2 February in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 2 February is the birth anniversary of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Moturi Satyanarayana, and Khushwant Singh.
2 February is also observed as the death anniversary of Acharya Chatursen Shastri, Govind Shankar Kurup, and K. Subrahmanyam.
Birth Anniversary
2 February in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (2 February 1889 – 2 October 1964), a noted Gandhian, freedom fighter, and social activist from India. She was the Minister of Health for ten years in the Indian Cabinet after the independence of the country. She has the honor of being the first woman cabinet minister of the country. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur belonged to the royal family of Kapurthala. It was only after coming under the influence of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, that he left all the comforts of material life and adopted the life of an ascetic. She was also a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1957 to her death in 1964. She was born on 2 February 1889 in Uttar Pradesh.
Moturi Satyanarayana (2 February 1902 – 6 March 1995), the organizer of the Hindi propaganda movement in South India, the age-man of the promotion-development of Hindi, Gandhi-philosophy and life values. Moturi Satyanarayana was the founder of the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Agra. He was born on 2 February 1902.
Khushwant Singh (2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014), an Indian journalist, writer, novelist, and historian. He has gained a lot of popularity as a journalist. Khushwant Singh ji has also worked on the honorable post of Foreign Service in the ‘Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ of ‘Government of India’. In the year 2000, he was awarded the ‘Honest Person of the Year award. He has also been honored with decorations like ‘Padma Bhushan’ (1974) and ‘Padma Vibhushan’ (2007). Khushwant Singh has provided many invaluable works to his readers. He was born on 2 February 1915.
Read More: 1 February in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
2 February in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Acharya Chatursen Shastri (26 August 1891 – 2 February 1960), a great novelist of Hindi literature. Most of his writings were based on historical events. The novels of Acharya Chatursen are interesting and heart-touching. His major works are ‘Goli’, ‘Somnath’, ‘Vayam Raksham’ and ‘Vaishali’s Nagarvadhu’ etc. He died on 2 February 1960.
Govind Shankar Kurup (5 June 1901 – 2 February 1978), a renowned Malayali language writer, who was awarded the Jnanpith Award. He obtained the qualification of teaching by passing the ‘Pandit’ examination of Cochin State. After that, for two years, he continued to do teaching work here and there. More than 40 original and translated works of ‘Mahakavi‘ have been published by him. He died on 2 February 1978.
K. Subrahmanyam (19 January 1929 – 2 February 2011) was an Indian journalist and former civil servant. He was a frequent columnist and commentator for a number of international and Indian newspapers. He worked as a consulting editor and policy expert for multiple Indian publications after he retired from government service in the late 80s. Some of them were The Tribune, The Economic Times, and The Times of India. He died on 2 February 2011.
Read More: 31 January in Indian and World History
Notable events on 2 February in Indian and World history
2 February 1509 – In India there was a war between Portugal and Turkey near Diu (Goa, Daman and Diu).
2 February 1556 – In China’s Shaanxi province, a massive earthquake killed millions of people.
2 February 1626 – Charles I became Emperor of England.
2 February 1844 – Pitts Regulatory Act was implemented for administrative reforms in the country.
2 February 1862 – Shambhunath Pandit became the first Indian judge of the Calcutta High Court.
2 February 1878 – Greece declared war on Turkey on this day.
2 February 1892 – Russia established a fur trading colony in California.
2 February 1907– Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist and inventor, died.
2 February 1913 – The Grand Central Terminal opened in New York.
2 February 1913 – Gustaf de Laval – a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and centrifugal separation machinery for dairy – died.
2 February 1922 – James Joyce’s novel Ulysses was first published.
2 February 1939 – Hungary ended relations with the Soviet Union.
2 February 1939 – Dale T. Mortensen an American economist, and Nobel Laureate, was born.
2 February 1942 – Daniil Kharms, an early Soviet-era Russian avant-gardist and absurdist poet, writer, and dramatist, died of starvation.
2 February 1949 – The Press Trust of India was established on this day.
2 February 1952 – India won the first Test cricket in Madras.
2 February 1953 – All India Khadi and Village Industries Board was formed.
2 February 1966 – Pakistan introduced an important proposal for the ‘Kashmir Accord’.
2 February 1970 – Bertrand Russell a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and Nobel Laureate, died.
2 February 1980 – William Howard Stein an American biochemist, and Nobel Laureate, died.
2 February 1992 – Declaration of the end of the Cold War by US President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
2 February 2006 – The Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Act was notified in 200 districts.
2 February 2007 – The International Panel on Global Warming (IPCC) presented the report.
2 February 2012 – the Supreme Court declared the allocation of 2G spectrum to 122 entities illegal.
2 February 2013 – former US President Barack Obama awarded an NRI scientist who paved the way for PRK and LASIK laser refractive surgical techniques.
2 February is observed as World Wetlands Day. Every year on 2nd February, World Wetlands Day is celebrated all over the World. This day was first celebrated in 1997 and marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran.
2 February is also celebrated as Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Day to spread awareness for patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis