Today in History

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023 Today is Thursday, Feb. 2, the 33rd day of 2023. There are 332 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 2, 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.

On this date:

In 1536, present-day Buenos Aires, Argentina, was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain. In 1653, New Amsterdam — now New York City — was incorporated.

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 1914, Charles Chaplin made his movie debut as the comedy short “Making a Living” was released by Keystone Film Co. In 1925, the legendary Alaska Serum Run ended as the last of a series of dog mushers brought a life-saving treatment to Nome, the scene of a diphtheria epidemic, six days after the drug left Nenana.

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 1948, President Harry S. Truman sent a 10-point civil rights program to Congress, where the proposals ran into fierce opposition from Southern lawmakers. 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 2006, House Republicans elected John Boehner (Bay’-nur) of Ohio as their new majority leader to replace the indicted Tom Delay.

In 2016, health officials reported that a person in Texas had become infected with the Zika virus through sex in the first case of the illness being transmitted within the United States.

In 2017, using a backhoe to smash through a barricade of water-filled footlockers, police stormed Delaware’s largest prison, ending a nearly 20-hour hostage standoff with inmates; one hostage, a guard, was killed. In 2020, the Philippines reported that a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan had died in a Manila hospital from the new coronavirus; it was the first death from the virus to be recorded outside of China. Authorities in parts of China extended the Lunar New Year holiday break well into February to try to keep people at home.

Ten years ago: Former Navy SEAL and “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle was fatally shot along with a friend, Chad Littlefield, at a gun range west of Glen Rose, Texas; suspect Eddie Ray Routh was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Coach Bill Parcells, Warren Sapp, Cris Carter, Jonathan Ogden and Larry Allen were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings closed out the season with two of the top NFL awards from The Associated Press: Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year. Actor John Kerr, 81, died in Pasadena, California.

Five years ago: At the sentencing hearing in Michigan for former sports doctor Larry Nassar, a distraught father of three girls who’d been sexually abused tried to attack Nassar before being tackled by sheriff’s deputies and hauled out of court. (Randall Margraves later apologized; the judge said there was “no way” she would fine him or send him to jail for trying to attack Nassar.)

One year ago: CNN President Jeff Zucker abruptly resigned after acknowledging a consensual relationship with another network executive. The relationship came to light during the investigation that led to the firing of the news network’s anchor Chris Cuomo. Four men were charged with being part of the drug distribution crew that supplied a deadly mix of narcotics to actor Michael K. Williams of “The Wire,” who had overdosed five months earlier.

Today’s birthdays: Comedian Tom Smothers is 86. Rock singer-guitarist Graham Nash is 81. Television executive Barry Diller is 81. Country singer Howard Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 77. TV chef Ina Garten is 75. Actor Jack Mcgee is 74. Actor Brent Spiner is 74. Rock musician Ross Valory (Journey) is 74. Sen. John Cornyn, R-texas, is 71. The former president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, is 71. Model Christie Brinkley is 69. Actor Michael Talbott is 68. Actor Kim Zimmer is 68. Actor Michael T. Weiss is 61. Actor-comedian Adam Ferrara is 57. Rock musician Robert Deleo (Army of Anyone; Stone Temple Pilots) is 57. Actor Jennifer Westfeldt is 53. Rapper T-MO is 51. Actor Marissa Jaret Winokur is 50. Actor Lori Beth Denberg is 47. Singer Shakira is 46. Actor Rich Sommer is 45. Country singer Blaine Larsen is 37. Actor Zosia Mamet is 35.

Friday, Feb. 3, 2023

Today is Friday, Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2023. There are 331 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 3, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.

On this date:

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens held a shipboard peace conference off the Virginia coast; the talks deadlocked over the issue of Southern autonomy.

In 1917, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, the same day an American cargo ship, the SS Housatonic, was sunk by a U-boat off Britain after the crew was allowed to board lifeboats.

In 1943, during World War II, the U.S. transport ship SS Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sank after being hit by a German torpedo in the Labrador Sea; of the more than 900 men aboard, only some 230 survived.

In 1959, rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

In 1966, the Soviet probe Luna 9became the first manmade object to make a soft landing on the moon.

In 1988, the U.S. House of Representatives handed President Ronald Reagan a major defeat, rejecting his request for $36.2 million in new aid to the Nicaraguan Contras by a vote of 219-211.

In 1994, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off, carrying Sergei Krikalev (Sur’-gay Kree’-kuhlev), the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft. In 1995, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins, in the pilot’s seat for the first time in NASA history. In 1998, a U.S. Marine plane sliced through the cable of a ski gondola in Italy, causing the car to plunge hundreds of feet, killing all 20 people inside.

In 2006, an Egyptian passenger ferry sank in the Red Sea during bad weather, killing more than 1,000 passengers.

In 2009, Eric Holder became the first Black U.S. attorney general as he was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden.

In 2020, in closing arguments at President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, Democratic prosecutors urged senators to stop a “runaway presidency” and recognize Trump’s actions in Ukraine as part of a pattern of behavior that would allow him to “cheat” in the 2020 election; Trump’s defenders accused Democrats of trying to undo the 2016 election and said voters should decide Trump’s fate.

