The day the music died, Feb. 3, 1959
In 1916, fire destroyed the centre block of Canada's Parliament Buildings. Seven people were killed in the blaze. The Parliamentary Library and its priceless collection of books was saved because someone had closed the metal doors which separated it from the rest of the Centre Block.
In 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died when their small plane crashed in a cornfield near Mason City, Iowa. Following a Feb. 2 show in Clear Lake, Iowa, the trio decided to fly to Fargo, N.D., for a concert the following night instead of travelling by bus with the other musicians on their tour. The plane crashed shortly after taking off from Mason City, killing the three musicians and the pilot. At the time of his death, Holly was considered a close rival to Elvis Presley. He was only 22 years old when he died, but his music and style had a tremendous impact on the development of rock ‘n roll.
In 1969, Yasser Arafat was elected chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee during a council meeting in Cairo, Egypt.
In 1985, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu was installed as the first black bishop of Johannesburg's Anglican diocese.
In 2005, a Kam Air Boeing 737 flying from Herat to Kabul, crashed near the Afghan capital in a snowstorm, killing all 108 people on board, including the Russian-born Canadian co-pilot.
In 2008, the New England Patriots pursuit of an undefeated season was dashed as they lost to the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz. The 1972 Miami Dolphins still remain the only team to achieve an undefeated season.