, was Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of the Kingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North" because of…

865

Guy

margrave of Tuscany

Guy was the son of Adalbert II of Tuscany with Bertha, daughter of Lothair II of Lotharingia.

929

Zhou Ben

Chinese general (born 862)

Zhou Ben, formally Prince Gonglie of Xiping (西平恭烈王), was a general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu and (briefly) Wu's successor state Southern Tang.

938

William IV

duke of Aquitaine (born 937)

William IV, called Fierebras, was the Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 963 to his retirement in 990.

994

Sweyn Forkbeard

king of Denmark and England (born 960)

Swein Forkbeard was King of Denmark from 986, King of England for five weeks from December 1013, and King of Norway from 999/1000, all until his death in 1014. He was the father of King Harald II of Denmark, King Cnut…

1014

Inge I

king of Norway (born 1135)

Inge Haraldsson was king of Norway from 1136 to 1161. Inge’s reign fell within the start of the period known in Norwegian history as the civil war era, and he was never the sole ruler of the country. He is often known…

1161

Sviatoslav III

Russian Grand Prince (born 1196)

Sviatoslav III Vsevolodovich of Vladimir was the Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal (1246–1248).

1252

John of Gaunt

Belgian-English politician, Lord High Steward (born 1340)

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, was an English prince, military leader and statesman. He was the fourth son of King Edward III, and the father of King Henry IV. Because of Gaunt's royal origin, advantageous marriages…

1399

Ashikaga Yoshimochi

Japanese shōgun (born 1386)

Ashikaga Yoshimochi was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the fourth shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1394 to 1423 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimochi was the son of the third shōgun,…

1428

Murad II

Ottoman sultan (born 1404)

Murad II was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451.

1451

Johannes Gutenberg

German publisher, invented the printing press (born 1398)

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was a German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's invention of the printing…

1468

John IV

Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count (born 1410)

Count John IV of Nassau-Siegen, German: Johann IV. Graf von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Graf zu Nassau, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Breda, was since 1442 Count of Nassau-Siegen, of Vianden and of half Diez, and Lord…

1475

Thomas FitzGerald

10th Earl of Kildare (born 1513)

Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, also known as Silken Thomas, was a leading figure in 16th-century Irish history.

1537

George Cassander

Flemish theologian and author (born 1513)

George Cassander was a Flemish Catholic theologian and humanist.

1566

Philip II

duke of Pomerania (born 1573)

Philip II, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin was from 1606 to 1618 the reigning duke of Pomerania-Stettin and is considered to be among of the most artistic of the Pomeranian dukes. He married Sophia of…

1618

Henry Brooke

11th Baron Cobham, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (born 1564)

Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham (22 November 1564 – 24 January 1618 /3 February 1618, lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was an English peer who was implicated in the Main Plot against the rule of James I of England.

1619

Tommaso Ceva

Italian mathematician and academic (born 1648)

Tommaso Ceva was an Italian Jesuit mathematician from Milan. He was the brother of Giovanni Ceva. His work aided in spreading a knowledge of Newton's discovery of the law of gravitation.

1737

Pedro Rodríguez

Spanish statesman and economist (born 1723)

Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes y Pérez Sorriba, 1st Count of Campomanes, was a Spanish statesman, economist, and writer who was Minister of the Treasury in 1760. He was an adherent of the position that the state held…

1802

Juan Bautista Cabral

Argentinian sergeant (born 1789)

Juan Bautista Cabral was an Argentine soldier, of Zambo origin, of the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers who died in the Battle of San Lorenzo, while he was aiding then Colonel Don José de San Martín, whose horse had…

1813

Gia Long

Vietnamese emperor (born 1762)

Gia Long, born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam, which would rule the unified territories that constitute modern-day Vietnam until…

1820

George Crabbe

English surgeon and poet (born 1754)

George Crabbe was an English poet and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people.

1832

Jean-Baptiste Biot

French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (born 1774)

Jean-Baptiste Biot was a French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician who co-discovered the Biot–Savart law of magnetostatics with Félix Savart, established the reality of meteorites, made an early balloon flight,…

1862

François-Xavier Garneau

Canadian poet, author, and historian (born 1809)

François-Xavier Garneau was a nineteenth-century French Canadian notary, poet, civil servant and liberal who wrote a three-volume history of the French Canadian nation entitled Histoire du Canada between 1845 and 1848.