Ten years ago: A fired Los Angeles police officer launched a revenge war on law enforcement and the families of those he blamed for ending his career, killing four people during a 6-day manhunt that ended with his apparent suicide at a cabin in San Bernardino County. The Baltimore Ravens survived a partial power outage during Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans to edge the San Francisco 49ers 34-31. Five years ago: Linebacker Ray Lewis and receiver Terrell Owens were among eight people voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The New York Times reported an accusation from actress Uma Thurman that disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein had forced himself on her sexually years ago in a London hotel room; Weinstein acknowledged making an “awkward pass” but strongly denied any physical assault.

One year ago: Winter storms across the United States knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, brought the cancellation of more than 9,000 flights, caused a deadly tornado in Alabama and brought rare measurable snowfall to parts of Texas. President Joe Biden announced that the leader of the Islamic State group blew up himself and members of his family during a raid by U.S. special operations forces of his hideout in the village of Atmeh, Syria. U.S. officials called it a “significant blow” to the radical militant organization.

Today’s birthdays: Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 82. Actor Blythe Danner is 80. Football Hall of Famer Bob Griese is 78. Singer-guitarist Dave Davies (The Kinks) is 76. Singer Melanie is 76. Actor Morgan Fairchild is 73. Actor Pamela Franklin is 73. Actor Nathan Lane is 67. Rock musician Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) is 67. Actor Thomas Calabro is 64. Rock musician/ author Lol Tolhurst (The Cure) is 64. Actor-director Keith Gordon is 62. Actor Michele Greene is 61. Country singer Matraca Berg is 59. Actor Maura Tierney is 58. Actor Warwick Davis is 53. Actor Elisa Donovan is 52. Reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee is 47. Actor Isla Fisher is 47. Human rights activist Amal Clooney is 45. Singer-songwriter Jessica Harp is 41. Actor Matthew Moy is 39. Rapper Sean Kingston is 33. Actor Brandon Micheal Hall is 30.

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023

Today is Saturday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 2023. There are 330 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 4, 1783, Britain’s King George III proclaimed a formal cessation of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.

On this date:

In 1789, electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States. In 1801, John Marshall was confirmed by the Senate as chief justice of the United States. In 1913, Rosa Parks, a Black woman whose 1955 refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus to a white man sparked a civil rights revolution, was born Rosa Louise Mccauley in Tuskegee.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.

In 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, 19, was kidnapped in Berkeley, California, by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army.

In 1976, more than 23,000 people died when a severe earthquake struck Guatemala with a magnitude of 7.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In 1977, eleven people were killed when two Chicago Transit Authority trains collided on an elevated track.

In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica, California, found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

In 1999, senators at President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial voted to permit the showing of portions of Monica Lewinsky’s videotaped deposition.

In 2004, the social networking website Facebook had its beginnings as Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched “Thefacebook.”

In 2012, Florence Green, who had served with the Women’s Royal Air Force and was recognized as the last veteran of World War I, died in King’s Lynn, eastern England, at age 110.

In 2020, thousands of medical workers in Hong Kong were on strike for a second day to demand that the country’s border with China be completely closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus; the territory reported its first death from the virus and the second known fatality outside China.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama signed a bill temporarily raising the government’s $16.4 trillion borrowing limit, averting a default. British scientists announced they had rescued the skeletal remains of King Richard III, who lived during the 15th century, from the anonymity of a drab municipal parking lot. For the fifth straight week there was a new No. 1in The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll: Indiana. Reg Presley, 71, lead singer for the Troggs on “Wild Thing,” died in Andover, England.

Five years ago: The Philadelphia Eagles, led by backup quarterback Nick Foles, became NFL champs for the first time since 1960, beating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 41-33 in the Super Bowl. An Amtrak passenger train slammed into a parked freight train in the earlymorning darkness in South Carolina after a thrown switch sent it hurtling down a side track; the conductor and engineer were killed and more than 100 passengers were injured. Actor John Mahoney, who played the dad of two psychiatrists on the TV show “Frasier,” died in Chicago at the age of 77.

One year ago: Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Winter Olympics open at a ceremony at Beijing’s Bird Nest Stadium. The Olympic flame was delivered by athletes Zhao Jiawen and Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a member of the country’s Uyghur Muslim minority, which Western governments and human rights groups say China has oppressed on a massive scale. The Republican National Committee censured Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois at the party’s winter meeting for serving on the committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 insurrection.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Jerry Adler is 94. Former Argentinian President Isabel Peron is 92. Actor Gary Conway is 87. Actor John Schuck is 83. Rock musician John Steel (The Animals) is

82. Singer Florence Larue (The Fifth Dimension) is 81. Former Vice President Dan Quayle is 76. Rock singer Alice Cooper is 75. Actor Michael Beck is 74. Actor Lisa Eichhorn is 71. Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor is

64. Actor Pamelyn Ferdin is 64. Rock singer Tim Booth is 63. Rock musician Henry Bogdan is

62. Country singer Clint Black is

61. Rock musician Noodles (The Offspring) is 60. Actor Gabrielle Anwar is 53. Actor Rob Corddry is 52. Singer David Garza is 52. Actor Michael Goorjian is 52. TV personality Nicolle Wallace is 51. Olympic gold medal boxer Oscar De La Hoya is 50. Rock musician Rick Burch (Jimmy Eat World) is

48. Singer Natalie Imbruglia is

48. Rapper Cam’ron is 47. Rock singer Gavin Degraw is 46. Rock singer Zoe Manville is 39. Actor/ musician Bashy, AKA Ashley Thomas, is 38. Actor Charlie Barnett is 35. Olympic gold medal gymnast-turned-singer Carly Patterson is 35. Actor Kyla Kenedy (TV: “Speechless”) is 20.