On This Day: First class of Baseball Hall of Fame announced

Feb. 02 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1653, the city of New Amsterdam was incorporated. It later was renamed New York City.

In 1848, the war between the United States and Mexico formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It provided for Mexico’s cession of the territory that became the states of New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Colorado and Wyoming in exchange for $15 million.

In 1876, the National Baseball League was formed, with teams in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Louisville, Ky., and Hartford, Conn.

In 1887, Groundhog Day was celebrated for the first time in Punxsutawney, Pa.

In 1911, an army of Mexican rebels under Gen. Pascal Orozco attacked the city of Juarez. James R. Garfield, son of the former president, and 100 other Americans were the first to raise the alarm. Garfield had been marooned in Mexico for several days, and evidently has escaped from the scene of engagement just in time.

In 1917, Europe’s neutrals looked to the United States for support, and to stand up for them, as fighting continued to rage across the continent.

In 1932, Japanese planes bombed Shanghai’s Chapei (Zhabei) District.

In 1936, the first class of inductees for the National Baseball Hall of Fame was announced, including Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner.

In 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad — what is now known as the city of Volgograd, Russia — ended when German troops surrendered to the Soviet army more than five months after they invaded.

In 1980, the FBI accused a U.S. senator and seven U.S. representatives of being involved in a bribery scandal — to become known as Abscam.

In 1993, first lady Hillary Clinton banned smoking in the White House.

In 1996, legendary dancer and actor Gene Kelly, one of the best-loved stars of Hollywood’s big musicals who was known for his athletic dance style, died. He was 83.

In 2002, a report requested by the board of directors of the Enron Corp. accused top executives of forcing the company into bankruptcy by, among other things, inflating profits by almost $1 billion.

In 2004, Roger Federer took over the No. 1 ranking in men’s tennis. He held the position for a record 237 consecutive weeks.

In 2007, hundreds of scientists taking part in a U.N.-sponsored study concluded in a report that human activity was to blame for climate change, largely through greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels.

In 2012, Prince William was deployed to the British-controlled Falkland Islands off Argentina where critics faulted the royal heir for wearing “the uniform of the conqueror,” referring to the brief 1982 war when England repelled an Argentine takeover.

In 2014, Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, was found dead in his New York City apartment. The NYC medical examiner later said Hoffman was killed by a toxic mix of drugs. The death was ruled an accident.

In 2018, all of the nearly 1,000 miners trapped in the Sibanye-Stillwater Beatrix gold mine in South Africa were brought back to the surface after a power outage.