February 1

Events
Up to 1900
1327 - Edward III is crowned King of England.
1329 - King John of Bohemia captures Medvegalis, an important fortress of the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and baptizes 6,000 of its defenders.
1662 - The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.
1709 - Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being stranded on one of the Juan Fernandez Islands (now belonging to Chile). This inspires the story of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
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 - The Mayon Volcano, in the Philippines, erupts, killing around 1,200 people. This is the most devastating eruption of the Mayon Volcano.
1835 - Slavery is banned in Mauritius.
1861 - American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
1862 - Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is published for the first time (Atlantic Monthly).
1865 - Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, banning slavery and slave keeping.
1880 - The first edition of theatrical newspaper The Stage is published.
1884 - Volume 1 of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
1893 - Thomas Edison finishes construction of the first movie studio (West Orange, New Jersey).
1895 - Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
1896 - The opera La boheme premieres (Turin).
1897 - The Shinhan Bank opens in Seoul. It is the oldest bank in what is now South Korea.
1901 1950
1904 - Iceland gets increased autonomy from Denmark.
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.
1915 - Photographs are required in United Kingdom passports for the first time.
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 - The United Kingdom recognizes the USSR.
1929 - Frenchman Charles Rigoulet is the first weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds (181 kg) in the "clean and jerk" method.
1933 - Paul von Hindenburg dissolves the Reichstag under recommendation from Adolf Hitler.
1942 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling is appointed Premier of Norway by the Nazi occupiers.
1942 - Voice of America begins broadcasting.
1946 - Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary-General.
1946 - Hungary is declared a republic with Zoltan Tildy as President.
1948 - The Federation of Malaya is founded.
1951 2000
1953 - In the night following January 31 large parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and the southeastern United Kingdom are flooded after heavy storms.
1958 - Merger of Egypt and Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted until 1961.
1959 - Neuchatel and Vaud become the first cantons of Switzerland to allow women to vote.
1960 - Four black students stage a sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
1964 - The Beatles have their first US Number One - "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
1965 - Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada, is renamed Churchill River, after Winston Churchill, who had died just over a week earlier.
1968 - Vietnam War: NLF 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.
1970 - Two trains collide in Benavidez, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. With 236 people being killed, this is the deadliest accident in Argentine rail travel.
1972 - Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by Royal Charter.
1974 - Kuala Lumpur is declared a federal territory of Malaysia.
1974 - In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a fire in a 25-story office building kills 189 and injures 293. 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.
1978 - In Finland, Urho Kekkonen is elected to a fifth term in-a-row as President.
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 The Gambia form a loose confederation known as Senegambia.
1985 - Aeroflot Flight 7841 crashes shortly after take-off from Minsk, killing 58 people.
1989 - Boulder and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia form the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
1991 - USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 collide on the runway at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 34 people.
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.
1993 - Gary Bettman becomes the first commissioner of the NHL.
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 - The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1998 - Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.
1999 - North Dakota Public Radio is launched.
From 2001
2002 - Having been taken hostage, American journalist Daniel Pearl is killed by his captors.
2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry killing all seven astronauts on board.
2004 - At least 244 people are trampled to death in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
2004 - At the Super Bowl half-time show, part of Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during a routine with Justin Timberlake. This started the 'Nipplegate' scandal.
2009 - Johanna Sigurdardottir becomes Prime Minister of Iceland. She is the world's first national head of government in a same-sex relationship.
2012 - Violence following a football match in Port Said, Egypt, results in 74 deaths.
2013 - John Kerry becomes United States Secretary of State.
2013 - The Shard in London, the EU's tallest building, opens to the public.
2014 - Janet Yellen becomes the first woman to serve as Head of the United States Federal Reserve, succeeding Ben Bernanke.
2016 - The Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes and causing deformities in newborn babies in South America and Central America, is declared a major world health emergency by the World Health Organization.
2017 - Rex Tillerson is confirmed as United States Secretary of State.
2021 - The coup d'etat in Myanmar happens.
