History for February 2

History for February 2 - On-This-Day.com
James Joyce 1882, Ayn Rand 1905, Tom Smothers 1937


Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) 1942, Farrah Fawcett 1947, Christie Brinkley 1954


1848 - The Mexican War was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty turned over portions of land to the U.S., including Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, California and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The U.S. gave Mexico $15,000,000 and assumed responsibility of all claims against Mexico by American citizens. Texas had already entered the U.S. on December 29, 1845.


1848 - The first shipload of Chinese emigrants arrived in San Francisco, CA.


1870 - The "Cardiff Giant" was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum. The discovery in Cardiff, NY, was alleged to be the petrified remains of a human.


1887 - The beginning of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA.


1892 - William Painter patented the bottle cap.


1943 - During World War II, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered to the Soviets. Stalingrad has since been renamed Volgograd.


1950 - "What's My Line" debuted on CBS television.


1980 - The situation known as "Abscam" began when reports surfaced that the FBI had conducted a sting operation that targeted DEMOCRAT members of the U.S. Congress. A phony Arab businessmen were used in the operation.