On This Day: Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead

Today is Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, the 33rd day of the year. There are 332 days left in 2026.

On this day in history:

2014 — Philip Seymour Hoffman, an Oscar-winning actor widely regarded as one of his generation’s finest, was found dead in his New York City apartment. Authorities later ruled his death an accidental drug overdose.

1536 — Spanish explorer Pedro de Mendoza founded what is now Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1653 — New Amsterdam, which would become New York City, was officially incorporated as a city.

1848 — The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, formally ending the Mexican-American War.

1925 — The Alaska “serum run” concluded when the last of a relay of sled dog teams delivered diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, covering about 674 miles in six days.

1943 — Remaining German forces in the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered, marking a major Soviet victory in World War II.

1990 — South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the African National Congress and pledged to release Nelson Mandela, a key step in ending apartheid.

1992 — Václav Havel, the former dissident playwright, became the first president of the independent Czech Republic following the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia; he had earlier served as the first democratically elected president after communism’s fall.

2013 — Former Navy SEAL and author Chris Kyle was fatally shot, along with a friend, at a Texas shooting range; Eddie Ray Routh was later convicted of murder.

2022 — Four men were charged in connection with distributing a deadly combination of drugs implicated in the overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams.

Today's birthdays:

Graham Nash, 84; Barry Diller, 84; Ina Garten, 78; Brent Spiner, 77; Dave Casper, 74; Christie Brinkley, 72; Shakira, 49; Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), 44; Gemma Arterton, 40; Zosia Mamet, 38; Paul Mescal, 30; Ellie Bamber, 29.