February 1

From Freepedia

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This date in recent years

February 1, 2005

February 1, 2004

February 1, 2003

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

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 Fiction
6 External links

Events

1662 - The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.
1713 - The Kalabalik or Tumult in Bendery results from the 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 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).
1880 - 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 motion picture studio (West Orange, New Jersey).
1896 - The opera La bohème premieres (Turin).

1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal and his son, Prince 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 (New York City).
1920 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.
1924 - United Kingdom recognizes USSR.
1929 - Frenchman Charles Rigoulet is the first weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds (181 kg) 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.
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 against the war.
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 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.
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 U.S. 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 - Janet Jackson exposes her breast on 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, 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 laureate (d. 1989)
1906 - Hildegarde, American actress and singer (d. 2005)
1907 - 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, 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)
1962 - Tomoyasu Hotei, Japanese guitarist
1965 - Sherilyn Fenn, American actress
1965 - Brandon Lee, American actor (d. 1993)
1965 - Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
1965 - Sherilyn Fenn, American actress
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 jazz musician
1971 - Jill Kelly, American actress
1971 - Yoshi DeHerrera, American television personality
1971 - Zlatko Zahovič, Slovenian football player
1975 - Big Boi, American musician (Outkast)

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, 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 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 laureate (b. 1901)
1981 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
1981 - Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1892)
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 Brown (b. 1956)
- Kalpana Chawla (b. 1961)
- Laurel Clark (b. 1961)
- Rick D. Husband (b. 1957)
- 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 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.

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).