Today's Highlight in History:
On Feb. 2, 1943, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviets in World War II.
On this date:
In 1536, the Argentine city of Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.
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 1870, the "Cardiff Giant," supposedly the petrified remains of a human discovered in Cardiff, N.Y., was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum.
In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in New York.
In 1882, Irish poet and novelist James Joyce was born near Dublin.
In 1897, fire destroyed the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg. (A new statehouse was dedicated on the same site nine years later.)
In 1948, President Harry Truman sent to Congress a 10-point civil rights program calling for measures against lynching, poll taxes and job discrimination.
In 1988, in a speech the broadcast television networks declined to carry live, President Reagan pressed his case for aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
In 1996, dancer, actor and choreographer Gene Kelly died at his Beverly Hills, Calif., home; he was 83.
Ten years ago: President Clinton unveiled a $1.73 trillion budget claiming the first surpluses in 30 years and pumping billions into schools, health and child care. The government released statistics showing deaths from AIDS fell by almost half during the first half of 1997, a decrease attributed to increased use of powerful combinations of medicines.
