Today is Monday, February 2, the 33rd day of 2009. There are 332 days left in the year.
1848 _ First shipload of Chinese arrive in San Francisco
1863 _ Samuel Clemens becomes Mark Twain for first time
1920 _ Estonia declares its independence from Russia (Dorpat Peace)
1922 _ James Joyce's ``Ulysses" published in Paris (1,000 copies)
1932 _ Al Capone sent to prison (Atlanta, Ga.)
1944 _ Allied troops first set foot on Japanese territory
1954 _ President Eisenhower reports detonation of first H-bomb (done in 1952)
1959 _ Buddy Holly's last performance
1962 _ Eight of nine planets align for first time in 400 years
1986 _ Dalai Lama meets Pope John Paul II in India