[Amnorix]

February 3.

1690. The first paper money is issued in America, by Massachusetts.

1787. An uprising of central and western Massachusetts farmers, known as Shays' Rebellion for its leader, is crushed. Central and Western Massachusetts are basically never heard from again.

1913. The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, authorizing the federal government to collect income taxes.

1917. A day after Germany announces unrestricted warfare, the United States breaks off diplomatic relations with that country, putting it on the path to joining World War I.

1945. The Soviet Union agrees to enter the Pacific War against Japan. They opportunistically wait until after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to invade Manchuria with over one million troops, and then make territorial claims against the Sakhalin and certain Kuril islands, which cause lingering problems that I believe still exist to this day.

Also on this date, 1,000 bombers of the US Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin.