Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

What happened on this day in history?

962: John XII crowned German King Otto I the Great Emperor
1653: New Amsterdam becomes a city (later NYC)
1848: The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed between the United States and Mexico.
1863: Samuel Clemens becomes Mark Twain for 1st time
1876: The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs is formed.
1887: First Groundhog Day
1893: 1st movie close-up (of a sneeze), Edison studio, West Orange, NJ
1912: Frederick R Law, parachutes from Statue of Liberty (stunt for Pathe)
1923: Ethyl gasoline 1st marketed, Dayton, Ohio
1926: 3 men dance Charleston for 22« hours
1932: Al Capone sent to prison (Atlanta, Georgia) and Geneva disarmament conference begins with 60 countries
1943: Germany's Sixth Army surrenders after failing to defeat Soviet forces defending Stalingrad during World War II.
1955: 1st presidential news conference on network TV-Eisenhower on ABC
1962: 1st pole vault over 16' (4.88 m) (John Uelses-16¬', Melrose Games) and 8 of 9 planets align for 1st time in 400 years
1984: Lebanese army fight in Beirut
1990: South African president F.W. de Klerk ends a 30-year ban on the African National Congress (ANC).