February 2 - the day in history

On this day 1509, perhaps the only international battle on Indian territory not involving a major Indian power took place.

Today is Wednesday, February 2, the thirty third day of 2005.
There are 332 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1119 - Callixtus II becomes Pope.

1509 - Battle of Diu took place near Diu between Portugal and Turkey.
1536 - Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1653 - New Amsterdam (later New York City) is incorporated.

1848 - California Gold Rush: The first ship with Chinese emigrants seeking fortune in California's gold country arrive in San Francisco.
1870 - It is revealed that the famed Cardiff Giant was just carved gypsum and not the petrified remains of a human.

1920 - Estonia declares its independence from Russia.
1933 - Hitler dissolves the German Parliament.
1935 - The polygraph machine is tested for the first time.
1940 - Frank Sinatra debuts with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
1943 - The last Nazi forces surrender to the Soviets following the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II.
1945 - World War II: US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British PM Winston Churchill leave to meet with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference. 1962 - Neptune and Pluto align after 400 years.
1971 - In Uganda after a coup, Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader.
1972 - British embassy in Dublin destroyed in protest over Bloody Sunday 1982
1989 - The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul ending nine years of military occupation.
1990 - In South Africa President FW de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.

Today's Birthdays
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French politician (1754-1838)
James Joyce, Irish author (1882-1941)
Ayn Rand, author (1905-1982)
Farrah Fawcett, American actress (1947--)
Shakira, singer (1977--)

HT Image