Births
Up to 1900
1261 - Walter de Stapledon, English bishop (d. 1326)
1394 - Ikkyu, Japanese Zen master and poet (d. 1481)
1435 - Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy (d. 1472)
1459 - Conrad Celtis, German poet (d. 1508)
1462 - Johannes Trithemius, German lexicographer, historian, and cryptographer (d. 1516)
1501 - Queen Munjeong of Korea (d. 1565)
1552 - Edward Coke, English jurist and politician (d. 1634)
1648 - Elkanah Settle, English poet and playwright (d. 1724)
1659 - Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (d. 1729)
1673 - Alessandro Marcello, Italian poet, composer, and philosopher (d. 1747)
1687 - Johann Adam Birkenstock, German composer, and violinist (d. 1733)
1690 - Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian composer (d. 1768)
1701 - Johan Agrell, Swedish-born German composer (d. 1765)
1761 - Christian Hendrik Persoon, mycologist (d. 1836)
1801 - Thomas Cole, English-born American painter (d. 1848)
1807 - William B. Campbell, 16th Governor of Tennessee (d. 1867)
1825 - James W. Throckmorton, 25th Governor of Texas (d. 1894)
1844 - G. Stanley Hall, psychologist (d. 1844)
1851 - Durham Stevens, American diplomat (d. 1908)
1858 - Ignacio Bonillas, Mexican diplomat (d. 1942)
1859 - Victor Herbert, composer (d. 1924)
1872 - Clara Butt, English contralto (d. 1936)
1873 - Joseph Allard, Canadian fiddler (d. 1947)
1874 - Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian writer (d. 1929)
1878 - Alfred Hajos, Hungarian swimmer and architect (d. 1955)
1878 - Milan Hodza, Slovakian politician (d. 1944)
1878 - Hattie Wyatt Caraway, United States Senator (d. 1950)
1879 - Henry Chretien, French astronomer, professor, and inventor (d. 1956)
1882 - Louis Stephen St. Laurent, twelfth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1973)
1882 - Prince Andrew of Greece (d. 1944)
1884 - Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian writer (d. 1937)
1885 - Camille Chautemps, Prime Minister of France (d. 1963)
1887 - Charles Nordhoff, English-born writer (d. 1947)
1888 - Charles January, American soccer player (d. 1970)
1894 - John Ford, American director and producer (d. 1973)
1894 - James P. Johnson, pianist, composer (d. 1955)
1894 - Lucian Grigorescu, Romanian painter (d. 1965)
1896 - Anastasio Somoza Garcia, President of Nicaragua (d. 1956)
1898 - Leila Denmark, American physician and supercentenarian (d. 2012)
1901 1925
1901 - Frank Buckles, American World War I veteran and supercentenarian (d. 2011)
1901 - Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)
1902 - Langston Hughes, American writer (d. 1967)
1904 - Franciska Gaal, Jewish-Hungarian cabaret artist and actress (d. 1973)
1904 - S. J. Perelman, humorist, writer (d. 1979)
1905 - Emilio G. Segre, Italian physicist (d. 1989)
1906 - Adetokunbo Ademola, Chief Justice of Nigeria (d. 1993)
1907 - Gunter Eich, lyricist (d. 1972)
1908 - George Pal, director, producer (d. 1980)
1909 - George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1910 - Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Tibetan politician (d. 2009)
1915 - Stanley Matthews, English footballer (d. 2000)
1915 - Alicia Rhett, American actress (d. 2014)
1915 - Victor Shem-Tov, Bulgarian-Israeli politician (d. 2014)
1917 - Eiji Sawamura, Japanese baseball player
1918 - Dame Muriel Spark, Scottish writer (d. 2006)
1921 - Peter Sallis, English actor (d. 2017)
1921 - Ann Z. Caracristi, American cryptanalyst (d. 2016)
1921 - Winton M. Blount, United States Postmaster General (d. 2002)
1922 - Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (d. 2004)
1924 - Richard Hooker, American writer (d. 1997)
1924 - Emmanuel Scheffer, German-born Israeli footballer and coach (d. 2012)
1925 - Alfred Grosser, political scientist and publicist
1926 1950
1927 - Galway Kinnell, American poet and academic (d. 2014)
1927 - Gunter Guillaume, German spy (d. 1995)
1928 - Tom Lantos, American politician (d. 2008)
1928 (or 1929) - Stuart Whitman, American actor
1930 - Maria Helena Walsh, Argentine writer and journalist (d. 2011)
1930 - Shahabuddin Ahmed, former President of Bangladesh
1930 - Hussein Muhammad Ershad, former President of Bangladesh
1931 - Iajuddin Ahmed, former President of Bangladesh (d. 2012)
1931 - Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia (d. 2007)
1932 - Hassan al-Turabi, Sudanese religious and political leader (d. 2016)
1933 - Wendell R. Anderson, former Governor of Minnesota
1934 - Nicolae Breban, Romanian writer
1934 - Ninan Koshy, Indian thinker, theologian and social analyst (d. 2015)
1934 - Bob Shane, American singer
1935 - Dieter Kuhn, writer
