1. On February 3, 1959, rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. This event became known as "The Day the Music Died" and had a significant impact on the music industry.

2. In 1916, Hollywood actor and director William Desmond Taylor was murdered in his Los Angeles home on February 3. The case remained unsolved for decades and became one of Hollywood's most notorious unsolved mysteries.

3. The city of San Francisco was incorporated on February 3, 1850. It was the first city in California to be incorporated after the state was admitted to the Union.

4. On February 3, 1953, a B-50 bomber crashed into a residential area of El Segundo, California, killing 14 people and injuring 16 others. The accident was caused by an engine failure and subsequent fire on board the aircraft.

5. The first successful transcontinental telephone call was made on February 3, 1915, between San Francisco and New York City. The call was made possible by the completion of a coast-to-coast telephone line and represented a major technological and communications breakthrough at the time.