Today is Groundhog Day.
WAR!
1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War, was signed.
1943 The remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviets in World War II.
1944 4th US marine division conquerors Roi, Marshall Islands.
1944 Allied troops 1st set foot on Japanese territory.
TERRORISM
1968 Springer Publishers in West Berlin, bombed.
DISASTERS
1897 fire destroyed the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg. (A new statehouse was dedicated on the same site nine years later.)
1998 Philippine DC-9 crashes apparently killing all 104 on board.
2003 The search continued for pieces of the space shuttle Columbia, a day after the spacecraft disintegrated during re-entry over Texas, killing all seven astronauts.
2003 A hotel fire in northeastern China killed some three dozen people.
2003 An explosion destroyed a bank building in Lagos, Nigeria, killing at least 46 people.
2007 Tornadoes killed 21 people in central Florida.
EXHIBITS
1802 1st leopard exhibited in US, Boston (admission 25¢).
TOILETS
1852 1st British public men's toilet opens (Fleet St London).
POOL
1960 Michale Eufemia sinks 625 balls in pool match without a miss.
RECORDS
1926 3 men dance the Charleston for 22½ hours.
TOYS
1964 GI Joe, debuts as a popular American boy's toy.
MEAT
1880 SS Strathleven arrives in London with 1st Australian frozen mutton.
SNACKS
1993 Frito Lay pays court ordered $2,500,000 to Tom Waits for using his song, "Step Right Up".
STUNTS
1912 Frederick R Law, parachutes from Statue of Liberty (stunt for Pathe).
NAZIs
1933 2 days after becoming chancellor, Adolf Hitler dissolves Parliament.
GANGSTERS
1932 Al Capone sent to prison (Atlanta GA).
STINGS
1980 FBI releases details of Abscam, a sting operation that targeted 31 elected & public officials for bribes for political favors.
CLIMATE
1989 0ºF (-18ºC) or below in 15 US states.
CITIES
1536 The Argentine city of Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.
1653 New Amsterdam — now New York City — was incorporated.
HOAX
1870 The "Cardiff Giant," supposedly the petrified remains of a human discovered in Cardiff, N.Y., was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum.
2007 A grim report from the world's leading climate scientists and government officials said that global warming was so severe, it would "continue for centuries" and that humans were to blame.
SPORTS
1876 The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in New York.
ETHYL
1923 Ethyl gasoline 1st marketed, Dayton OH.
JEWS
1957 UN adopts a resolution calling for Israeli troops to leave Egypt.
ASTROLOGY
1962 8 of 9 planets align for 1st time in 400 years.
CIVIL RIGHTS
1948 President Harry Truman sent to Congress a 10-point civil rights program calling for measures against lynching, poll taxes and job discrimination.
INVENTIONS
1869 James Oliver invents the removable tempered steel plow blade.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
1942 Los Angeles Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans.
1950 1st broadcast of "What's My Line" on CBS-TV.
1988 In a speech the broadcast television networks declined to carry live, President Reagan pressed his case for aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
EXECUTION
1945 Karl F Goerdeler mayor (Leipzig)/"July 20th plot", hanged at 60.
OVERDOSE
1979 Sid Vicious [John Simon Ritchie], bassist (Sex Pistols), dies of a heroin overdose at 31
FIRE
1829 Madman Jonathan Martin sets York Cathedral afire, does £60,000 damage.
PATENTS
1892 Bottle cap with cork seal patented by William Painter (Baltimore).
LIES
1935 Lie detector 1st used in court (Portage WI).
BORN
1754 Charles-Maurice duke of Talleyrand-Périgord French bishop/premier (1815).
1861 Mehmed VI Vahideddin last sultan of Ottoman Empire (1918-22).
1882 Irish poet and novelist James Joyce was born near Dublin.
1895 George S Halas [Papa Bear], end/coach (Bears), co-founder NFL.
1905 Ayn Rand writer (Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead).
2338 Data android character on Star Trek Next Generation.
BIRTHDAYS
Actress Elaine Stritch is 83. Actor Robert Mandan is 76. Comedian Tom Smothers is 71. Rock singer-guitarist Graham Nash is 66. Actor Bo Hopkins is 66. Television executive Barry Diller is 66. Country singer Howard Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 62. Actress Farrah Fawcett is 61. Actor Jack McGee is 59. Actor Brent Spiner is 59. Rock musician Ross Valory (Journey) is 59. Model Christie Brinkley is 54. Actor Michael Talbott is 53. Actress Kim Zimmer is 53. Rock musician Robert DeLeo (Army of Anyone and Stone Temple Pilots) is 42. Rock musician Ben Mize (Counting Crows) is 37. Rapper T-Mo is 36. Actress Lori Beth Denberg is 32. Singer Shakira is 31.
DEATH
1969 Boris Karloff [Pratt], British actor (Frankenstein), dies at 81.
1996 dancer, actor and choreographer Gene Kelly died at his Beverly Hills, Calif., home; he was 83.
February 2, the 33rd day of 2008. There are 333 days left in the year. This is Groundhog Day.
compiled by Mondoreb
image: mbnet
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
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