February 2

Birmingham Bill

February 2, ("Groundhog Day") in the history of the Birmingham District:

• 2021: The 2021 Alabama legislative session began.
• 2011: The new Ona's Music Room opened in the Martin Biscuit Building at Pepper Place.
• 2011: Pinches Tacos opened at Hallman Hill on Oxmoor Road.
• 2007: A Cessna 172 with two aboard crashed in western Jefferson County.
• 2003: The Mountain Brook Inn closed.
• 2001: WRRS-FM switched formats to "modern rock/adult contemporary", becoming "101.1 the Spot".
• 1992: The Hoover Public Library building was dedicated.
• 1990: Birmingham Bill began making weather predictions as part of Groundhog Day celebrations.
• 1988: Bishop Raymond Boland was appointed Bishop of Birmingham by Pope John Paul II.
• 1983: Polly Graham & Associates Market Research Inc. was incorporated.
• 1958: Lawrence Reynolds donated a valuable library of over 6,000 medical books to UAB.
• 1927: The Town of Boyles was annexed by Tarrant City.
• 1922: 9 miners were killed in the 1922 Belle Ellen No. 2 Mine explosion.
• 1917: The USS Birmingham light cruiser left the Philadelphia Navy Yard to joint the Atlantic Fleet's Torpedo Flotilla.
• 1909: 18 miners were killed in the 1909 Short Creek Mine explosion.
• 1904: The Commercial Club of Birmingham was granted a copyright for Giuseppe Moretti's design for "Vulcan".
• 1903: A 10-day registration of voters was held under the Alabama Constitution of 1901. All those eligible, even those with "Life Certificates" or over the age of 45 or who had paid their poll tax already, were required to re-register.
• 1804: The first United States land office in Alabama was opened at St Stephens.

Cenzoo, born February 2, 1996

Births

• 1996: Western Lowland Gorilla Cenzoo was born in Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago.
• 1984: Samford Bulldogs star Cortland Finnegan was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
• 1980: Rapper Gucci Mane was born in Bessemer.
• 1980: Educator and activist Susan Diane Mitchell was born in Washington D.C.
• 1938: Motorcycle restorer Brian Slark was born in London, England.
• 1928: Clarinetist and Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame director Frank Adams was born.
• 1920: Ann Hodges, the only person known to be struck by a meteorite, was born.
• 1884: Lee Bidgood, founding dean of Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, was born in Norfolk County, Virginia.
• 1844: Thomas Hillman, partner in the Alice Furnaces

Deaths

• 2014: Filmmaker and Birmingham Pledge Foundation president Wade Black died.
• 2002: Freeman Andress, vice president of Birmingham Landmarks, died.
• 1922: 9 miners were killed in the 1922 Belle Ellen No. 2 Mine explosion.
• 1909: 18 miners were killed in the 1909 Short Creek Mine explosion.