February 2 - Events

Events

• 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates The Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum orLex Romana Visigothorum) a collection of Roman law.
• 962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperorin nearly 40 years.
• 1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy.
• 1509 – The Battle of Diu takes place near Diu, India, between Portugal and Turkey.
• 1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 1542 – Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hill fort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.
• 1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
• 1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring the bookRobinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
• 1790 – The Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.
• 1812 – Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, California.
• 1848 – Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
• 1848 – California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco, California.
• 1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
• 1878 – Greece declares war on Turkey.
• 1882 – The Knights of Columbus are formed in New Haven, Connecticut.
• 1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
• 1899 – The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital city, Canberra, between Sydney andMelbourne.
• 1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
• 1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
• 1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
• 1920 – France occupies Memel.
• 1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
• 1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
• 1925 – The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.
• 1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
• 1935 – Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.
• 1940 – Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
• 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to conclusion as Soviet troops accept the surrender of 91,000 remnants of the Axis forces.
• 1946 – The Hungarian Republic is proclaimed.
• 1957 – Iskander Mirza of Pakistan lays the foundation-stone of the Guddu Barrage.
• 1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
• 1967 – The American Basketball Association is formed.
• 1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
• 1972 – The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday.
• 1974 – The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.
• 1976 – The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.
• 1980 – Reports surface that the FBI was targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
• 1982 – Hama Massacre: Syria attacks the town of Hama.
• 1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution the Philippines enacts a new constitution.
• 1989 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.
• 1990 – Apartheid: F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to function legally and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
• 1998 – A Cebu Pacific Flight 387 DC-9-32 crashes into a mountain near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, killing 104.
• 2007 – Three tornadoes hit Central Florida, killing 42 people.