POPnews - February 2nd

[Punxsutawney Phil is not only the world's foremost weather forecaster he is the most famous resident of Gobbler's Knob; he only lives there the part of the year, though, around Groundhog Day believe it or not. He spends the rest of the year in the town's library with his 'wife' Phyllis, supervised by Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.]
962 CE - Pope John XII crowned Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.

1536 - Spanish conquistador Pedro de Mendoza founded Buenos Aires.

1542 - Portuguese forces under Christovão da Gama captured a Muslim-occupied hill fort in northern Ethiopia during the Battle of Baçente.

1653 - The colony of New Amsterdam - later to achieve some renown as New York City - was incorporated.

1709 - Alexander Selkirk was rescued by William Dampier having spent four years on the Juan Fernández Islands as a castaway by the same captain; his story would go on to inspire Daniel Defoe to write his famous Robinson Crusoe, which was one of the earliest novels.

1769 - Pope Clement XIII died; he was succeeded by Clement XIV, who was elected on May 19th.

1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War; the treaty ceded California, Nevada, Utah in their entirety, along with parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming to the United States in exchange for $15 million; the rest of Arizona and New Mexico would follow in December 1853, with the Gadsden Purchase.

1876 - The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball was formed.

1887 - The first observation of Groundhog Day was held in - where else? - Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

1901 - Queen Victoria was buried at Frogmore Mausoleum in Windsor Great Park, following an elaborate State Funeral.

1922 - James Joyce's scandalous novel Ulysses was published in Paris by Sylvia Beach.

1957 - President Iskander Mirza of Pakistan laid the foundation stone of the Guddu Barrage, which crosses the River Indus near Sukkur.

1971 - Idi Amin seized power from Milton Obote following a coup in Uganda the previous week.

1972 - The British Embassy in Dublin was destroyed in retaliation for Bloody Sunday.

1974 - The F-16 Fighting Falcon made its maiden flight.

1976 - The Groundhog Day gale hit the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada.

1982 - Syrian government forces attacked the town of Hama in what became known as the Hama Massacre, killing as many as 20,000 people.

2002 - Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands married Argentinian-born Maxima Zorreguieta.

2007 - Four tornadoes hit Central Florida, killing 21 people.
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