Today in History: 3rd February

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When we talk of February 3, the first thing that comes to the mind is the mass execution of the complete population of Cesena in Italy. This horrific act took place in 1377 and is still considered as one of the most tragic incidents in the history of mankind. In the year 1547, a happier event took place on this day. The then Russian Czar Ivan IV, who was just 17 years old, married Anastasia Romanova.

Henry of Navarre who was to become Henry IV in future was forced to escape from Paris, as there was a threat to his life. This act of escaping took place on this day in 1576. This day was also the witness to the return of Cardinal Mazarin to Paris in 1653. He has been living on exile for many years, before finally returning back to where he belonged.

By the middle part of the 18th century immigration was a major problem for the United States. People from various parts of the world were coming to the country in order to stay and work there. These immigrants were also bringing with them various diseases. Keeping this in mind, the first penthouse for the immigrants was built in Philadelphia on February 3, 1743. The idea was to quarantine the immigrants as soon as they reached Philadelphia.

This day has also a lot of importance for all the cheese lovers of the world. On this day, in 1815, the first commercial cheese factory was established in Switzerland. The post of Superintendent of Agriculture was created in the United States in the month of February, in 1860. The first person to hold this post was Thomas Clemson and he took his oath of office on this day in 1860.

The year 1966 is a memorable and important year for the space program being conducted by the United States. In this year, on February 3, Luna 9 soft landed on the surface of the moon. This was the first soft landing on the lunar surface in the history of space expeditions. 1969 was also an important year but not for space science but for the Middle East region. On February 3, 1969, the Palestine National Congress appointed Yasser Arafat as the head of the PLO or Palestine Liberation Organization.

February 3, 1972 was the day when the United States had performed a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site. This was one of the hundreds of nuclear tests that have been performed by the United States. The year 1989 is also related to nuclear elements but this time it's not the United States, but Russia. On this day, in 1989, twenty villages were evacuated due to the result of high radiation fall out from the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.

This day is the birthday of C V Gadkari, a famous Indian cricketer who was born in the year 1928. A famous Indian diplomat, Ravindara Mhatrem was killed on this day, in 1984, in England.