Today in History: February 6, Monopoly replaces iron piece with the cat

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Today is Friday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2026. There are 328 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 6, 2013, toy maker Hasbro Inc. announced that Monopoly fans had voted online to add a cat token to the board game, replacing the iron.

Also on this date:

In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, the United States won official recognition and military support from France with the signing of the Treaty of Alliance in Paris.

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In 1862, during the Civil War, Fort Henry in Tennessee fell to Union forces.

In 1899, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate; the treaty ended the Spanish-American War and ceded the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States.

In 1952, Britain’s King George VI, 56, died at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England; he was succeeded as monarch by his 25-year-old eldest daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1921, “The Kid,” Charlie Chaplin’s first feature-length film, was released across the United States.

In 1998, Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, honoring the former president on his 87th birthday.

In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 70th anniversary of her ascendance to the British throne, an unprecedented reign that made her a symbol of stability in the United Kingdom.

In 2023, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, toppling thousands of buildings and trapping residents under mounds of rubble; the death toll would eventually surpass 50,000.

Today’s birthdays:

Actor Mike Farrell is 87.
Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw is 86.
Singer Fabian is 83.
Filmmaker Jim Sheridan is 77.
Tennis Hall of Famer Manuel Orantes is 77.
Actor Kathy Najimy is 69.
Actor-director Robert Townsend is 69.
Rock singer Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses) is 64.
Singer Rick Astley is 60.
Actor Charlie Heaton is 32.
Actor Shelby Simmons is 24.

Farmington Mayor abruptly resigns after expletives fly at city council meeting

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After a heated city council meeting on Monday, the mayor of Farmington has resigned effective immediately.

Joshua Hoyt

Farmington Mayor Joshua Hoyt resigned Wednesday after a contentious city council meeting where he and residents exchanged words, some of them being expletives.

While commenting on a proposed data center, which has faced persistent community backlash, Farmington residents took issue with an enforced five-minute rule for the public commenting period. Each person is given five minutes to speak and once the timer runs out, the mic at the podium is cut and an alarm can be heard.

One resident called the timer “ridiculous” and claimed it was discriminatory against people who speak slower than others.

Tensions grew as one resident refused to leave the podium after five minutes. “You can be done … or I’ll have you removed,” Hoyt said. A video of the meeting shows a law enforcement official approaching the man at the podium and following him out of frame.

“When people come to the podium and they abuse it … then rules have to be put in place,” Hoyt said, to “maintain decorum and order.”

After another exchange with a resident, Hoyt can be heard saying, in a now viral video clip: “We have to hold decorum, that’s how rules work. Otherwise, it’s just a free-for-all, everybody just does what they want when they want and then what? It becomes (an expletive) circus.”

Hoyt’s comment drew more expletives from the crowd, prompting the council to break for a 10-minute recess.

In a letter addressed to the City of Farmington, Hoyt wrote: “After careful consideration, I have come to the difficult decision that I must step away from my role as Mayor to focus on my mental health. This was not an easy conclusion to reach, but it is a necessary one.”

Hoyt was first elected mayor in 2020 and reelected in 2024 with 51% of the vote compared to Paul Larsen’s 47%.

“We are deeply grateful for Mayor Hoyt’s years of dedicated service to the City of Farmington. He truly believes in this community and lives and breathes Farmington,” the city wrote on its website.

Council member Nick Lien will serve as acting mayor. The city council is expected to discuss next steps in filling the vacancy at the March 2 work session.

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Fitzgerald, Brees headline NFL Hall of Fame class

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald headlined the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class featuring five players but not six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick.

Brees and Fitzgerald both made it in their first year of eligibility in results announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night after prolific careers. Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri made it in their second seasons of eligibility, while Roger Craig was the lone pick among seniors, coaches and contributors.

“One of the coolest moments was getting up on that stage with all the other Hall of Famers,” Fitzgerald said. “That moment kind of crystallized it for me.”

But the class is also noteworthy for Belichick’s absence as at least 11 of the 50 voters opted against giving him a vote despite a career with 333 wins in the regular season and playoffs and the most Super Bowl titles of any head coach. A report last week that Belichick fell short in his first year of eligibility was met with widespread criticism of both the voters and the process for choosing Hall of Famers.

“His stats speak for themselves,” said Vinatieri, who played six years for Belichick.

“I thought he’d have a real good chance to be up there as well. The people who voted made their votes and I think he’ll be up here one day.”

The man who hired Belichick in New England to set the stage for the Patriots dynasty also fell short, with owner Robert Kraft failing to get enough votes.

This is the second straight year with a smaller class after only four people made it last year as new rule changes have made it harder to get into the Hall. There had been at least seven people inducted in the previous 12 classes before last year.

That contributed to the snub for Belichick and Kraft, who were grouped with Craig and two other players — Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood — who have been retired for at least 25 seasons. The voters picked three of the five candidates with the highest vote-getter and anyone else above 80% getting the honor.

Craig, who was in his 28th year of eligibility, was the only one of those five to make it. Craig was the first player ever to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season, which happened in 1985, and he led the NFL with 2,036 yards from scrimmage in 1988 when he helped San Francisco win the Super Bowl.

Craig also was part of the title-winning teams for the 49ers in the 1984 and 1989 seasons. His 410 yards from scrimmage in those Super Bowl wins are the third-most ever behind Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Franco Harris.

