Anna Katherine Crosby

1. Anna Katherine Crosby February 2, 1994 Significant things that happened on my Birthday

2. February 2, 1653 New Amsterdam becomes a city (later New York NY) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam

3. The Beginning of Amsterdam • When the last millennium was still quite young, a handful of adventurers came floating down the river Amstel in hollowed-out logs. Out of the marshlands and swamps surrounding the Amstel River, a structure of dams and dikes was forged - the first of which is marked by the Dam square at the heart of the city today. •  In 1275, Count Floris of Holland formalised these activities by granting special toll privileges to the merchant town and in 1300 the town got its first charter. http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/experience/about-amsterdam/history-and-society

4. February 2, 1795 "Joseph Haydns 102nd Symphony in B, premieres" http://www.classical963fm.com/music-theory/joseph-haydn/

5. How the Symphony Came to Be • Haydn earned a living by becoming a freelance musician, teaching music, and composing. His first steady job came in 1757, when he was hired as music director for Count Morzin. His name and compositions steadily became recognizable. During his time with Count Morzin, Haydn wrote 15 symphonies, concertos, piano sonatas, and possibly string quartets op.2, nos. 1-2. He married Maria Anna Keller on November 26, 1760. http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalcomposers/p/haydnprofile.htm

6. 1st British public men's toilet opens (Fleet St. London) http://www.jldr.com/crapperloo.html

7. How the Toilet Came to Be • At the Exhibition, a man named George Jennings, a Brighton plumber, installed his so-called ‘Monkey Closets’ in the Retiring Rooms of The Crystal Palace. These ‘Monkey Closets’ caused great excitement as they were the first public toilets anyone had ever seen, and during the exhibition 827,280 visitors paid one penny each to use them. For ‘spending a penny’, they received a clean seat, a towel, a comb and a shoe shine. • Mr. Thomas Crapper developed some improvements to Jennings’ initial flushing mechanism, which promised “a certain flush with every pull”, these improvements did a lot to increase the popularity of the public toilet. Crapper also developed some other important toilet - related inventions, such as the ballcock. (He is often mistakenly credited with inventing the flush toilet, but he merely improved its functionality) http://thevictorianist.blogspot.com/2011/02/spending-penny-or-first-public-flushing.html

8. Mark Twain, 34, marries Olivia Langdon in Elmira, New York in 1870 http://thisismarktwain.com/autobiography/321.html

9. Mark Twain, 34, marries Olivia Langdon in Elmira, New York in 1870 • Sam Clemens entered Olivia’s life in the time not long after her health began to improve. Olivia’s younger brother‚ Charles‚ was a fellow passenger with Clemens on the Quaker City in 1867. According to legend‚ Charles showed Clemens a miniature painting of his older sister on ivory‚ and Clemens fell in love with her on the spot. After they returned from the tour‚ Charles invited Clemens to dine with the Langdon family in New York City. Little is known of that first meeting. A few days later‚ New Year’s Day‚ Clemens called on Livy at the house where she was staying. Rather than stay the socially acceptable 15 minutes‚ he stayed for 12 hours. During the summer of 1868 the Langdons invited Clemens to visit their home in Elmira‚ during which time Clemens’ feelings for Olivia deepened. Although it took some time‚ eventually Olivia reciprocated Sam’s devotions. Their courtship‚ marriage and love for one another are much documented in the correspondence they exchanged throughout their marriage. http://www.marktwainhouse.org/man/olivia_langdon_clemens.php

10. Ethyl gasoline 1st marketed, Dayton, Ohio in 1923 http://www.madeindaytonblog.com/2012/01/dayton-first-in-fuel.html

11. Ethyl gasoline 1st marketed, Dayton, Ohio in 1923 • On Feb. 2, 1923, the first Ethyl gasoline went on sale at a roadside station in Dayton. • In those days, gasoline caused car engines to knock or ping. It was not only annoying, but potentially harmful to the engine. • Thomas Midgely and Charles Kettering, researchers for General Motors in Dayton, discovered that adding tetraethyl lead to the gas eliminated the problem. Kettering coined the resulting mixture "ethyl gasoline," which was dyed red to distinguish it from regular gas. http://enquirer.com/editions/2003/02/02/loc_ohiodate0202.html

12. Escape attempt at Mauthausen concentration camp in 1945 http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Mauthausen/KZMauthausen/Subcamps/Ebensee01.html

13. Escape attempt at Mauthausen concentration camp in 1945 • The growing number of prisoners made the system too expensive and from 1940, Mauthausen was one of the few camps in the West to use a gas chamber on a regular basis. In the beginning, an improvised mobile gas chamber – a van with the exhaust pipe connected to the inside – shuttled between Mauthausen and Gusen. By December 1941, a permanent gas chamber that could kill about 120 prisoners at a time was completed. http://www.fold3.com/page/286021185_mauthausen/

14. 8 of 9 planets align for 1st time in 400 years in 1962 http://www.historyorb.com/events/february/2 http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2012/02/25/moon-and-planets-align-this-weekend-dont-miss-it/

15. Kieren Perkins swims world record 1500m freestyle (14:32.40) in 1992

16. Kieren Perkins swims world record 1500m freestyle (14:32.40) in 1992 • Perkins burst onto the international scene in 1991, winning the 400, 800, and 1,500 metres at the Pan-Pacific meet, setting a world record of 7:47.85 in the 800. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pe/kieren-perkins-1.html

17. U.S. space shuttle Discovery launched in 1995

18. U.S. space shuttle Discovery launched in 1995 http://www.historyorb.com/events/february/2

19. A serious cold snap across Europe causes 110 deaths in 2012

20. A serious cold snap across Europe causes 110 deaths in 2012 http://www.historyorb.com/events/february/2