Today’s highlight

On Feb. 2, 1990, in a dramatic concession to South Africa’s Black majority, President F.W. de Klerk lifted a ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela.

On this date

1536: Present-day Buenos Aires, Argentina, was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.

1653: New Amsterdam — now New York City — was incorporated.

1887: Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, held its first Groundhog Day festival.

1913: New York City’s rebuilt Grand Central Terminal officially opened to the public at one minute past midnight.

1943: The remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered in a major victory for the Soviets in World War II.

1948: President Harry S. Truman sent a 10-point civil rights program to Congress, where the proposals ran into fierce opposition from Southern lawmakers.

1980: NBC News reported the FBI had conducted a sting operation targeting members of Congress using phony Arab businessmen in what became known as “Abscam,” a codename protested by Arab-Americans.

2006: House Republicans elected John Boehner of Ohio as their new majority leader to replace the indicted Tom DeLay.