Today in History for Feb. 2:
In 1536, the Argentine city of Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.
In 1556, a devastating earthquake killed an estimated 830,000 people in China.
In 1653, New Amsterdam -- now New York City -- was incorporated.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War, was signed.
In 1867, Charles Edward Saunders was born. Charles, along with his brother Arthur, had worked to develop a strain of early-maturing wheat that had the superior quality of Red Fife wheat, already being grown in Ontario. In 1903, as Dominion Cerealist, he found it: a cross between Red Fife and a variety from India. The Marquis strain of wheat helped open the Prairies to farming. Saunders died in 1937.
In 1876, organized baseball was launched with the formation of the National League. Original teams were in Philadelphia, Hartford, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis and New York.
In 1882, Irish poet and novelist James Joyce was born near Dublin. His best-known novel, ``Ulysses,'' was first published on his 40th birthday on this date in 1922. He died in 1941.
In 1893, the first movie close-up was filmed at the Edison studio in West Orange, N.J. Cameraman William Dickson photographed comedian Fred Ott sneezing.
In 1897, Countess Ishbel Aberdeen began organizing the Victorian Order of Nurses.
In 1912, Frederick R. Law jumped with a parachute from the torch of the Statue of Liberty in a stunt filmed by Pathe News.
In 1942, Ottawa proclaimed western British Columbia a ``protected area'' and soon began moving Japanese people inland. The measure was intended to quell fears of Japanese people assisting an invasion during the Second World War. Within weeks, the action was expanded to include all those of Japanese origin. They were treated as aliens and deprived of their property. Decades later, the federal government apologized to Canada's Japanese community.
In 1943, the remainder of Nazi forces from the ``Battle of Stalingrad'' surrendered in a major victory for the Soviet Union in the Second World War.
In 1953, vitamin-enriched white bread went on sale in Canada.
In 1960, the Canadian Ladies' Curling Association was inaugurated.
In 1965, boxer Cassius Clay became a Muslim, adopting the name Muhammad Ali.
In 1971, the Quebec Press Council, the first organization of its kind in North America, came into being.
In 1971, Idi Amin assumed power in Uganda following a coup that ousted President Milton Obote. Amin's reign of terror over the African nation lasted eight years.
In 1977, Ian Turnbull of the Toronto Maple Leafs set an NHL record for defencemen by scoring five goals in a game against Detroit.
In 1983, Giovanni Vigliotto testified at his bigamy and fraud trial in Phoenix that he had married 105 women over a 20-year span. He married some twice, others at least three times.
In 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney fired Supply and Services Minister Michel Cote for not reporting a private loan from a company doing government business.
In 1990, South Africa announced the legalization of the African National Congress and other political organizations that had been outlawed.
In 1996, dancer, actor and singer Gene Kelly died in Los Angeles of complications from several strokes. He was 83.
In 1996, the Canadian Football League became all-Canadian again when four American franchises folded. The Grey Cup-champion Baltimore Stallions moved to Montreal to become the Alouettes.
In 1999, the death of groundhog Wiarton Willie was announced. Canada's most famous rodent weather forecaster had been emerging from his burrow in Wiarton, Ont., for 10 years to predict how much longer the winter would last.
In 2003, Canadian golfer Mike Weir won the Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, Calif.
In 2003, Vaclav Havel stepped down after more than a decade as president of the Czech Republic.
In 2009, longtime CBC broadcaster Russ Germain, former host of the flagship radio news programs ``World Report'' and ``The World at Six,'' died of lung cancer in Toronto at the age of 62.
In 2009, 60-year-old Ranjit Hayer of Calgary became the oldest Canadian woman to give birth, delivering twins at Calgary's Foothills Hospital.
In 2014, the Seattle Seahawks won their first Super Bowl title, punishing Denver 43-8 with their No. 1-ranked defence that disarmed Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and the highest-scoring offence in league history.
In 2014, Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his apartment of a drug overdose. He was 46.
