This Week in History, Jan 29 - Feb 4
Jan 29, 1936
U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame elects first members in Cooperstown, New York. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson.
Jan 30, 1948
Gandhi assassinated. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement, is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic.
Jan 31, 1950
Truman announces development of H-bomb. U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.
Feb 01, 1884
Oxford Dictionary debuts. The first Oxford English Dictionary (OED), considered the most comprehensive and accurate dictionary of the English language, is published. Today, the OED is the definitive authority on the meaning, pronunciation and history of over half a million words, past and present
Feb 02, 1887
First Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist, is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.
Feb 03, 2005
First Hispanic U.S. attorney general. Alberto Gonzales won Senate confirmation as the nation's first Hispanic attorney general despite protests over his record on torture.
Feb 04, 1974
Patty Hearst kidnapped. The 19-year-old daughter of newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California, by two black men and a white woman, all three of whom are armed.