On Feb. 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War, was signed. It provided for Mexico's cession to the U.S. of the territory that became the states of New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming in exchange for $15 million.
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 1870, the "Cardiff Giant," supposedly the petrified remains of a human discovered in Cardiff, N.Y., was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum.
In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in New York, with teams in Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; New York; Philadelphia; St. Louis; Louisville, Ky.; and Hartford, Conn.
In 1882, Irish poet and novelist James Joyce was born near Dublin.
In 1887, Groundhog Day is celebrated for the first time in Punxsutawney, Pa.
In 1897, fire destroyed the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg. (A new statehouse was dedicated on the same site in 1906.)
In 1933, two days after becoming chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler ordered dissolution of the German Parliament.
In 1936, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson were the first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1943, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviet Union.
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 1959, public schools in Arlington and Norfolk, Va., were racially desegregated without,incident.
In 1971, Idi Amin assumed power in Uganda following a coup.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, in a speech the broadcast television networks declined to carry live, President Ronald Reagan pressed his case for aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
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.
In 1993, more than 7,500 United Mine Workers miners went on strike against the Peabody Coal Co., the nation's largest coal producer. Also in 1993, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton banned smoking in the White House.
In 1997, the government released statistics showing deaths from AIDS fell by almost half during the first half of 1997, a decrease attributed to increased use of powerful combinations of medicines.
In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton submitted the first balanced federal budget in 29 years.
In 1999, a federal jury in Portland, Ore., ordered abortion foes who had created "wanted" posters and a Web site listing the names and addresses of "baby butchers" to pay $107 million dollars in damages. (Courts later reduced the judgment to more than $16 million; the U.S. Supreme Court has refused three times to hear an appeal by the defendants.)
In 2000, searchers recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in the Pacific Ocean, off the California coast.
In 2002, a report requested by the board of directors of the Enron Corporation accused top executives of forcing the company into bankruptcy by, among other things, inflating profits by almost $1 billion.
In 2003, Vaclav Havel, the playwright who became a president, stepped down after his second five-year term as head of the Czech Republic.
In 2004, deadly ricin was discovered in offices used by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. [What the fuck was he doing w/ ricin? Anesthetizing kittens? — Ed.] President George W. Bush unveiled a $2.4 trillion budget featuring a record deficit, as well as big increases for defense and homeland security. Israel killed a leader of Islamic Jihad and three other militants in a Gaza raid. An eleven-story apartment building collapsed in Konya, Turkey, killing 92 people.
In 2005, in his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush called for changes in Social Security that would combine reduced government benefits for younger workers with "a chance to build a nest egg" through personal accounts. He also claimed that U.S. troops would remain in Iraq until Iraqis can provide their own security. German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling died at age 99.
In 2006, Ohio's John Boehner won a vote to be the Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 2007, the world's leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is "very likely" caused by humans and will be unstoppable for centuries.
In 2008, a reported 2,000 rebels stormed Chad's capital city of N'Djamena in an unsuccessful attempt to oust President Idriss Deby. A cease-fire went into effect two days later with an estimated toll of 400 civilians dead. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former supermodel Carla Bruni were married at the presidential Elysee Palace. A gunman killed five women at a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Ill., in an apparent botched robbery attempt (the case remains unsolved). Former Washington Redskins players Art Monk and Darrell Green were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with New England linebacker Andre Tippett, San Diego/San Francisco defensive end Fred Dean, Minnesota/Denver tackle Gary Zimmerman and senior committee choice, Kansas City cornerback Emmitt Thomas. Former Agriculture Secretary Earl L. Butz died in Washington, D.C., at age 98. ["Loose shoes, tight pussy, & a warm place to shit." — Ed.]
In 2009, Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as U.S. secretary of state.
Today's Birthdays: Columnist Liz Smith is 87. Actress Elaine Stritch is 85. Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing is 84. Actor Robert Mandan is 78. Comedian Tom Smothers is 73. Rock singer-guitarist Graham Nash is 68. Actor Bo Hopkins is 68. Television executive Barry Diller is 68. Country singer Howard Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 64. Actor Jack McGee is 61. Actor Brent Spiner (SPY'-nur) is 61. Rock musician Ross Valory (Journey) is 61. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is 58. Model Christie Brinkley is 56. Actor Michael Talbott is 55. Actress Kim Zimmer is 55. Rock musician Robert DeLeo (Army of Anyone; Stone Temple Pilots) is 44. Actress Jennifer Westfeldt is 40. Rock musician Ben Mize is 39. Rapper T-Mo is 38. Actress Marissa Jaret Winokur is 37. Actress Lori Beth Denberg is 34. Singer Shakira is 33. Birthday Cheesecake at The Ant Farmer's.
Those Born On This Date Include: French statesman Charles de Talleyrand (1754); psychologist Havelock Ellis (1859); Charles Correll, Andy of radio's "Amos and Andy" radio program (1890); National Football League co-founder George Halas (1895); hotel magnate Howard Johnson (1897); violinist Jascha Heifetz (1901); novelist Ayn Rand (1905); musician Stan Getz (1927); vocalist Eva Cassidy (1963); & actress Farrah Fawcett (1947).
Today In Entertainment History
In 1956, Atlantic Records signed The Coasters.
In 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper made what ended up being their last public appearances at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. They died in a plane crash the next day.
In 1969, actor Boris Karloff died in Midhurst, England, at age 81.
In 1973, the NBC rock show "Midnight Special" made its debut, with Helen Reddy as the host.
In 1974, Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer sustained minor cuts when a rigged piano exploded prematurely during a concert in San Francisco.
In 1979, former Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose at age 21. The death was ruled accidental. [A big mistake. — ed.]
New York City police spokesman Fred ElwickIn 1993, a judge in New York dropped gun charges against singer Harry Connick Jr. He had been arrested when he tried to bring a pistol on board a flight at Kennedy Airport. Also in 1993, Willie Nelson and the Internal Revenue Service reached a settlement on his estimated $17 million tax debt.
In 1996, entertainer Gene Kelly died of complications from strokes at his home in Los Angeles. He was 83.
In 2008, actor Barry Morse died in London at age 89.
Thought for Today: "It was naive of the 19th century optimists to expect paradise from technology — and it is equally naive of the 20th century pessimists to make technology the scapegoat for such old shortcomings as man's blindness, cruelty, immaturity, greed and sinful pride." — Peter F. Drucker, Austrian-born American business management consultant (1909-2005).
["It was naive of the 19th century optimists to expect paradise from technology — and it is equally naive of the 20th century pessimists to make technology the scapegoat for
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