The almanac

Today is Sunday, Feb. 2, the 33rd day of 2014 with 332 to follow.

This is Groundhog Day in the United States.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mars, Saturn and Venus. The evening stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include French statesman Charles de Talleyrand in 1754; psychologist Havelock Ellis in 1859; Irish novelist James Joyce in 1882; Charles Correll, Andy of radio's "Amos and Andy" program, in 1890; National Football League co-founder George Halas in 1895; hotel magnate Howard Johnson in 1897; Lithuanian violinist Jascha Heifetz in 1901; novelist Ayn Rand in 1905; columnist Liz Smith in 1923 (age 91); actor Elaine Stritch in 1925 (age 89); musician Stan Getz in 1927; comedian Tom Smothers in 1937 (age 77); singers Graham Nash in 1942 (age 72), Eva Cassidy in 1963 and Shakira in 1977 (age 37); actors Farrah Fawcett in 1947 and Brent Spiner in 1949 (age 65); South Korean President Park Geun-hye in 1952 (age 62); model Christie Brinkley in 1954 (age 60); and actor Michael T. Weiss in 1962 (age 52).

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 to the U.S. 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 1933, two days after becoming chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler ordered dissolution of the Parliament.

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

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 2003, Vaclav Havel, the playwright who became a president, stepped down after his second five-year term as head of the Czech Republic.

In 2004 sports, Roger Federer took over the No. 1 ranking in men's tennis. (He held the position for a record 237 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 2013, Rick Sheehy, a Republican, resigned as Nebraska's longest-serving lieutenant governor after revelations of his late-night phone calls to women other than his wife.

A thought for the day: Robert Frost said, "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."