The Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, founded in 1800. It serves as the national library and serves Congress. The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., including the Thomas Jefferson Building completed in 1897. This photograph from around 1902 shows the Thomas Jefferson Building.

1. The Library of Congress is a research library that officially serves
the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the
United States. Founded in 1800, it is the oldest federal cultural
institution in the country and one of the largest libraries in the world.
The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington,
D.C.: the Thomas Jefferson Building (completed in 1897), the John Adams
Building (1938) and the James Madison Memorial Building (1976). It also
maintains the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper,
Virginia, and a storage facility in Fort Meade, Maryland. The library's
functions are overseen by the librarian of Congress, and its buildings are
maintained by the architect of the Capitol. This photograph, taken
by William Henry Jackson, shows the Thomas Jefferson Building around
1902.
Photograph credit: William Henry Jackson; restored by Mmxx
•Recently featured: Wesley Bell
•La bohème
•Bengali cuisine
•Archive
•More featured pictures
•Other areas of Wikipedia
•Community portal – The central hub for editors, with resources, links, tasks, and announcements.
•Village pump – Forum for discussions about Wikipedia itself, including policies and technical issues.
•Site news – Sources of news about Wikipedia and the broader Wikimedia movement.
•Teahouse – Ask basic questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
•Help desk – Ask questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
•Reference desk – Ask research questions about encyclopedic topics.

2. following its surrender three days earlier.
•1852 – The Argentine Confederation was defeated in
the Platine War by an alliance consisting of Brazil,
Uruguay and the Argentine provinces of Entre
Ríos and Corrientes.
•1972 – The deadliest blizzard in history began in Iran
and continued for a week leaving more than 4,000 people
dead.
•2010 – An edition of L'Homme qui marche I, a bronze
sculpture by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, was sold
for £65 million, setting the record for the most expensive
sculpture sold at auction.
•Horace Greeley (b. 1811)
•Tatyana Velikanova (b. 1932)
•C. N. Annadurai (d. 1969)
More anniversaries:
•February 2
•February 3
•February 4
•Archive
•By email
•List of days of the year
From today's featured list

3. Rizal Monument
•... that while other countries built monuments to José Rizal a century after his birth, the Rizal
Monument (pictured) in Madrid was built a century after his death?
•... that Majidreza Rahnavard was the first Iranian to be executed in public in connection with the Mahsa Amini
protests?
•... that Southern Railway 1401 was one of eight locomotives that hauled the funeral train of U.S. President Frankl
D. Roosevelt?
•... that Henrietta Bruckman founded the first fraternal organization for Jewish women in the United States?
•... that only one person made a donation of land for the settlement and employment of British military veterans
under a 1916 act of Parliament?
•... that Valentín Carboni played in the same three youth teams as his brother Franco before they both received the
first call-up to the Argentine senior national team in March 2022?
•... that two Tuscarora men held their local newspaper hostage in an attempt to expose local police corruption, to
no avail?
•... that Phil Fletcher as Hacker T. Dog caused Lauren Layfield to make the "most famous snort" in the United
Kingdom in 2016?
•Archive
•Start a new article
•Nominate an article
In the news

4. February 3: Feast day of Saint Laurence of
Canterbury (Western Christianity); Four Chaplains'
Day in the United States (1943)
Kayla Barron
Fifty-two United States astronauts have graduated
from the United States Naval Academy (USNA).
The Naval Academy is an undergraduate college
in Annapolis, Maryland, with the mission of educating and
commissioning officers for the United States
Navy and Marine Corps. USNA graduates who enter
aviation and space-related fields have the opportunity to
be selected for astronaut training by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The first
alumnus to fly as an astronaut was Alan Shepard, of the
class of 1945. As of 2023, the most recent alumnus to be
selected as an astronaut was Kayla Barron (pictured), of
the class of 2010. Two alumni were part of Project
Mercury, three were part of Project Gemini, seven were
part of the Apollo program, three walked on the Moon, one
was part of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, and forty-two