1. On February 3, 1836, the Tennessee state legislature elected Governor James K. Polk as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Polk went on to serve as the 11th President of the United States from 1845 to 1849.

2. On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J.P. Richardson played their final concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, before they died in a plane crash the next day. The trio had performed earlier in the week at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

3. On February 3, 1960, black students from Tennessee State University held a sit-in at the downtown Nashville Woolworth's lunch counter, part of a larger Civil Rights movement that sought to end segregation in public places. The Nashville sit-ins contributed to the eventual desegregation of lunch counters throughout the country.

4. On February 3, 1968, Tennessee Governor Buford Ellington appointed Carl Rowan as the first African American director of the United States Information Agency. Rowan later served as a syndicated columnist and as a commentator for ABC News.

5. On February 3, 2013, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII, which was held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Ravens' roster included several players with Tennessee connections, including Terrell Suggs, Michael Oher, and Morgan Cox.