Cleveland History

February 3, 1891 – The Cleveland Arcade, one of the first indoor shopping malls in the U.S. and a marvel of Victorian architecture, officially opened to the public. Funded in part by John D. Rockefeller, it quickly became a Cleveland landmark.

February 3, 1959 – The Cleveland Indians traded first baseman Mickey Vernon and pitcher Cal McLish to the Washington Senators for slugger Jim Lemon, marking a notable roster shift during the team’s rebuilding years.

February 5, 1964 – Carl Stokes, then a Cleveland municipal judge, announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives. Although unsuccessful, this marked the beginning of his rise to national prominence; he would later become the first Black mayor of a major U.S. city.

February 7, 1990 – Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art (now MOCA Cleveland) launched its “New Art/New Ideas” program to spotlight emerging artists, part of its mission to invigorate Cleveland’s contemporary art scene in the early ’90s.

World History

February 2, 1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican–American War and ceding large portions of Mexico’s northern territory to the United States, including present-day California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

February 3, 1870 – The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, granting African American men the right to vote by prohibiting voting restrictions based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

February 4, 2004 – Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckerberg and fellow Harvard students, initially limited to Harvard users before expanding worldwide, transforming global social networking and digital communication.

February 6, 1952 – Elizabeth II became Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms following the death of her father, King George VI, beginning a reign that would become the longest in British history.

February 7, 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty was signed, formally establishing the European Union (EU) and laying the groundwork for the euro as a common currency among member states.