On this day, Feb. 3

1865 President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens held a shipboard peace conference off the Virginia coast. The talks deadlocked over the issue of Southern autonomy.

1926 Twenty men were killed in an explosion that wrecked a mine of the Pittsburgh Terminal Co. at Horning, near Castle Shannon.

1959 Rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

1975 Allegheny County Democratic Party chairman Eugene L. Coon called for a federal investigation of U.S. Attorney Richard Thornburgh, whom Coon said was motivated by partisan politics in his investigation of alleged official corruption.

1999 Plan B was passed in the state Senate. Four new stadiums would be built in Pennsylvania, two in Philadelphia and two in Pittsburgh.

2016 Seeking to correct what he called a “hugely distorted impression” of Muslim-Americans, President Barack Obama visited a mosque in Catonsville, Md.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin Today’s birthdays: Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton, 81. Actor Bridget Hanley, 80. Actor Blythe Danner, 78. Football Hall of Famer Bob Griese, 76. Singer-guitarist Dave Davies (The Kinks), 74. Singer Melanie, 74. Actor Morgan Fairchild, 71. Actor Pamela Franklin, 71. Actor Nathan Lane, 65. Rock musician Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), 65. Actor Thomas Calabro, 62. Rock musician/author Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), 62. Actor-director Keith Gordon, 60. Actor Michele Greene, 59. Country singer Matraca Berg, 57. Actor Maura Tierney, 56. Actor Warwick Davis, 51. Actor Elisa Donovan, 50. Reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee, 45. Actor Isla Fisher, 45. Human rights activist Amal Clooney, 43. Singer-songwriter Jessica Harp, 39. Actor Matthew Moy, 37. Rapper Sean Kingston, 31. Actor Brandon Micheal Hall, 28.

Thought for today: “We are never prepared for what we expect.” — James Michener, American author

(born this date in 1907, died 1997)