TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Sunday, Feb. 2, the 33rd day of 2020. There are 333 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 2, 1653, New Amsterdam — now New York City — was incorporated.
On this date:
■ In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in New York.
■ In 1887, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, held its first Groundhog Day festival.
■ In 1913, New York City’s rebuilt Grand Central Terminal officially opened to the public at one minute past midnight.
■ In 1922, the James Joyce novel “Ulysses” was published in Paris on Joyce’s 40th birthday.
■ In 1942, a Los Angeles Times column by W.H. Anderson urged security measures against JapaneseAmericans, arguing that a Japanese-American “almost inevitably … grows up to be a Japanese, not an American.”
■ In 1943, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviets in World War II.
■ In 1971, Idi Amin, having seized power in Uganda, proclaimed himself president.
■ In 1980, NBC News reported the FBI had conducted a sting operation targeting members of Congress using phony Arab businessmen in what became known as “Abscam,” a codename protested by Arab-Americans.
■ In 1988, President Ronald Reagan pressed his case for additional aid to the Nicaraguan Contras a day ahead of a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives. (The three major broadcast TV networks declined to carry the speech, which was covered by CNN; a divided House voted to reject Reagan’s request for $36.2 million in new aid.)
■ In 1990, in a dramatic concession to South Africa’s black majority, President F.W. de Klerk lifted a ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela.
Today’s Birthdays: Comedian Tom Smothers is 83. Rock singer-guitarist Graham Nash is 78. Country singer Howard Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 74. TV chef Ina (EE’-nuh) Garten is 72. Actor Brent Spiner is 71. Rock musician Ross Valory (Journey) is
71. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is 68. Model Christie Brinkley is
66. Actor Michael Talbott is 65. Actor-comedian Adam Ferrara is 54. Rapper T-Mo is 48. Singer Shakira is 43. Country singer Blaine Larsen is 34. Actress Zosia Mamet is 32.
Thought for Today: “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” — James Joyce (1882-1941).