February 1

Events

• 1788 - Isaac Briggs[?] and William Longstreet[?] patent the steamboat.
• 1790 - In New York City the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.
• 1793 - France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
• 1796 - The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark[?] to York
• 1814 - Mayon Volcano, in the Philippines, erupts, killing around 1,200 people; most devastating eruption of Mayon Volcano
• 1861 - American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
• 1862 - Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic[?]" is published for the first time (Atlantic Monthly).
• 1884 - Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
• 1893 - Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio (West Orange, New Jersey).
• 1896 - The opera La Boheme premieres (Turin).
• 1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal[?] and his son, Prince Luís Filipe, are killed in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon
• 1913 - New York City's Grand Central Station[?] opens as the world's largest train station.
• 1918 - Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar
• 1919 - The first Miss America is crowned (New York City).
• 1920 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.
• 1929 - Frenchman Charles Rigoulet[?] is the first weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds in the "clean and jerk" method.
• 1943 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling appointed Premier of Norway[?] by the Nazi occupiers
• 1946 - Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary General.
• 1958 - Merger of Egypt and Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted until 1961.
• 1968 - Vietnam War: A Viet Cong officer is executed by Nguyen Ngoc Loan[?] a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The execution was videotaped and photographed and helped sway public opinion against the war.
• 1978 - Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
• 1979 - Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
• 1979 - Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back into Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
• 1982 - Senegal and Gambia form a loose confederation known as Senegambia[?]
• 1994 - In Portland, Oregon Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly[?] pleads guilty for his role in attacking figure skater Nancy Kerrigan[?]. He accepts a plea bargain admitting to racketeering charges in exchange for testimony against Harding.
• 1996 - Communications Decency Act is passed by the United States Congress
• 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry killing all seven astronauts onboard.
• 2019 - Predicted date of possible collision of 2002 NT7 with Earth.

Births

• 1859 - Victor Herbert, composer
• 1874 - Hugo von Hofmannsthal, lyricist, dramatist, narrator, and essayist (+ 1929)
• 1882 - Louis Stephen Saint Laurent, twelfth Prime Minister of Canada
• 1887 - Charles Nordhoff[?], author (+ 1947)
• 1894 - John Ford, director, producer (+ 1973)
• 1901 - Clark Gable, actor (+ 1960)
• 1902 - Langston Hughes writer (+ 1967)
• 1904 - S. J. Perelman[?], humorist, author
• 1906 - Hildegarde[?], actress, singer
• 1907 - Günter Eich[?], lyricist (+ 1972)
• 1908 - George Pal[?], director, producer (+ 1980)
• 1918 - Dame Muriel Spark, author
• 1925 - Alfred Grosser[?], political scientist and publicist
• 1931 - Boris Yeltsin, Russian president 1991-1999
• 1935 - Dieter Kühn[?], narrator, dramatist and essayist
• 1937 - Garrett Morris, comedian
• 1937 - Don Everly[?], musician
• 1938 - Sherman Hemsley[?], comedian, actor
• 1942 - Terry Jones, actor, writer ("Monty Python's Flying Circus")
• 1947 - Jessica Savitch[?], journalist (+ 1983)
• 1952 - Rick James[?], musician
• 1954 - Bill Mumy, actor, musician
• 1965 - Brandon Lee, actor (+ 1993)
• 1965 - Sherilyn Fenn[?], actress
• 1965 - Princess Stephanie of Monaco
• 1968 - Lisa Marie Presley, actress

Deaths

• 1793 - William Wildman Shute Barrington, British statesman
• 1851 - Mary Shelley, author
• 1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal[?]
• 1966 - Buster Keaton, actor
• 1996 - Hedda Hopper[?], gossip columnist
• 1997 - Herb Caen[?], newspaper columnist
• 2002 - Hildegard Knef (76), actress, singer, writer
• 2003 - The crew of STS-107, astronauts: Michael P. Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Rick D. Husband, Willie McCool, Ilan Ramon

Holidays and observances

• Imbolc - one of the eight solar holidays in the Wheel of the Year.
• 2003 - Chinese New Year - Year of the Ram.

January 31 - February 2 - January 1 - March 1 - Historical anniversaries