On This Day, Feb. 3: 15th Amendment ratified

UPI Staff
·3 min read
An 1870 print celebrating the passage of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. On February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It decreed that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. File Photo by Thomas Kelly/Library of Congress
An 1870 print celebrating the passage of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. On February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It decreed that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. File Photo by Thomas Kelly/Library of Congress

Feb. 03 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1690, Massachusetts Colony issued the first paper money in America.

In 1783, Spain recognized the independence of the United States from Great Britain.

In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It decreed that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.

In 1913, the 16th Amendment, allowing establishment of an income tax, became part of the U.S. Constitution after ratification by Wyoming.

The Space Shuttle Discovery is seen prior to a transfer ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., on April 19, 2012. On February 3, 1994, Discovery blasted off into space with the first Russian cosmonaut aboard a U.S. spacecraft. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
The Space Shuttle Discovery is seen prior to a transfer ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., on April 19, 2012. On February 3, 1994, Discovery blasted off into space with the first Russian cosmonaut aboard a U.S. spacecraft. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

In 1917, the United States severed relations with Germany following the former's announcing its intention of waging unrestricted submarine warfare the previous day, on Feb. 2, 1917.

In 1924, Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, died in Washington at the age of 67.

Flowers and tributes are left 50 years later at the site of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson near Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2, 1959. File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI
Flowers and tributes are left 50 years later at the site of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson near Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2, 1959. File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI
File Photo by Library of Congress/UPI
File Photo by Library of Congress/UPI

In 1959, singers Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens, and their pilot, Roger Peterson, were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

A replica of the Luna 9 soviet satellite taken in February 2009 appears at the Museum of Air and Space Paris Le Bourget in France. On February 3, 1966, the Soviet Union accomplished the first controlled landing on the moon when the unmanned spacecraft Luna 9 touched down on the Ocean of Storms. File Photo by Pline/Wikimedia
A replica of the Luna 9 soviet satellite taken in February 2009 appears at the Museum of Air and Space Paris Le Bourget in France. On February 3, 1966, the Soviet Union accomplished the first controlled landing on the moon when the unmanned spacecraft Luna 9 touched down on the Ocean of Storms. File Photo by Pline/Wikimedia

In 1966, the Soviet Union accomplished the first controlled landing on the moon when the unmanned spacecraft Luna 9 touched down on the Ocean of Storms.

In 1994, the United States ended a trade embargo on Vietnam after 19 years.

In 1994, Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off into space with the first Russian cosmonaut aboard a U.S. spacecraft.

In 1998, Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker, the first female inmate to be put to death by the state in 135 years.

In 1998, a U.S. Marine jet clipped a cable car wire in a northern Italian ski resort, killing 20 people.

In 2004, the discovery of the lethal poison ricin in the mailroom of U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., the Senate majority leader, forced the temporary closing of three Senate office buildings in Washington.

File Photo by Michael Kleinfeld/UPI
File Photo by Michael Kleinfeld/UPI

In 2005, 104 people aboard an Afghan airliner died when it crashed in the mountains near Kabul. It was Afghanistan's worst air disaster.

In 2006, an Egyptian ferry sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, an accident that killed nearly 1,000 people.

In 2009, Eric Holder became the first Black attorney general, succeeding Michael Mukasey under the Obama administration.

In 2011, the New York City Council approved a measure banning smoking in 1,700 parks and along 14 miles of beaches.

In 2022, U.S. forces conducted a counterterrorism mission in northwest Syria that killed the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

File Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ/UPI
File Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ/UPI