On February 2, 1876, the National League of Professional
Baseball Clubs, which came to be more commonly known
as the National League (NL), was formed. The American
League (AL) was established in 1901 and in 1903, the first
World Series was held.
The first official game of baseball in the United States took
place in June 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey.
NEW YORK (AP) — Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker
who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star,
playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky”
movies, starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in
“Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore,” has died.
Matt Luber, his manager, said Weathers died Thursday. His
family issued a statement saying he died “peacefully in his
sleep. No cause of death was mentioned.
Comfortable flexing his muscles on the big screen in “Action
Jackson” as he was joking around on the small screen in
such shows as “Arrested Development,” Weathers was
perhaps most closely associated with Creed, who made
his first appearance as the cocky, undisputed heavyweight
world champion in 1976’s “Rocky,” (below) starring Sylvester
Stallone.
On February 2, 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist,was celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s
Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to tradition,
if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its
shadow, it gets scared and runs back into its burrow, predicting
six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early
spring.
Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition
of Candlemas, when clergy would bless and distribute candles
needed for winter.
