February 2

February 2 in history:

• 1999: Hugo Chávez was sworn in as president of Venezuela and proceeded to launch a political and social revolution in that oil-rich but impoverished nation.

• 1971: Idi Amin Dada assumed the presidency of Uganda, beginning eight years of tyrannical, brutal rule.

• 1943: The Germans surrendered at Stalingrad, in Russia, ending one of the most critical battles in World War II; the Soviet victory reversed Germany's advance to the east.

• 1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, concluding the Mexican War, was signed by Nicholas Trist for the United States and by a commission representing the collapsed government of Mexico; Mexico ceded to the United States Upper California and New Mexico (including Arizona) and recognized U.S. claims over Texas, with the Rio Grande as its southern boundary.