1866

Isaac Baker Brown

English gynecologist and surgeon (born 1811)

Isaac Baker Brown was a prominent 19th-century English gynaecologist and obstetrical surgeon. He had a reputation as a specialist in the diseases of women and advocated certain surgical procedures, including…

1873

Geert Adriaans Boomgaard

Dutch supercentenarian (born 1788)

Geert Adriaans Boomgaard was a Dutch supercentenarian and is generally accepted by scholars as the first validated case on record.

1899

Christiaan de Wet

South African general and politician, State President of the Orange Free State (born 1854)

Christiaan Rudolf de Wet was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician.

1922

John Butler Yeats

Irish painter and illustrator (born 1839)

John Butler Yeats RHA was an Irish artist and the father of W. B. Yeats, Lily Yeats, Elizabeth Corbett "Lollie" Yeats and Jack Butler Yeats. The National Gallery of Ireland holds a number of his portraits in oil and…

1922

Woodrow Wilson

American historian, academic, and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1856)

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only Democrat to serve as president during the Progressive Era, when Republicans dominated the presidency and…

1924

Agner Krarup Erlang

Danish mathematician and engineer (born 1878)

Agner Krarup Erlang was a Danish mathematician, statistician and engineer, who invented the fields of traffic engineering and queueing theory.

1929

Hugo Junkers

German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (born 1859)

Hugo Junkers was a German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG, was one of the mainstays of the…

1935

Yvette Guilbert

French singer and actress (born 1865)

Yvette Guilbert was a French cabaret singer and actress of the Belle Époque.

1944

Roland Freisler

German lawyer and judge (born 1893)

Karl Roland Freisler was a German jurist, judge, and politician who served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1935 to 1942 and as president of the People's Court from 1942 to 1945. As a…

1945

Marc Mitscher

American admiral and pilot (born 1887)

Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during World War II.

1947

Harold L. Ickes

American journalist and politician, 32nd United States Secretary of the Interior (born 1874)

Harold LeClair Ickes was an American administrator, politician and lawyer. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for nearly 13 years from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold the office, and…

1952

Vasily Blokhin

Russian general (born 1895)

Vasily Mikhailovich Blokhin was a Soviet secret police official who served as the chief executioner of the NKVD under the administrations of Genrikh Yagoda, Nikolay Yezhov and Lavrentiy Beria.

1955

Émile Borel

French mathematician and academic (born 1871)

Félix Édouard Justin Émile Borel was a French mathematician and politician. As a mathematician, he was known for his founding work in the areas of measure theory and probability.

1956

Johnny Claes

English-Belgian race car driver and trumpet player (born 1916)

Octave John Claes was a British-born racing driver who competed for Belgium. Before his fame as a racing driver, Claes was also a jazz trumpeter and successful bandleader in Britain.

1956

The Day the Music Died

Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., better known by his stage name The Big Bopper, was an American musician and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include "Chantilly Lace", "Running Bear", and "White Lightning", the last…

1959

The Day the Music Died

Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally by his stage name Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in…

1959

The Day the Music Died

Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died in a plane…

1959

Fred Buscaglione

Italian singer and actor (born 1921)

Ferdinando "Fred" Buscaglione was an Italian singer and actor who became very popular in the late 1950s. His public persona – the character he played both in his songs and his movies – was of a humorous mobster with a…

1960

William Morrison

1st Viscount Dunrossil, Scottish-Australian captain and politician, 14th Governor-General of Australia (born 1893)

William Shepherd Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil, was a British politician. He was a long-serving cabinet minister before serving as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1951 to 1959. He was then appointed as the 14th…

1961

Anna May Wong

American actress (born 1905)

Wong Liu Tsong, known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese American actress to gain international…

1961

Benjamin R. Jacobs

American biochemist (born 1879)

Benjamin Ricardo Jacobs was born at the American Consulate in Lima, Peru, to Rosa Mulet Jacobs of Valparaíso, Chile, a French-Chilean, and Washington Michael Jacobs of South Carolina in the United States. Originally…

1963

Joe Meek

English songwriter and producer (born 1929)

Robert George "Joe" Meek was an English record producer and songwriter considered one of the most influential sound engineers of all time, being one of the first to develop ideas such as the recording studio as an…

1967

C. N. Annadurai

Indian journalist and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Madras State (born 1909)

Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, also known as Perarignar Anna, was an Indian politician who was the founder and first general-secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He served as the fourth and last chief…

1969

Eduardo Mondlane

Mozambican activist and academic (born 1920)

Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane was a Mozambican revolutionary and anthropologist who was the founder of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO). He served as the FRELIMO's first leader until his assassination in 1969 in…

1969

William D. Coolidge

American physicist and engineer (born 1873)

