A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on February 2nd. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On February 2, 1876, the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was founded, replacing the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, which had been founded in 1871 as a replacement itself for the National Association of Base Ball Players (note no mention of “professional”) which operated from 1869 to 1871.
On February 2, 1887 (or 1886), the first Groundhog Day celebration took place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and such celebrations have been taking place over and over again ever since (on each February 2nd)!
On February 2, 1935, Leonarde “Nard” Keeler testified about polygraph evidence in a Wisconsin courtroom at a trial of 2 men for assault, the first use of the polygraph, often simply called “the lie detector,” in court.
From February 2nd through the 15th of 1945, various Latin American countries including Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Uruguay joined the Allied Powers by declaring war on Germany and Japan.
On February 2, 1954, the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League played the first ever outdoor hockey game in the history of the NHL in Marquette, Michigan, up North in the Upper Peninsula.
In the night of what is believed to be February 2, 1959, 9 Russian university students hiking and skiing in the wilderness of the Ural mountains died mysteriously.
On February 2, 2004, Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer ascended to the #1 ranking in the World, a position he would hold for 237 consecutive weeks, an all-time record.
On February 2, 2014, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio fumbled the unfortunate groundhog Charlotte, dropping the marmot on her head during a Groundhog Day ceremony.
On February 2, 2015, we posted an article about the previous year’s Groundhog Day debacle in which New York City’s mayor Bill de Blasio managed to accidentally kill a groundhog named Charlotte.
On February 2, 2020, we celebrated yet another Groundhog Day, a day in which Winter weary people find out if we are in for 6 more weeks of Winter or if we are facing the joy of an early Spring.
Science fiction disaster fans had their chance to be among the first in Cleveland, Ohio to see Moonfall on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 7:00 PM at Cinemark At Valley View and XD in Valley View, Ohio!
On February 2, 2023, while the US celebrated Groundhog Day, more serious Americans were celebrating a much more important “national day,” namely National Heavenly Hash Day!
Question for students (and subscribers): Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
