February 1 in History

Historical Events on February 1

481

Vandal king Huneric organises a conference between Catholic and Arian bishops at Carthage.
1327

The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
1329

King John of Bohemia captures Medvėgalis, an important fortress of the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and baptizes 6,000 of its defenders
1411

The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia).
1662

The Chinese general 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.
1793

French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
1796

The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
1814

Mayon in the Philippines erupts, killing around 1,200 people, the most devastating eruption of the volcano.
1835

Slavery is abolished in Mauritius.
1861

American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
1864

Second Schleswig War: Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig, starting the war.
1865

President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1884

The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
1893

Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
1895

Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
1896

La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.
1897

Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
1918

Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.
1924

The United Kingdom recognizes the USSR.
1942

World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government.
1942

World War II: U.S. Navy conducts Marshalls-Gilberts raids, the first offensive action by the United States against Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater.
1942

Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the United States government, begins broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers.
1942

Mao Zedong makes a speech on "Reform in Learning, the Party and Literature", which puts into motion the Yan'an Rectification Movement.
1946

Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary-General.
1946

The Parliament of Hungary abolishes the monarchy after nine centuries, and proclaims the Hungarian Republic.
1953

North Sea flood of 1953 is caused by a heavy storm which occurred overnight, 31 January-1 February 1953; floods strike the Netherlands, Belgium and the U.K.
1960

Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
1964

The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
1965

The Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada is renamed the Churchill River in honour of Winston Churchill.
1968

Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams.
1968

Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces.
1968

The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation.
1972

Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
1974

A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in São Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293.
1979

Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile.
1989

The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
1991

A runway collision between USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport results in the deaths of 34 people, and injuries to 30 others.
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.
1996

The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1998

Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.
2002

Daniel Pearl, American journalist and South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, kidnapped January 23, 2002, is beheaded and mutilated by his captors.
2003

Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry of mission STS-107 into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
2004

Hajj pilgrimage stampede: In a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured.
2005

King Gyanendra of Nepal carries out a coup d'état to capture the democracy, becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.
2009

The first cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was formed in Iceland, making her the country's first female prime minister and the world's first openly gay head of government.
2012

At least 72 people are killed and over 500 injured as a result of clashes between fans of Egyptian football teams Al-Masry and Al-Ahly in the city of Port Said.
2013

The Shard, the tallest building in the European Union, is opened to the public.

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