This day in history

[February 02, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Feb. 2, the 33rd day of 2010. There are 332 days left in the year. This is Groundhog Day.

Today's highlight in history:

On Feb. 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War, was signed.

On this date:

In 1536, present-day Buenos Aires, Argentina, was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.

In 1653, New Amsterdam -- now New York City -- was incorporated.

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 in 1906.)

In 1943, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviets in World War II.

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman sent a 10-point civil rights program to Congress, where the proposals ran into fierce opposition from southern lawmakers.

In 1980, NBC News reported the FBI had conducted a sting operation targeting members of Congress using phony Arab businessmen in what became known as "Abscam," a codename protested by Arab-Americans.

In 1990, in a dramatic concession to South Africa's black majority, President F.W. de Klerk lifted a ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela.

Ten years ago: Searchers recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in the Pacific Ocean, off the California coast.

Five years ago: In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush called for changes in Social Security that would combine reduced government benefits for younger workers with "a chance to build a nest egg" through personal accounts. German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling died at age 99.

One year ago: Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as U.S. secretary of state. The Senate confirmed Eric Holder to be attorney general. President Barack Obama's choice for health secretary, Tom Daschle, apologized for failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes. (Daschle ended up withdrawing his nomination.) Gunmen abducted American U.N. worker John Solecki in Quetta, Pakistan, killing his driver. (Solecki was released unharmed two months later.) Moammar Gadhafi of Libya was elected leader of the African Union.

Today's birthdays: Actress Elaine Stritch is 85. Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing is 84. Actor Robert Mandan is 78. Comedian Tom Smothers is 73. Rock singer-guitarist Graham Nash is 68. Actor Bo Hopkins is 68. Television executive Barry Diller is 68. Country singer Howard Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 64. Actor Jack McGee is 61. Actor Brent Spiner (SPY'-nur) is 61. Rock musician Ross Valory (Journey) is 61. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is 58. Model Christie Brinkley is 56. Actor Michael Talbott is 55. Actress Kim Zimmer is 55. Rock musician Robert DeLeo (Army of Anyone; Stone Temple Pilots) is 44. Actress Jennifer Westfeldt is 40. Rock musician Ben Mize is 39. Rapper T-Mo is 38. Actress Marissa Jaret Winokur is 37. Actress Lori Beth Denberg is 34. Singer Shakira is 33. Country singer Blaine Larsen is 24.

Thought for today: "It was naive of the 19th-century optimists to expect paradise from technology -- and it is equally naive of the 20th- century pessimists to make technology the scapegoat for such old shortcomings as man's blindness, cruelty, immaturity, greed and sinful pride." -- Peter F. Drucker, Austrian-born American business management consultant (1909-2005)

[Associated Press]

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