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Today in History, February 3rd

On February 3, 1959, a plane crash killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Plus the 15th and 16th Amendments.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 2 min read Sources checked

Published February 3, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

February 3 is best known as “The Day the Music Died,” when a 1959 plane crash in Iowa killed rock ‘n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The date also saw the 15th Amendment ratified in 1870 and the 16th Amendment, which allowed a federal income tax, ratified in 1913.

The big story: The Day the Music Died (1959)

Buddy Holly was 22, newly married, short on cash and on the outs with his old band, the Crickets. So he signed on for the Winter Dance Party of 1959, a bus tour through the frozen Midwest. After a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly and his fellow headliners Ritchie Valens, the teenage star of “La Bamba,” and J.P. Richardson, known as the Big Bopper, boarded a small Beechcraft Bonanza to get to the next stop. Waylon Jennings, then playing bass in Holly’s band, gave up his seat at the last minute. On February 3, 1959, the plane went down in a snowy field outside Clear Lake, and everyone aboard was killed. Rock ‘n’ roll had lost three of its rising names at once. Don McLean’s 1971 song “American Pie” named the crash “the day the music died,” and the phrase stuck.

More events on February 3

Year	What happened
1863	Samuel Clemens first signed a newspaper piece “Mark Twain,” in Nevada’s Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.
1870	The 15th Amendment was ratified, barring states from denying the vote on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.
1913	The 16th Amendment was ratified, giving Congress the power to tax incomes. It was certified later that month.
1924	Former President Woodrow Wilson died in Washington, D.C., at 67.
1966	The Soviet probe Luna 9 made the first soft landing on the Moon and sent back pictures from the surface.
1994	President Bill Clinton lifted the U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam, in place since 1975.
1998	A low-flying U.S. Marine jet cut a ski-lift cable near Cavalese, Italy, killing 20 people in a cable car.
2002	The New England Patriots won their first Super Bowl, beating the St. Louis Rams 20–17.
2005	Alberto Gonzales was confirmed as U.S. attorney general, the first Hispanic American to hold the post.

Born on February 3

1821: Elizabeth Blackwell, English-born physician and the first woman in the U.S. to graduate from medical school.
1874: Gertrude Stein, writer and art collector whose Paris home was a hub for modern artists.
1894: Norman Rockwell, painter and illustrator of everyday American life.