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“When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets”
~ James Joyce
Wikiquote (James Joyce (February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941) was an Irish novelist, short-story writer and poet.)
February 2nd, 506
Roman Empire:
506 - Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates The Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum) a collection of Roman law.
Wikipedia Image: Relief from a 3rd-century sarcophagus depicting a battle between Romans and Germanic warriors; the central figure is perhaps the emperor Hostilian / Depiction of the Menorah on the Arch of Titus in Rome.
February 2nd, 962
962 - Translatio imperii; Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
Wikipedia Photo: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
February 2nd, 1032
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy.
Wikipedia Image: Conrad II, depicted in the Chronicle of Ekkehard von Aura ● Henry III 'The Black' of Germany son of the emperor Conrad II
February 2nd, 1207
Terra Mariana, comprising present-day Estonia and Latvia is established.
Wikipedia Photo: Estonia: Tornimäe business quarter in Tallinn ● Lighthouse by Baltic Sea Stony Coast in Pärnu County, Estonia ● Approximately 7,000 swamps in Estonia which cover up to 22.3% of Estonian territory ● Osmussaar (Swedish: Odensholm) is one of many islands in the territorial waters of Estonia ● The Northern coast of Estonia consists mainly of limestone cliffs ● Estonia is famous for its countless of manors which used to house the ruling German elite ● Estonia landscape.
February 2nd, 1461
Wars of the Roses:
1461 - Battle of Mortimer's Cross; is fought in Herefordshire, England.
Wikipedia Image: Wars of the Roses; a series of dynastic wars fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York (whose heraldic symbols were the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively) for the throne of England.
February 2nd, 1536
1536 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Wikipedia Photo: Buenos Aires, capital and largest city of Argentina; ● Perito Moreno Glacier Patagonia Argentina ● Iguazu Falls (Iguazu River forms the boundary between Argentina and Brazil).
February 2nd, 1542
Ethiopia:
Battle of Baçente: Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hill fort in northern Ethiopia.
Wikipedia Photo: Blue Nile Falls; Ethiopia a magical and timeless land; credit Oklahoma State University, University of California - San Diego School of Medicine, National Geographics.
February 2nd, 1653
New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
Wikipedia Painting: New Amsterdam; New Orange, 1674 (looking approximately north; the canal in the centre of the image (today's Broad St.) runs roughly north-south) ● New Amsterdam harbor
Photo: ● Statue of Liberty; Manhattan, New York City, credit National Geographics
● The Manhattan Bridge (completed 1909), spanning the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan Island, New York City, credit: Larry Brownstein / Getty Images
● Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, flanked by the apartment buildings of the Upper East Side, credit: © Bruce Stoddard—FPG International
● New York city, Manhattan through a fish eye view, credit Victor Barajas Photography.
February 2nd, 1848
Mexican-American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
Wikipedia Painting: Battle of Cerro Gordo during Mexican-American War, credit National Parks System; Winfield Scott marching into Mexico City, by William Ellis.
February 2nd, 1848
California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese immigrants arrives in San Francisco, California.
Wikipedia Map of the Gold Regions of California. Showing the Routes via Chagres and Panama, Cape Horn. California.gov
January 29th, 1876
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
Wikipedia Image: Major League Baseball Logos.
February 2nd, 1887
Groundhog Day: In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
Wikipedia Photo: Groundhog Day celebrated on February 2: (According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, then spring will come early; if it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.) Statue of groundhog Wiarton Willie in Wiarton, Ontario.
February 2nd, 1899
Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital city, Canberra between Sydney and Melbourne.
Wikipedia Photo: Canberra was selected for the location of the Australia's capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities.
February 2nd, 1913
Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
Wikipedia Photo: Grand Central Station Interior, credit Matt Sherman, Flickr ● Grand Central Station Interior, 1941 © ● Clock atop the information desk in the center of Grand Central Station ● The beaux arts statuary above the entrance to Grand Central Station in New York City ● Grand Central Terminal at Night, credit Matt Sherman, Flickr.
February 2nd, 1925
Iditarod: inspired by Serum run to Nome (Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum).
Wikipedia Image: Iditarod Northern Route Even Years ● Iditarod, credit Nancy Carroll, Glogster.edu ● Nils Hahn's lead dogs turn his team onto Cordova Street from Fourth Avenue during day one of the 2011 Fur Rondy World Championship Sled Dog Races Friday afternoon Feb. 25, 2011 in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Erik Hill - Anchorage Daily News) ● Iditarod musher Peter Kaiser from Bethel, Alaska, races from Safety to Nome, Alaska as the sun sets to finish line of the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen). credit The Atlantic The 2011 Iditarod Sled Dog Race
February 2nd, 1935
Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.
Wikipedia Photo: Polygraph (popularly referred to as a lie detector): measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions.
February 2nd, 1943
World War II:
1943 - Battle of Stalingrad; comes to conclusion as Soviet troops accept the surrender of 91,000 remnants of the Axis forces.
Wikipedia Photo: Bombing of Dresden in World War II; August Schreitmüller's sculpture 'Goodness' surveys Dresden after a firestorm started by Allied bombers in 1945.
USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa and another airman on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing from a crew of 2,600; Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945; Kamikaze Missions - Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's Yokosuka D4Y3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against USS Essex. The dive brakes are extended and the non-self-sealing port wing tank is trailing fuel vapor and/or smoke 25 November 1944.
German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944), credit German History in Documents and Images GHDI.
Eastern Front (World War II); Germans race towards Stalingrad. August 1942; Soviet children during a German air raid in the first days of the war, June 1941, by RIA Novosti archive; Soviet sniper Roza Shanina in 1944. About 400,000 Soviet women served in front-line duty units Caucasus Mountains, winter 1942/43; Finnish ski patrol: the invisible enemy of the Soviet Army with an unlimited supply of skis; Men of the German Engineers Corps cross a river which is swollen after the first autumn rains, to strengthen bridges linking the German positions on the central front in Russia. by Keystone / Getty Images. October 1942; Russian snipers fighting on the Leningrad front during a blizzard. Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images, 1943; German soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Stalingrad, the soldier holding the white flag of surrender is dressed in white so that there could be no doubt of his intentions, a Russian soldier is on the right of the photograph. by Keystone / Getty Images, January 1943.
February 2nd, 1971
Idi Amin replaces Milton Obote as leader of Uganda after a coup.
Wikipedia Photo: Idi Amin Dada (mid 1920s – 16 August 2003) was the military dictator and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979 (Amin's rule was characterised by human rights abuse, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement (The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers and human rights groups to range from 100,000 to 500,000)
February 2nd, 1974
F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.
Wikipedia Photo: The F-16 Fighting Falcon (The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF)).
February 2nd, 1989
Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul, Afghanistan.
Wikipedia Photo: Soviet ground forces in action while conducting an offensive operation against the Islamist resistance, the Mujahideen; Mujahideen praying in Shultan Valley, 1987; Soviet soldier in Afghanistan, 1988; Mujahideen, 1987; Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan in 1988; A column of Soviet BTR armored personnel carriers departing from Afghanistan.
February 2nd, 2004
Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the Number 1 ranked men's singles player a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.
Wikipedia Photo: Roger Federer earned his 21st consecutive semifinal at a Grand Slam tournament, July 2nd, 2009
February 2nd, 2004
The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 146-165 dead.
Wikipedia Photo: Survivors of the Rabaul Queen ferry disaster in 2013. ATSB