This Day in History: February 2

1976: Date of the Groundhog Day gale, which affects the Northeast U.S. and Southeast Canada.
1976: American Basketball Association formed.
1943: German forces surrender to the Soviets following the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II.
1940: Frank Sinatra makes his debut, with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
1935: The polygraph machine, invented by Leonard Keeler, is tested for the first time.
1925: Dog sleds carrying the badly-needed diptheria serum make it to Nome, Alaska. Their run inspires the Iditarod race.
1887: First Groundhog Day observed in Punxatawney, PA.


1880: In Wabash, Indiana, the first electric streetlight is installed.
1876: Formation of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball.
1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ends the Mexican-American War.


1653: New Amsterdam incorporated.