1936 - Azie Taylor Morton, American politician, 36th Treasurer of the United States (d. 2003)
1937 - Don Everly, American musician
1937 - Garrett Morris, American comedian
1938 - Sherman Hemsley, American comedian and actor (d. 2012)
1939 - Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina (d. 2009)
1939 - Fritjof Capra, Austrian physicist, philosopher and writer
1939 - Joe Sample, American pianist and composer (d. 2014)
1939 - Claude Francois, French singer and composer (d. 1978)
1939 - Yuri Rost, Russian photographer, journalist and traveller
1940 - Bibi Besch, Austrian-American actress (d. 1996)
1941 - Jerry Spinelli, American writer
1941 - Teofil Codreanu, Romanian footballer (d. 2016)
1942 - Terry Jones, British actor and writer (Monty Python's Flying Circus) (d. 2020)
1942 - Muna Wassef, Syrian actress
1943 - Rosemarie Frankland, Welsh actress and model (d. 2000)
1944 - Petru Popescu, Romanian-American writer, director, movie producer and writer
1944 - Dick Snyder, American basketball player
1944 - Mike Enzi, United States Senator for Wyoming (d. 2021)
1946 - Bart Braverman, American actor
1946 - Elisabeth Sladen, English actress (d. 2011)
1947 - Adam Ingram, Scottish politician
1947 - Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)
1948 - Rick James, American musician, composer (d. 2004)
1949 - Franco Causio, Italian footballer
1950 - Mike Campbell, American guitarist and producer
1950 - Ali Haydar Konca, Turkish politician
1950 - Alan Moller, American meteorologist, storm chaser and photographer (d. 2014)
1951 1975
1951 - John McNally, Scottish politician
1951 - Andrew Smith, English politician
1952 - Roger Y. Tsien, Chinese-American cell biologist and Nobel Prize winner (d. 2016)
1953 - Periko Alonso, Spanish footballer
1954 - Bill Mumy, American actor and musician
1955 - Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, Indonesian politician (d. 2012)
1955 - Ernie Camacho, American baseball player
1956 - Brahmanandam, Indian actor
1956 - Exene Cervenka, American musician (X)
1956 - Mike Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player
1957 - Renae Jacobs, American voice actress
1957 - Walter Schachner, Austrian footballer
1958 - William Dufris, American voice actor and audiobook narrator (d. 2020)
1958 - Ryo Horikawa, Japanese guitarist
1958 - Margie Abbott, wife of Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott
1958 - Eleanor Laing, Scottish lawyer and politician
1961 - Daniel M. Tani, American engineer and astronaut
1962 - Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi politician
1962 - Tomoyasu Hotei, Japanese rock guitarist
1963 - Takashi Murakami, Japanese artist
1964 - Linus Roache, British actor
1964 - Jani Lane, American musician (d. 2011)
1965 - Brandon Lee, American actor (d. 1993)
1965 - Princess Stephanie of Monaco
1965 - Sherilyn Fenn, American actress
1966 - Vasilis Dimitriades, Greek footballer
1966 - Michelle Akers, American soccer player
1968 - Lisa Marie Presley, American actress
1968 - Pauly Shore, American comedian
1969 - Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine footballer
1969 - Joshua Redman, American jazz musician
1969 - Brian Krause, American actor
1969 - Nino Salukvadze, Georgian sports shooter
1969 - Andrew Breitbart, American conservative publicist and journalist (d. 2012)
1971 - Jill Kelly, erotic actress
1971 - Zlatko Zahovic, Slovenian footballer
1971 - Michael C. Hall, American actor
1972 - Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
1972 - Christian Ziege, German footballer
1972 - Johan Wadem, Belgian footballer
1973 - Oscar Perez, Mexican footballer
1974 - Roberto Heras, Spanish cyclist
1974 - Walter McCarty, American basketball player
1975 - Katerina Thanou, Greek athlete
1975 - Big Boi, American musician (Outkast)
From 1976
1976 - Katrin Jakobsdottir, Icelandic politician, Prime Minister of Iceland
1977 - Kevin Kilbane, English-Irish footballer
1977 - Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
1978 - K'naan, Somali singer
1978 - Julie Roberts, American country music singer
1979 - Juan Silveira dos Santos, Brazilian footballer
1980 - Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorean footballer (d. 2005)
1980 - Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 - Hector Luna, Dominican baseball player
1981 - Graeme Smith, South African cricketer
1982 - Daisy Betts, Australian actress
1982 - Gavin Henson, Welsh rugby player
1982 - Shoaib Malik, Pakistani cricketer
1982 - Kim Jong-wook, South Korean singer
1983 - Andrew VanWyngarden, American musician
1984 - Darren Fletcher, Scottish footballer
1984 - Lee Thompson Young, American actor (d. 2013)
1985 - Karine Sergerie, Canadian taekwondo world champion
