February 1

February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 333 days remaining, (334 in leap years).

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

See Also:

January 31 - February 2 - January 1 - March 1 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December