1 February

Events

• 1662 - The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Formosa after a nine-month siege.
• 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 Bohème 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.
• 1992 - The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal Disaster case and orders the government to press for his extradition from United States
• 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.
• 1995 - Manic Street Preachers lyricist Richey James Edwards goes missing from the Embasy Hotel in London, UK.
• 1996 - Communications Decency Act is passed by the United States Congress
• 1999 - North Dakota Public Radio is launched.
• 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry killing all seven astronauts onboard.
• 2004 - At least 244 people trampled to death in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
• 2004 - Super Bowl XXXVIII: The New England Patriots defeat the Carolina Panthers, 32-29, on a game-winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri with four seconds left. During the half-time show Janet Jackson bares her right breast.
• 2008 - Sweden plans to cease analog television broadcasts.
• 2019 - Predicted date of possible collision of 2002 NT7 with Earth.

Births

• 1690 - Francesco Maria Veracini, composer, (d. 1768)
• 1859 - Victor Herbert, composer, (d. 1924)
• 1874 - Hugo von Hofmannsthal, lyricist, dramatist, narrator, and essayist, (d. 1929)
• 1882 - Louis Stephen St. Laurent, twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, (d. 1973)
• 1887 - Charles Nordhoff, author, (d. 1947)
• 1894 - John Ford, director, producer, (d. 1973)
• 1894 - James P. Johnson, pianist, composer, (d. 1955)
• 1901 - Clark Gable, actor, (d. 1960)
• 1902 - Langston Hughes writer, (d. 1967)
• 1904 - S. J. Perelman, humorist, author
• 1906 - Hildegarde, actress, singer
• 1907 - Günter Eich, lyricist, (d. 1972)
• 1908 - George Pal, director, producer, (d. 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, (d. 1983)
• 1952 - Rick James, musician
• 1954 - Bill Mumy, actor, musician
• 1965 - Brandon Lee, actor, (d. 1993)
• 1965 - Sherilyn Fenn, actress
• 1965 - Princess Stephanie of Monaco
• 1966 - Michelle Akers, American soccer player
• 1968 - Lisa Marie Presley, actress

Deaths

• 1793 - William Wildman Shute Barrington, British statesman, (b. 1717)
• 1851 - Mary Shelley, author, (b. 1797)
• 1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal, (b. 1863)
• 1944 - Piet Mondriaan, Dutch painter, (b. 1872)
• 1966 - Buster Keaton, actor, (b. 1895)
• 1966 - Hedda Hopper, gossip columnist, (b. 1885)
• 1997 - Herb Caen, newspaper columnist
• 2002 - Hildegard Knef, actress, singer, writer, (b. 1925)
• 2003 - The crew of STS-107, astronauts: Michael P. Anderson (b. 1959), David Brown (b. 1956), Kalpana Chawla (b. 1961), Laurel Clark (b. 1961), Rick D. Husband (b. 1957), Willie McCool (b. 1961), Ilan Ramon (b. 1954)

Holidays and observances

• St. Brigid of Kildare -one of the three patron saints of Ireland, the others being St. Patrick and St. Columcille.
• Imbolc - the first day of Spring in Ireland (Irish Calendar), one of the eight solar holidays in the Wheel of the Year.
• 2003 - Chinese New Year - Year of the Ram.

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Referenced By