The four modern-era candidates all overlapped for several years, waging many battles against each other.

“Very early on you realized there was something special and unique about these guys,” Brees said.

Vinatieri was one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, making the game-winning field goals in the first two Super Bowl victories during New England’s dynasty with Belichick and Kraft in charge. He joined Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen as the only players in the Hall who were primarily kickers in their careers.

Vinatieri helped launch the run with one of the game’s greatest kicks — a 45-yarder in the snow to force overtime in the “Tuck Rule” game against the Raiders in the 2001 divisional round. He made the game-winning kick in OT to win that game and then hit a 48-yarder on the final play of a 20-17 win in the Super Bowl against the Rams.

Vinatieri is the NFL’s career leader in points (2,673) and made field goals (599) over a 24-year career with New England and Indianapolis. He also leads all players with 56 field goals and 238 points in the postseason.

Brees is second all time to Tom Brady with 80,358 yards passing and 571 touchdown passes. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the San Diego Chargers before signing as a free agent with the Saints in 2006, where his career took off as he helped lift a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

Brees delivered to New Orleans its first Super Bowl title following the 2009 season, when he won MVP of the game after beating Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Brees made the Pro Bowl 13 times in his career, won AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011, was an All-Pro in 2006 and was a second-team All-Pro four times.

Fitzgerald spent his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals after being drafted third overall in 2004. His 1,432 catches and 17,492 yards receiving in 17 seasons rank second all time to Jerry Rice.

Fitzgerald topped 1,000 yards receiving nine times — tied for the fourth-most ever — and helped the Cardinals reach their only Super Bowl following the 2008 season. Fitzgerald set single-season records that postseason with 546 yards receiving and seven TD catches, including a go-ahead 64-yard score with 2:37 to play in the Super Bowl before Pittsburgh rallied for a 27-23 win over Arizona.

Kuechly’s career was brief but impactful. The first-round pick by Carolina in 2012 was an All-Pro five times, with seven Pro Bowl nods and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Over his eight-year career, Kuechly led all linebackers in the NFL in tackles (1,090), takeaways (26), interceptions (18) and passes defensed (66).

Voters reduced the list of 15 finalists in the modern era category to 10 and then seven before voting for five to make it. The top three vote-getters and anyone else above 80% got into the Hall.

Offensive linemen Willie Anderson and Marshal Yanda, and edge rusher Terrell Suggs made it to the final seven in the modern-era category and will automatically be finalists again next year.

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Review: Katie Chin celebrates her mom Leeann Chin in sweet, savory and delightful show

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At first glance, Katie Chin’s one-woman show “Holy Shiitake! A Wok Star Is Born” feels like a tough one to relate to for most folks. After all, it’s the story of Chin and her mother, a Chinese immigrant who worked her way from poverty to become a multi-millionaire celebrity restaurateur who counted Carl Pohlad and Sean Connery among her investors.

But after watching opening night Thursday at the History Center in St. Paul, it was quickly apparent that once you strip away the Minnesota Twins owner, 007 and other details, you’re left with a story packed with universal themes. It proves, again and again, that even people from totally different backgrounds are more alike than not and face similar struggles and successes that transcend race, age, economic background and any other number of would-be stumbling blocks.

If nothing else, locals who see “Holy Shiitake!” have probably heard of Chin’s mom, Leeann Chin. She built a restaurant empire, sold it for millions, took it back over and eventually retired and reconnected with Katie. As the show details, the pair found a new depth to their relationship, and that’s what fuels “Holy Shittake!”

Chin speaks of her childhood, with her immigrant parents struggling to build a life in Minneapolis in the ’70s, when the city was far less diverse and Chinese cuisine was largely limited to chop suey, a bland, American invention that lacked the developed flavors and nuances of the real thing.

Leeann Chin worked as a seamstress, earning 50 cents an hour, but getting to know what Katie Chin called the local fashionistas in the process. At one point, the elder Chin threw a luncheon for her best clients who were so wowed by her food, they urged her to go into catering. Chin fills in the rest of the details with the help of bits of period music and vintage family photos and the occasional, well-placed and hilarious expletive.

While Chin took acting lessons, advanced writing classes and worked with professionals to stage the show, she comes off as a total natural on stage. She’s never forced or pushy, but instead warm, personable and relatable. She’s reminiscent of your favorite high school teacher or your cool aunt you can wait to dish with at the holidays. (A note to technical crew at the History Center, it wouldn’t hurt to turn up the sound as Chin speaks in a more natural, less stagey, voice and she could have used a bit of a boost.)

There are plenty of laughs along the way, but the most powerful moment lands midway through the show. Chin puts her hair up in a bun, dons a shawl and essentially becomes her mother. She recreates the moments when both women were adults and the elder Chin told harrowing stories from her childhood she had never before shared. Leeann Chin died from cancer in 2010, but her spirit lives on through this show.

With a running time of 50 minutes, and a post-show reception catered from — where else, but Leeann Chin — “Holy Shiitake!” is a true delight that’s also an easy in for those without much experience watching stage plays. Chin’s stories are so compelling and so perfectly delivered, you’ll leave the theater hungry for more.

‘Holy Shiitake! A Wok Star Is Born’

When: 7 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul
Tickets: $35 via mnhs.org
Capsule: Leeann Chin’s story is more universal than one might guess