February 1

Events

1662 - The China|Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.

1713 - The ''Kalabalik'' or ''Tumult in Tighina|Bendery'' results from the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.

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 Niagara, Ontario|Newark to Toronto, Ontario|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 in the ''Atlantic Monthly''.

1880 - The first edition of theatrical newspaper ''The Stage'' is published.

1884 - Edition one of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is published.

1893 - Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first film|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, Duke of Braganza|Luis Filipe are killed in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon.

1913 - New York City's Grand Central Terminal opens as the world's largest train station.

1918 - Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar.

1919 - The first Miss America is crowned in New York City.

1920 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.

1924 - United Kingdom recognizes Soviet Union|USSR.

1929 - Frenchman Charles Rigoulet is the first weightlifting|weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds (181 kg) in the "clean and jerk" method.

1943 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed List of Prime Ministers of Norway|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.

1960 - Four black students stage a sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

1968 - Vietnam War: Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem is executed by Nguyen Ngoc Loan a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The execution was videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams and helped sway public opinion anti-war|against the war. Official unification of the three former military services of Canada, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force became the united Canadian Armed Forces. Merger of the historic New York Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad to form ill-fated Penn Central Transportation.

1974 - In São Paulo, Brazil, a fire in a 25-story office building kills 189 and injures 293.

1974 - Kuala Lumpur declared a Federal Territory.

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 of the United States|President Jimmy Carter.

1979 - Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back into Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.

1982 - Senegal and The Gambia|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.

1994 - In Portland, Oregon Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly pleads guilty for his role in attacking figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.

1995 - Manic Street Preachers lyricist Richey James Edwards goes missing from the Embassy Hotel in London, UK.

1996 - Communications Decency Act is passed by the Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress

1999 - North Dakota Public Radio is launched.

2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|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 - Janet Jackson exposes her breast on United States|American television

Births

1261 - Walter de Stapledon, English bishop (d. 1326)

1462 - Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer (d. 1516)

1552 - Edward Coke, English colonial entrepreneur and jurist (d. 1634)

1635 - Marquard Gude, German archaeologist (d. 1689)

1690 - Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (d. 1768)

1761 - Christian Hendrik Persoon, South African mycologist (d. 1836)

1844 - G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist (d. 1844)

1859 - Victor Herbert, Irish composer (d. 1924)

1874 - Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian writer (d. 1929)

1882 - Louis Stephen St. Laurent, twelfth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1973)

1884 - Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian writer (d. 1937)

1887 - Charles Nordhoff, English-born author (d. 1947)

1894 - John Ford (film director)|John Ford, American director and producer (d. 1973)

1894 - James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (d. 1955)

1901 - Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)

1902 - Langston Hughes American writer (d. 1967)

1904 - S. J. Perelman, American humorist and author (d. 1979)

1905 - Emilio G. Segrè, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)

1906 - Hildegarde, American actress and singer (d. 2005)

1907 - Guenter Eich|Günter Eich, German lyricist (d. 1972)

1908 - George Pál, Hungarian-born director and producer (d. 1980)

1909 - George Beverly Shea, Canadian singer

1915 - Stanley Matthews, English football player

1918 - Dame Muriel Spark, Scottish author

1922 - Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (d. 2004)

1931 - Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia

1936 - Azie Taylor Morton, U.S. Treasurer (d. 2003)

1937 - Don Everly, American musician (Everly Brothers)

1937 - Garrett Morris, American comedian

1938 - Sherman Hemsley, American comedian and actor

1940 - Bibi Besch, Austrian-American actress (d. 1996)

1941 - Karl Dall, Germany|German television moderator.

1942 - Terry Jones, Welsh actor and writer

1947 - Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)

1948 - Rick James, American musician and composer (d. 2004)

1948 - Elisabeth Sladen, British actress

1954 - Bill Mumy, American actor and musician

1956 - Exene Cervenka, American musician (X (US band)|X)

1961 - Volker Fried, German field hockey player

1962 - José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer =)

1962 - Tomoyasu Hotei, Japanese guitarist

1965 - Sherilyn Fenn, American actress

1965 - Brandon Lee, American actor (d. 1993)

1965 - Princess Stéphanie of Monaco

1966 - Michelle Akers, American soccer player

1968 - Lisa Marie Presley, American singer and actress

1968 - Pauly Shore, American comedian

1969 - Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine footballer

1969 - Joshua Redman, American musician

1971 - Yoshi DeHerrera, American television personality

1971 - Jill Kelly, American actress

1971 - Zlatko Zahovic|Zlatko Zahovič, Slovenian footballer

1975 - Big Boi, American musician (Outkast)

1977 - Kevin Kilbane, Irish footballer

1984 - Darren Fletcher, Scottish footballer

Deaths

1248 - Henry II, Duke of Brabant (b. 1207)

1328 - King Charles IV of France (b. 1294)

1542 - Girolamo Aleandro, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1480)

1563 - Menas of Ethiopia|Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia (died of fever)

1590 - Lawrence Humphrey, English clergyman and educator

1691 - Pope Alexander VIII (b. 1610)

1718 - Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician (b. 1660)

1733 - King Augustus II of Poland (b. 1670)

1734 - John Floyer, English physician and writer (b. 1649)

1743 - Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer (b. 1657)

1761 - Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French historian (b. 1682)

1768 - Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer (b. 1685)

1793 - William Wildman Shute Barrington, British statesman (b. 1717)

1851 - Mary Shelley, English author (b. 1797)

1893 - George Henry Sanderson, Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1824)

1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal (b. 1863)

1928 - Hughie Jennings, baseball player (b. 1869)

1944 - Piet Mondriaan, Dutch painter (b. 1872)

1957 - Friedrich Paulus, German general (b. 1890)

1958 - Clinton Davisson, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)

1966 - Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist (b. 1885)

1966 - Buster Keaton, American actor (b. 1895)

1976 - Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)

1976 - George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1878)

1981 - Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1892)

1981 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)

1986 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1902)

1988 - Heather O'Rourke, American actress (b. 1975)

1989 - Elaine de Kooning, American artist (b. 1819)

1997 - Herb Caen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1916)

1999 - Paul Mellon, American philanthropist (b. 1907)

2002 - Hildegard Knef, German actress, singer, and writer (b. 1925)

2003 - The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, astronauts:

Michael P. Anderson (b. 1959)

David M. Brown|David Brown (b. 1956)

Kalpana Chawla (b. 1961)

Laurel Clark (b. 1961)

Rick D. Husband (b. 1957)

William McCool|Willie McCool (b. 1961)

Ilan Ramon (b. 1954)

2003 - Mongo Santamaria, Cuban percussionist and band leader (b. 1922)

2005 - John Vernon, Canadian actor (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances

St. Brigid of Kildare -one of the three patron saints of Ireland, the others being St. Patrick and Columba|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 (sheep)|Ram.

Fiction

In Roald Dahl's ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,'' the fictional character Willy Wonka gives an unprecedented tour of his chocolate factory on February 1 (year unspecified).

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050201.html---- January 31 - February 2 - January 1 - March 1 -- Historical anniversaries|listing of all days