Historical Events on 2 Feb

Historical Events on 2 Feb

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 hillfort 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 from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
1787 - Arthur St. Clair is elected the 9th President of the President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
1790 - The U.S. Supreme Court convenes for the first time after an unsuccessful attempt on February 1.
1812 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at what is now Fort Ross, California.
1848 - California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese emigrants seeking fortune in California's gold country arrives in San Francisco, California.
1848 - Mexican-American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the war.
1876 - The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
1878 - Greece declares war on Turkey.
1880 - The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana.
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 (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne.
1901 - Queen Victoria's funeral takes place.
1913 - Grand Central Station was 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 in Paris, France.
1925 - Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
1933 - Adolf Hitler dissolves the German Parliament.
1935 - Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.
1940 - Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
1943 - World War II: The last German forces surrender to the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad.
1946 - The Proclamation of Hungarian Republic is made.
1957 - President Iskander Mirza of Pakistan lays the foundation-stone of the Guddu Barrage across river Indus near Sukkur.
1966 - Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir dispute as number one item for the proposed Indo-Pak ministerial talks after 1965 war.
1967 - The American Basketball Association is formed.
1971 - After a coup in Uganda, Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader.
1972 - The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest over 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 FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in the Abscam sting operation.
1980 - This Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey is formally founded.
1982 - Hama Massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama and kills thousands of people.
1989 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation.
1989 - Satellite television service Sky Television plc launched in Europe.
1990 - Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.
1998 - A Cebu Pacific Air DC-9-32 crashes into a mountain near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, killing 104.
2002 - The wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to the Argentinean born Máxima Zorreguieta takes place.
962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.