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

   * 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 Lu’s 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 St. 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 - GŸnter 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 KŸhn, 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.