On this day...

1536 Pedro de Mendoza finds the Argentine city of Buenos Aires
1653 New Amsterdam becomes a city (later NYC)
1802 First leopard exhibited in US, Boston (admission 25 cents)
1843 US & British settlers in Oregon Country choose governmental committee
1848 First shipload of Chinese arrive in SF
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends Mexican War; US acquires Texas, California, New Mexico & Arizona for $15 million
1863 Samuel Clemens becomes Mark Twain for first time
1869 James Oliver invents the removable tempered steel plow blade
1870 Mark Twain, 34, marries Olivia Langdon in Elmira, NY
1870 The Cardiff Giant (supposed petrified human) proved to be gypsum
1880 SS Strathleven arrives in London with first Australian frozen mutton
1892 Bottle cap with cork seal patented by William Painter, Baltimore
1892 Longest boxing match under modern rules; 77 rounds in Nameoki, Illinois between Harry Sharpe & Frank Crosby
1893 First movie close-up (of a sneeze), Edison studio, West Orange, NJ
1894 US warship Kearsarge wrecked on Roncador Reef, near Solomon Island
1901 Female Army Nurse Corps established as a permanent organization
1913 NY football Giants sign Jim Thorpe
1913 NYC's Grand Central Terminal opens
1922 James Joyce's "Ulysses" published in Paris (1,000 copies)
1923 Ethyl gasoline first marketed, Dayton, Ohio
1931 First use of a rocket to deliver mail (Austria)
1932 Geneva disarmament conference begins with 60 countries
1932 Reconstruction Finance Corp organized
1933 2 days after becoming chancellor, Adolf Hitler dissolves Parliament
1935 Lie detector first used in court, Portage, Wisconsin
1942 LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans
1942 US auto factories switch from commercial to war production
1943 German 6th Army surrenders at Stalingrad, turning point of WW II
1948 President Truman urges Congress to adopt a civil rights program
1949 Golfing champ Ben Hogan seriously injured in an auto accident
1955 First presidential news conference on network TV-Eisenhower on ABC
1957 Elizabeth Taylor's 3rd marriage (Mike Todd)
1957 UN adopts a resolution calling for Israeli troops to leave Egypt
1958 Syria joins Egypt in United Arab Republic
1959 Buddy Holly's last performance
1959 Vince Lombardi signs a 5 year contract to coach the Green Bay Packers
1960 Michale Eufemia sinks 625 balls in pool match without a miss
1962 8 of 9 planets align for first time in 400 years
1967 Formation of the American Basketball Association is announced
1970 "Pistol" Pete Maravich becomes first to score 3,000 college basketball points
1971 Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote to become leader of Uganda
1977 Radio Shack officially begins creating the TRS-80 computer
1982 "Late Night with David Letterman" premiers on NBC
1986 Dalai Lama meets Pope John Paul II in India
1989 NL announces Yanks' broacaster Bill White will be first black president
1991 US postage is raised from 25 cents to 29 cents

Birthdays which occurred on February 2nd:

1754 Charles de Talleyrand, French statesman
1803 Albert Sidney Johnston, general (mortally wounded at Shiloh)
1835 Luigi Manzotti, Milano, ballet choreographer
1859 Havelock Ellis, US physician, sex researcher (Psychology of Sex)
1875 Fritz Kreisler, Vienna Austria, violinist/composer
1878 Christian Gauss, educator/writer (Phi Beta Kappa award namesake)
1884 S.Z. Sakall, Budapest Hungary, actor (Dolly Sisters, Casablanca)
1890 Charles Correll, actor (Andy-Amos & Andy radio program)
1895 George S. Halas [Papa Bear], end/coach (Bears), co-founder NFL
1899 Benny Rubin, Boston Mass, actor/comedian (Benny Rubin Show)
1901 Jascha Heifetz, Vilna Lithuania, US violin virtuoso
1903 Frank McGrath, Mound City Mo, actor (Wagon Train)
1905 Ayn Rand, writer (Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead)
1906 Gale Gordon, actor (Here's Lucy)
1908 Cal Tinney, Oklahoma, comedian (Stop Me If You Heard This One)
1908 Clarence "Buster" Crabbe, swimmer/actor (Olympic-gold-1932)
1912 Burton Lane, broadway composer (Finian's Rainbow)
1920 Dr. An Wang, founder (Wang Labs, Wang Computers)
1923 Al "Red" Schoendienst, baseball manager/2nd baseman (St. Louis Cardinals)
1923 Bonita Granville, NYC, actress (Hitler's Children, Lone Ranger)
1923 James Dickey, author/actor (Deliverance)
1923 Liz Smith, Ft Worth TX, gossip columnist (NY Daily News, NBC-TV)
1926 Elaine Stritch, Detroit Mich, actress (My Sister Eileen, Company)
1926 Wanda Lewis, Struther Ohio, actress (This is Music, Paul Dixon Show)
1927 Stan Getz, Phila, jazz tenor saxophonist (Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey)
1928 Howard Caine, Nashville TN, actor (Californians)
1932 Robert Mandan, Clever Mo, actor (Chester-Soap, James-3's a Crowd)
1937 Martina Arroyo, NYC, opera soprano (NY Met)
1937 Tom Smothers, NYC, comedian (Smother Brother Show, Serial)
1940 Alan "Tea" Caddy, rock guitarist (Tornados-Globetrotter)
1940 Thomas M. Disch, sci-fi writer (The Man Who Had No Idea)
1942 Bo Hopkins, Greenville SC, actor (Dynasty, Doc Elliot, Rockford Files)
1942 Graham Nash, rocker (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
1944 Ursula Oppens, NYC, pianist/co-founder (Speculum Musicae-NYC)
1946 Farrah Fawcett, Texas, actress (Charley's Angels)
1947 Peter Lucia, rock drummer (Tommy James & Shondells-Crystal Blue)
1948 Alan McKay, rocker (Earth Wind & Fire)
1948 Tony DeMeur, rocker (Fabulous Poodles-Anna Rexia, Suicide Bridge)
1949 Ross Valory, rock bassist (Journey)
1949 Tom Tripplehorn, rocker (Gary Lewis & Playboys-This Diamond Ring)
1951 Kim Zimmer, Michigan, actress (Guiding Light, Doctors, One Life to Live)
1954 Christie Brinkley, model/actress (SI, Vacation)
1955 Brent Spiner, actor (Data-Star Trek the Next Generation)
1955 Michael Talbott, Waverly Iowa, actor (Stan-Miami Vice)
1958 Holly Hunter, Conyers Ga, actress (Broadcast News)
1973 Sergio Gonzalez, rocker (Menudo)

Deaths which occurred on February 2nd:

1918 John L. Sullivan, Mass, heavyweight boxing champ, dies at 59
1969 Giovanni Martinelli, opera singer (NY Met), dies at 83
1978 Wendy Barrie, hostess (Wendy Barrie Show), dies at 65
1979 Sid Vicious, musician (Sex Pistols), dies of a heroin overdose
1988 G. Mennen Williams, Supreme Court justice, dies at 76 in Detroit
1992 Bert Parks, TV host (Miss America), dies at 77