February 1

Historic Events

2022

Five-year-old Moroccan boy Rayan Aourram falls into a 32-meter (105 feet) deep well in Ighran village in Tamorot commune, Chefchaouen Province, Morocco, but dies four days later, before rescue workers reached him. ›

2021

A coup d'état in Myanmar removes Aung San Suu Kyi from power and restores military rule. ›

2013

The Shard, the sixth-tallest building in Europe, opens its viewing gallery to the public. ›

2012

Seventy-four 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. ›

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. ›

2007

The National Weather Service in the United States switches from the Fujita scale to the new Enhanced Fujita scale to measure the intensity and strength of tornadoes. ›

2005

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

2004

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

2004

Double suicide attack in Erbil on the offices of Iraqi Kurdish political parties by members of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad ›

2002

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

1998

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

1996

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

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. ›

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. ›

1991

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the Hindu Kush region, killing at least 848 people in Afghanistan, Pakistan and present-day Tajikistan. ›

1982

The Intel 80286 is released, which introduced protected mode memory. The IBM PC/AT and its clones used this CPU. ›

1981

The Underarm bowling incident of 1981 occurred when Trevor Chappell bowls underarm on the final delivery of a game between Australia and New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). ›

1979

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

1974

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

1972

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

1968

Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is recorded on motion picture film, as well as in an iconic still photograph taken 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. ›

1964

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

1960

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

1957

Northeast Airlines Flight 823 crashes on Rikers Island in New York City, killing 20 people and injuring 78 others. ›

1950

The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight. ›

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. ›

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. ›

1924

Russia–United Kingdom relations are restored, over six years after the Communist revolution. ›

1908

Lisbon Regicide: King Carlos I of Portugal and Infante Luis Filipe are shot dead in Lisbon. ›

1900

Great Britain, defeated by Boers in key battles, names Lord Roberts commander of British forces in South Africa. ›

1897

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

1896

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

1895

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

1893

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

1884

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

1865

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

1864

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

1861

American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States and joins the Confederacy a week later. ›

1835

Slavery is abolished in Mauritius. ›

1814

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

1796

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

1793

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

1713

The Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender results from the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized. ›

1662

The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. ›

1411

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

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. ›