In 2016, NDP candidate Melanie Mark became the first indigenous woman elected to the British Columbia legislature after winning a byelection in the party stronghold of Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.
In 2018 Andrew Wilkinson, 60, a doctor, lawyer, Rhodes Scholar and former cabinet minister, was elected as the new B.C. Liberal leader a year after the party lost its 16-year grip on power.
In 2019, cancer claimed the life of Canada's auditor general. Michael Ferguson died suddenly in Ottawa at the age of 60. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ferguson would be remembered for his tireless dedication to promote a transparent, open government that was accountable to Canadians.
In 2020, Philippine officials reported the first death outside of China linked to the novel coronavirus. The Philippines joined the U.S., Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia in placing a temporary ban on all travellers from China. Many countries also reported seeing rising anti-Chinese sentiment.
In 2020, parts of Kenya reported their worst outbreak of locusts in 70 years, as billions of the insects descended on communities.
In 2020, mathematicians and geeks everywhere celebrated a rare occurrence: 02/02/2020. This kind of eight-digit palindrome hasn't occurred for more than 900 years _ since Nov. 11, 1111. The date is considered a ``universal palindrome'' because it reads the same whether you write the date as ``Month/Day/Year'' or ``Day/Month/Year.'' The next one won't come until Dec. 12, 2121.
In 2020, ''1917'' was the big winner at the British Academy Film Awards. The gut-wrenching World War One epic won seven prizes, including best picture and best director.
In 2021, the Trudeau government signed a tentative agreement for Novavax to produce millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine at a new facility in Montreal. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh criticized the government for not acting sooner.
In 2021, Canada's weather-predicting groundhogs all predicted an early spring. Groundhog Day went virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was another twist beyond that as Ontario's Wiarton Willie was a no-show. Wiarton's famous albino groundhog was nowhere to be seen as officials called an early spring after throwing a fur hat into the air.
In 2021, Capt. Sir Thomas Moore died after being admitted to hospital in England with COVID-19. The 100-year-old veteran was knighted by the Queen for raising 33 million pounds for Britain's National Health Service. He set out to raise just 1,000 pounds by walking 100 laps of his garden.
In 2021, the co-founder of the Canadian Farmworkers Union and the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism died following a battle with cancer. Charan Gill was 84. The farm workers' union led to improved pay, benefits and working conditions for farm and ranch workers across the country.
In 2022, eighteen months after it dropped a name that was offensive to Indigenous Americans, Washington's NFL team announced it would now be called the Commanders.
In 2022, Erin O'Toole was ousted as Conservative Party of Canada leader after 73 members of the Tory caucus voted to replace him. Forty-five endorsed O'Toole's leadership. Manitoba MP Candice Bergen was named interim leader.
In 2024, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly arrived in the capital of Ukraine for a two-day visit focused on seeking the return of children abducted by Russia. Joly launched an initiative with Ukraine that seeks global help in pressuring Russia to return thousands of Ukrainian children it deported from conflict zones, in violation of international law.
In 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that Ontario Premier Doug Ford could keep his marching orders to cabinet ministers confidential, stating the letters are exempt from public disclosure. The CBC had asked under the province's freedom-of-information law for the letters written to ministers after Ford won the 2018 election.
In 2024, U.S. officials said their military was launching an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan.
In 2024, the head of Canada's public broadcaster said CBC's financial model needs reviewing, not its mandate. At a conference for the broadcasting, film and media industry, Catherine Tait said she is pushing for a long-term financial structure such as a charter. Currently, she says the CBC gets its annual funding based on the parliamentary cycle, leaving the broadcaster in a perpetual state of uncertainty.
In 2024, British Columbia's Post-Secondary Education Minister Selina Robinson apologized for saying Israel was founded on a "crappy piece of land," remarks that angered pro-Palestinian groups and triggered calls for her resignation. Robinson said in a social media post that her comments were "disrespectful'' and she was referring to the land having limited natural resources.
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The Canadian Press