William David Coolidge was an American physicist and engineer, who made major contributions to X-ray machines. He was the director of the General Electric Research Laboratory and a vice-president of the corporation. He…

1975

Umm Kulthum

Egyptian singer-songwriter and actress (born 1904)

Umm Kulthum Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi, known by her stage name Umm Kulthum, was an Egyptian singer and film actress. She was given the honorific title Kawkab el-Sharq. Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and…

1975

Frank Oppenheimer

American physicist and academic (born 1912)

Frank Friedman Oppenheimer was an American particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, and the founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

1985

John Cassavetes

American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1929)

John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American filmmaker and actor. He began as an actor in film and television before helping to pioneer modern American independent cinema as a writer and director, often self-financing,…

1989

Lionel Newman

American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1916)

Lionel Newman was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He won the Academy Award for Best Score of a Musical Picture for Hello Dolly! with Lennie Hayton in 1969. He is the brother of Alfred…

1989

Nancy Kulp

American actress (born 1921)

Nancy Jane Kulp was an American character actor, writer and comedian widely known as Miss Jane Hathaway on the CBS television series The Beverly Hillbillies.

1991

Françoys Bernier

Canadian pianist and conductor (born 1927)

Françoys Joseph Arthur Maurice Bernier was a Canadian pianist, conductor, radio producer, arts administrator, and music educator. He served as the music director of the Montreal Festivals from 1956 to 1960 and was an…

1993

Audrey Meadows

American actress and banker (born 1922)

Audrey Meadows was an American actress who portrayed the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy The Honeymooners. She was the younger sister of actress Jayne Meadows.

1996

Gwen Guthrie

American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1950)

Gwendolyn Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter and pianist who also sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, The Limit and Madonna, among others, and who wrote songs made…

1999

Mrs. Ngô Bá Thành

Vietnamese lawyer, politician, and activist (born 1931)

Mrs. or Madame Ngo Ba Thanh was the professional name of Phạm Thị Thanh Vân, a Vietnamese lawyer, politician, and anti-war and women's rights activist. Born in the northern part of French Indochina, she married at 18…

2004

Zurab Zhvania

Georgian biologist and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Georgia (born 1963)

Zurab Zhvania was a Georgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.

2005

Ernst Mayr

German-American biologist and ornithologist (born 1904)

Ernst Walter Mayr was a German-American evolutionary biologist. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, philosopher of biology, and historian of science. His work contributed to the…

2005

Al Lewis

American actor and activist (born 1923)

Al Lewis was an American actor and activist, best known for his role as Grandpa on the television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and its film versions. He previously also co-starred with The Munsters' Fred Gwynne…

2006

Sheng-yen

Chinese monk and scholar, founded the Dharma Drum Mountain (born 1930)

Sheng Yen, born Zhang Baokang, was a Taiwanese Buddhist monk, religious scholar, and writer. He was one of the mainstream teachers of Chan Buddhism. He was a 57th generational dharma heir of Linji Yixuan in the Linji…

2009

Dick McGuire

American basketball player and coach (born 1926)

Richard Joseph McGuire was an American professional basketball player and coach. McGuire was one of the premier guards of the 1950s, playing 11 seasons in the NBA (1949–60), eight with the New York Knicks and three with…

2010

Frances Reid

American actress (born 1914)

Frances Reid was an American dramatic actress. Reid acted on television for nearly all of the second half of the 20th century. Her career continued into the early 2000s.

2010

Maria Schneider

French actress (born 1952)

Maria-Hélène Schneider, known professionally as Maria Schneider, was a French actress.

2011

Toh Chin Chye

Singaporean academic and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (born 1921)

Toh Chin Chye was a Singaporean statesman and academic. He was a founding member of the People's Action Party (PAP), the dominant political party in Singapore since independence. Toh played a significant role in…

2012

Ben Gazzara

American actor and director (born 1930)

Biagio Anthony "Ben" Gazzara was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominations for…

2012

Terence Hildner

American general (born 1962)

Brigadier General Terence John Hildner was a United States Army General Officer who served as commander of the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) from 2010 until his death in 2012. He is the second highest-ranking…

2012

Raj Kanwar

Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1961)

Raj Kanwar was an Indian film director, writer, and producer of Hindi films based in Mumbai, India.

2012

Zalman King

American actor, director, and producer (born 1942)

Zalman King was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica.

2012

Andrzej Szczeklik

Polish physician and academic (born 1938)

Andrzej Szczeklik was a Polish immunologist working at the Jagiellonian University School of Medicine in Kraków. Having received numerous distinctions for his research, Szczeklik was also well known as a writer.

