Today in History
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1990 The South African Apartheid system of racial segregation begins to disintegrate
President de Klerk announced the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC).
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1943 The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end as the Axis Powers surrender
Germany’s defeat was a watershed moment in World War II.
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1925 20 mushers embark on a journey to transport medicine to Nome, Alaska, inspiring the Iditarod Race
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is the world’s longest and most difficult dog sled race.
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1922 “Ulysses” by James Joyce is published
The novel is widely regarded as one of the most significant works of modernist literature.
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1852 The first public flushing toilet is opened in London
Using the “Public Waiting Room” at 95 Fleet Street cost 2 pence.
Births On This Day, February 2
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1977 Shakira
Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, actress
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1963 Eva Cassidy
American singer, guitarist
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1926 Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
French politician, 20th President of France
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1905 Ayn Rand
Russian/American author, philosopher
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1882 James Joyce
Irish author
Deaths On This Day, February 2
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1996 Gene Kelly
American dancer, actor
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1979 Sid Vicious
English singer, bass player
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1972 Natalie Clifford Barney
American poet, playwright
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1970 Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell
English mathematician, historian, philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
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1945 Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
German politician