The Historical Significance of February 2nd

It is, as most of you are aware, Groundhog Day. The tradition of allowing the prognisticating rodent to determine our hope (or despair) as concerns the upcoming weather forecast first started in America on this day in 1887. Punxsatawney Phil (that's a mouthful of a name) comes out of his groundhog house (I believe they call it a burrow) every year to take a look about. If he sees his shadow and hurries back into his hole then winter will last another six weeks, if on the other hand he is pleased with the day and noses around a bit, then we have an early spring on tap.

Today, the groundhog didn't see his shadow (or if he did, it didn't scare him) so winter will soon be over (thank God! If you'd like my opinion no winter thus far check out yesterday's post). What you might not know is that alot more than Punxsatawney's debut occurred on this day in history. Let's look at some of the highlights, shall we (of course we shall, I write these things, and I want to take a look at the highlights).

2/2/1971: Idi Amin takes power in Uganda -- One of the most fascinating and terrible world leaders in history, Amin is gaining a newfound recognition among young people because of the new movie "The Last King of Scotland" starring Forest Whittaker as Amin. He took power after leading a revolution claiming to be a man with the interest of the people at heart. He ended up a despot, tyrant, alleged cannibal and mass murderer. He was also a little crazy. Alright a lot crazy. He gave himself the title of "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshall Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of all Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular." Yep, that whole thing is his title. (In case you were wondering, Idi Amin was forced out of Uganda in 1979. He recieved asylum in Saudi Arabia and died there in 2003.

2/2/1880: First electric streetlight installed -- Wabash, Indiana entered the electric era a little earlier than the rest of us, when an electric streetlight was installed on top of their courthouse on this day in 1880. The Wabashians liked it so much, a month later the town commissioned four more be installed. It was two months later that the first argument about an electric bill occurred.

2/2/1847: First Donner Party Member dies -- Boy, it's a big day in the history of cannibals, isn't it? The Donner party, the doomed farmers traveling west through the Sierra Nevada mountains, were unprepared for the harsh winter when they set out on their trip. Almost half of the original 87 travellers died during the trip and some of the survivors were forced to eat the remains of their companions to survive during their long ordeal. The first of the 42 deaths occurred today.

2/2/1979: Sid Vicious Dies -- No, not the wrestler. The Rockstar for which the wrestler was named. Sid Vicious, bassist and member of the creators of Punk Rock, "The Sex Pistols", had just been released on bail after being arrested for suspicion of killing his girlfriend when he was discovered dead of an overdose of heroin. One thing you can say about Sid, he was not boring.

2/2/1982: Late Night with David Letterman premiers -- Other than Johnny Carson, nobody has ever been more completely suited as a late night host than David Letterman, and it all started today 25 years ago. It's hard to believe but I've never known late night TV without Letterman. I hope I don't have to for a long long time.

Hmmm. A lot happened on February 2nd over the years. I'm forgetting something though...what is it? Oh, yeah...

2/21982: Ella Claire is born -- At the time not a lot of people probably noticed this event, nor understood the importance of it, but looking back it's only second to my birth in important events in my life. Happy birthday, Mrs. Rogue. I love you. I hope your next twenty-five years (you know, the ones where we actually have money) are even cooler than the first twenty-five.