Today (January 2, 2018) in History

            A couple of memorable items from history. First, today is the 75th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis at Stalingrad. The surrender of the German Sixth Army to the Russians marked the turning point of the war against Germany: from this point on, the Germans were either retreating or fighting a rear action. Although the Germans would attempt one last major offensive, leading to the Battle of Kursk, that attempt was a failure. It should also be noted that by the time of the end of the Battle for Stalingrad, the Russians had a highly placed spy in the German high-command that fed them significant information about German plans, which also hampered the Germans in retrieving the initiative.

           Second, today is the anniversary of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, which ended the Mexican-American War, and in which Mexico sold to the United States significant territory along the United State's border at the time. Per the treaty, the Rio Grande became the boundary for Texas, and gave the U.S. ownership of what is now the State of California and a large area comprising roughly half of New Mexico, most of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado; and, in return (in addition to ceasing hostilities), the United States paid Mexico some $20 million. The Mexican-American War had started with an attack by Mexican troops across the border into the State of Texas. in April 1846. In a "it sucks to be you" vein, James Wilson Marshall found gold in California just nine days before the signing of the Treaty.