On This Day for February 2 - Ban on African National Congress lifted, James Joyce is featured, and more

Created: 2020-02-02 11:02 Updated: 2020-02-02 11:02 Notebook: On this Day in History

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February 02

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

1882

James Joyce

FEATURED EVENT

1990

Ban on African National Congress lifted

MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2014: American actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who fully inhabited the characters he played and was renowned for his scene-stealing work in supporting roles, died of a heroin overdose in New York City. [Sort fact from fiction in our A-List of Actors quiz .]

1979: Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, early proponents of British punk rock, died of a drug overdose in New York City.

1971: Idi Amin declared himself president of Uganda and for the next eight years headed a regime that was noted for its brutality. [Take our African Leaders quiz .]

1905: American writer Ayn Rand, whose commercially successful novels promoting individualism and laissez-faire capitalism became influential among conservatives and libertarians, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. [ Test your knowledge of famous writers .]

1943: The Battle of Stalingrad in World War II ended with the surrender of German troops to the Soviets. [ Learn about the key moments in the battle .]