2012

Cardiss Collins

American politician (born 1931)

Cardiss Hortense Collins was an American politician from Illinois who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the fourth African-American woman…

2013

Oscar Feltsman

Ukrainian-Russian composer and producer (born 1921)

Oscar Borisovich Feltsman was a Ukrainian-born composer.

2013

James Muri

American soldier and pilot (born 1918)

James Perry Muri was an American World War II pilot. His United States Army Air Forces squadron helped protect Midway Island during the war by attacking a Japanese aircraft carrier task force.

2013

Jam Mohammad Yousaf

Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (born 1954)

Jam Mir Mohammad Yousaf Aliani was the 12th Jam of Lasbela, and a former Chief Minister of the Balochistan province of Pakistan.

2013

Martin Gilbert

English historian, author, and academic (born 1936)

Sir Martin John Gilbert was a British historian and honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He was the author of 88 books, including works on Winston Churchill, the 20th century, and Jewish history including the…

2015

Mary Healy

American actress and singer (born 1918)

Mary Sarah Healy was an American actress, singer, and variety entertainer.

2015

Charlie Sifford

American golfer (born 1922)

Charles Luther Sifford was an American professional golfer. Early in his career, he won a number of All-Negro events, winning the United Golf Association's National Negro Open six times. Later in his career, he was…

2015

Nasim Hasan Shah

Pakistani lawyer and judge, 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan (born 1929)

Nasim Hasan Shah was a Pakistani jurist and served as Chief Justice of Pakistan. He is best known for his role in the verdict against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Pakistan,…

2015

Joe Alaskey

American actor (born 1952)

Joseph Francis Alaskey III was an American actor and comedian. He was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his death. He alternated with Jeff Bergman, Greg Burson, Jim Cummings, Bob…

2016

Balram Jakhar

Indian lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Madhya Pradesh (born 1923)

Balram Jakhar was an Indian politician, who served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He was also the longest serving Speaker of the Lok Sabha, whose tenure lasted 9 years and 329 days.…

2016

József Kasza

Serbian politician and economist (born 1945)

József Kasza was a Serbian politician, economist, and banker. An ethnic Hungarian, he led the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians from 1995 to 2007.

2016

Dritëro Agolli

Albanian poet, writer and politician (born 1931)

Dritëro Agolli was an Albanian poet, writer and politician. He studied in Leningrad in the Soviet Union, and wrote primarily poetry, but also short stories, essays, plays, and novels. He was head of the League of…

2017

Julie Adams

American actress (born 1926)

Julie Adams was an American actress, billed as Julia Adams in her early career, primarily known for her numerous television guest roles. She starred in a number of films in the 1950s, including Bend of the River (1952),…

2019

Kristoff St. John

American actor (born 1966)

Kristoff St. John was an American actor best known for playing Neil Winters on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1991 until his death in 2019. Playing the role of Neil earned him two Daytime…

2019

George Steiner

French-American philosopher, author, and critic (born 1929)

Francis George Steiner, FBA was a French and American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, as well as the…

2020

Harry Jayawardena

Sri Lankan industrialist (born 1942)

Deshamanya Don Harold Stassen Jayawardena, known as Harry Jayawardena, was a Sri Lankan industrialist. He was the chairman of Melstacorp PLC and was the Honorary Consul General for Denmark in Sri Lanka. Forbes listed…

2025

Kandiah Balendra

Sri Lankan corporate leader and executive (born 1940)

Deshamanya Kandiah "Ken" Balendra was a Sri Lankan corporate leader and executive, who held many corporate positions in Sri Lanka and the region. He served as the first Sri Lankan chairman of John Keells Holdings Ltd.,…

2025

Notable deaths

Who died on February 3?

Coloman — King of Hungary from 1095 to 1116

FeaturedColoman

Death year1116

Known forBecause Coloman and his younger brother Álmos were underage when their father Géza I died, their uncle Ladislaus I ascended the throne in 1077

Deaths on this date92 (6 – 2025)

Explore February 3

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

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Also on February 3 in History

2026

Islamist militants massacred at least 162 while injuring and kidnapping dozens in two villages in Kwara State, Nigeria. Wikipedia →

2023

Ohio train derailment: A freight train containing vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials derails and burns in East Palestine, Ohio, United States, releasing hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air and contaminating the Ohio River. Wikipedia →

2014

A school shooting in Moscow, Russia leaves two people dead and one wounded. Wikipedia →

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1116 — Coloman

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