What happened on 2 February?

9 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 1922 Joyce's Ulysses Stream-of-consciousness novel set in a single day in Dublin; modernist landmark.
2. 1943 Surrender at Stalingrad Field Marshal Paulus surrenders the trapped Sixth Army, a decisive turning point of WWII.
3. 1990 End of apartheid F. W. de Klerk legalises the ANC and releases Mandela; negotiations lead to multiracial elections in 1994.
4. 1421 Yongle Emperor moves capital to Beijing Ming Yongle moves capital from Nanjing; builds the Forbidden City; commissions Zheng He's voyages and the Yongle Encyclopedia.
5. 1754 Born: Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand Survived every French regime; key French negotiator at Vienna in 1815.
6. 1926 Born: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Liberal president of France 1974-1981.
7. 1882 Born: James Joyce Irish Modernist novelist of Dubliners, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.
8. 1990 Unbanning of the ANC President de Klerk lifts the ban on the ANC and other groups, opening the path to majority rule.
9. 1461 Battle of Mortimer's Cross Edward, Earl of March (future Edward IV) defeats Lancastrian forces in Herefordshire; opens his path to the throne.