On This Day February 2nd

 OTD

February 2nd is the Thirty-third day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 331 days remain until the end of the year.

 

Events

880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III of France is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony.

1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England, is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda.

1207 – Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established.

1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer's Cross results in the death of Owen Tudor.

1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.

1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe's adventure book Robinson Crusoe.

1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.

1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the first Groundhog Day is observed.

1913 – Grand Central Terminal opens in New York City.

1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad ends when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last organized German soldiers in the city.

2000 – The first digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) was realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.

 

Birthdays

1585 – Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare's youngest daughter (d. 1662)

1856 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)

1882 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1941)

1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983)

1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist and philosopher (d. 1982)

1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor and singer

 

Holiday Spotlight

Candlemas

  The Feast of Candelaria has a long history, dating back to the 16th Century. According to a local legend, in 1576, some Inca fishermen were caught in a terrible storm on Lake Titicaca. As they prayed for help, the Virgin Mary appeared, leading them to safety. In gratitude, they built a shrine containing a statue of the Virgin, which was sculpted by the Inca craftsman Tito Yupanqui the same year.

 Another account of the statue’s origins focuses on the sculptor. It is said that the Virgin of Copacabana, who had appeared to the sailors, appeared in a dream to Tito Yupanqui, who was not a sculptor. But the vision affected him so much that he set out to learn to sculpt in Potosí. With his acquired skill, he hand-carved the Virgin from the wood of a maguey cactus, carried it on foot for 400 miles from Potosí to Copacabana, and placed it in an adobe chapel.

 During festivals, the courtyard is filled with colorful flowers, and for the feast, pilgrims and dancers come to Copacabana from Peru and across Bolivia. There are traditional Aymar dances, music, drinking, and feasting. On the third day of the feast, 100 bulls are gathered in a stone corral along the Yampupata road, and some of the braver revelers jump into the arena and try to avoid being attacked.

 Believed to work miracles, the Virgin of Candelaria statue is Bolivia's most important pilgrimage destination. The holiday has gained global traction in the last century, with much of the effort Saint John Paul II exerted to integrate the celebration with renewed religious vows.

 

Other Include

Ayn Rand Day

Bonza Bottler Day

Bubble Gum Day

California Kiwi Fruit Day

Crepe Day

Give Kids a Smile Day

Groundhog Day

Heavenly Hash Day

Hedgehog Day

Lung Leavin' Day

Marmot Day (Alaska)

National Wear Red Day

Rheumatoid Awareness Day

Self Renewal Day

Sled Dog Day

Tater Tot Day

The Record of a Sneeze Day

Working Naked Day

World Play Your Ukulele Day

World Wetlands Day

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