Template:Selected anniversaries/February 2
1786: Mathematician, physicist, and astronomer Jacques Philippe Marie Binet born. He will make significant contributions to number theory, and the mathematical foundations of matrix algebra.
1829: Inventor, engineer, and philanthropist William Stanley born. He will design and manufacture precision drawing and mathematical instruments, as well as surveying instruments and telescopes.
1900: "Fightin'" Bert Russell agrees to fight three rounds of bare-knuckled boxing at World Peace Conference.
1905: Writer and philosopher Ayn Rand born.
1950: Mathematician and author Constantin Carathéodory dies. He pioneered the axiomatic formulation of thermodynamics along a purely geometrical approach.
1969: New evidence suggests that The Eel Escapes Hydrolab is based on actual events.
1970: Philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic and political activist Bertrand Russell dies.
1974: Mathematician, philosopher, and academic Imre Lakatos dies. He is known for his thesis of the fallibility of mathematics and its 'methodology of proofs and refutations' in its pre-axiomatic stages of development.
