Feb. 2: Alloway died; Orioles Community Club opened; Empire Hotel.

February 2, 1905 - The Empire Hotel opened on Main Street. It was constructed in 1883 as the Cauchon Block, an office building but just a couple of years later it was renovated into Winnipeg's first apartment block. In 1904, the McLaren Brothers purchased it and converted it into a high-end hotel. The Empire was demolished in 1982.

February 2, 1929 - Donald Rope was born in Winnipeg. Playing hockey for the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, Rope won two medals for Canada at the Winter Olympics: a bronze at Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956; and a silver in Squaw Valley in 1960.

February 2, 1930 - William Forbes Alloway died. He was a partner in the Alloway and Champion bank. After the bank was sold to the Bank of Commerce he donated $100,000, (about $1.25m in 2010 dollars), in seed money to help establish the Winnipeg Foundation.   For more on Alloway and the Winnipeg Foundation.

February 2, 1932 - Joseph Verhoski, a 34-year-old Polish labourer, was hanged in Headingley for the robbery and murder of Peter Demchyshyn.

In mid-October 1930, Demchyshen's car was found abandoned on a road near Winnipegosis and a week later, his body was found nearby in a shallow grave.

In 1931, Verhoski, who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested for weapons-related offences and was sentenced to a stint in the Portage Jail. Shell casings from the sawed-off shot gun he was arrested with matched the casings found on the road near Demchyshen's body. New charges were laid and he was sent to Dauphin for trial.

Verhoski confessed to an officer that he had blocked the road with poles which caused Demchyshyn to get out of his car. The two men struggled and the ' shotgun went off' killing the man. The coroner, however, said that the shots were fired from a distance and could not have taken place in a struggle.   After an hour the jury returned with a a guilty verdict and a death sentence.

Verhoski was uncooperative at his trial, even refusing counsel at times, and was emotionless during the sentencing. His final words on the gallows according to media reports: "Goodbye everyone. Goodbye Captain Stewart", (his Salvation Army escort.)

February 2, 1951 - Mayor Coulter cut the ribbon to open the Orioles Community Club.

February 2, 1981 - The Tivoli Theatre on Maryland Street, which had become a Safeway store, reopened as a FamilyFare. When its corporate owner faced bankruptcy in 1988 a consortium of owners bought the assets and changed their names to FoodFare.