1985 - Dean Shiels, Northern Irish footballer
1986 - Jorrit Bergsma, Dutch speed skater
1986 - Lauren Conrad, American television personality
1986 - Johan Vonlanthen, Swiss footballer
1987 - Giuseppe Rossi, Italian footballer
1987 - Heather Morris, American actress and dancer
1987 - Sebastian Boenisch, Polish footballer
1987 - Ronda Rousey, American mixed martial artist, judoka and actress
1989 - Alfred Finnbogason, Icelandic footballer
1990 - Dan Gosling, English footballer
1990 - Laura Marling, English singer-songwriter
1994 - Harry Styles, English singer (One Direction)
1994 - Skylar Laine, American singer-songwriter
1995 - Oliver Heldens, Dutch DJ, musician and producer
1996 - Dionne Bromfield, English singer-songwriter
2000 - Paris Smith, American actress and singer
Deaths
Up to 1900
772 - Pope Stephen III (b. 720)
1248 - Henry II, Duke of Brabant (b. 1207)
1328 - Charles IV of France (b. 1294)
1542 - Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (b. 1480)
1563 - Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia
1691 - Pope Alexander VIII (b. 1610)
1733 - Augustus III of Poland (b. 1670)
1734 - John Floyer, English physician and writer (b. 1649)
1743 - Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer (b. 1657)
1750 - Bakar of Georgia, Georgian prince and politician (b. 1699)
1793 - William Wildman Shute Barrington, English statesman (b. 1717)
1851 - Mary Shelley, British writer of Frankenstein (b. 1797)
1871 - Alexander Serov, Russian composer (b. 1820)
1873 - Matthew Fontaine Maury, American naval officer (b. 1806)
1893 - George Henry Sanderson, Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1824)
1897 - Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist and botanist (b. 1826)
1901 2000
1903 - George Gabriel Stokes, Irish physicist (b. 1819)
1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal (b. 1863)
1908 - Luis Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal (b. 1887)
1922 - William Desmond Taylor, American actor and director (b. 1872)
1928 - Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
1936 - Georgios Kondylis, Greek general and Prime Minister (b. 1878)
1941 - Walter Abbott, English footballer (b. 1877)
1944 - Piet Mondrian, Dutch artist (b. 1872)
1945 - Prince Kiril of Bulgaria (b. 1895)
1949 - Nicolae Dumitru Cocea, Romanian journalist, novelist, critic and activist (b. 1880)
1957 - Friedrich Paulus, German general (b. 1890)
1958 - Clinton Davisson, American physicist (b. 1888)
1966 - Buster Keaton, American actor (b. 1895)
1976 - Werner Heisenberg, German physicist (b. 1901)
1976 - George Whipple, American doctor, won the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1878)
1980 - Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (b. 1930)
1981 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
1986 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician and diplomat (b. 1902)
1987 - Alessandro Blasetti, Italian director (b. 1900)
1988 - Heather O'Rourke, American child actress (b. 1975)
1989 - Elaine de Kooning, American painter (b. 1918)
1995 - Richey James Edwards, Welsh singer and musician (b. 1967)
1999 - Baris Manco, Turkish musician (b. 1943)
From 2001
2002 - Hildegard Knef, German actress (b. 1925)
2002 - Daniel Pearl, American journalist
2003 - Deaths in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster:
Michael P. Anderson, American astronaut (b. 1959)
David M. Brown, American astronaut (b. 1956)
Kalpana Chawla, Indian astronaut (b. 1961)
Laurel Clark, American astronaut (b. 1961)
Rick D. Husband, American astronaut (b. 1957)
Willie McCool, American astronaut (b. 1961)
Ilan Ramon, Israeli astronaut (b. 1954)
2004 - Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer (b. 1931)
2007 - Gian Carlo Menotti, Italian-born composer (b. 1911)
2007 - Ahmed Abu Laban, Danish Muslim leader (b. 1946)
2009 - Lukas Foss, German-born composer (b. 1922)
2010 - Steingrimur Hermannsson, Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1928)
2010 - Justin Mentell, American actor (b. 1982)
2012 - Wislawa Szymborska, Polish poet (b. 1923)
2012 - Angelo Dundee, American boxing trainer (b. 1921)
2012 - Don Cornelius, American TV host (b . 1936)
2013 - Ed Koch, 105th Mayor of New York City (b. 1924)
2013 - Barney, pet dog of George W. Bush (b. 2000)
2013 - Robin Sachs, British actor (b. 1951)
2014 - Luis Aragones, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1938)
2014 - Maximilian Schell, Austrian-Swiss actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1930)
2014 - Vasily Ivanovich Petrov, Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1917)
2014 - Rene Ricard, American poet (b. 1946)
2015 - Aldo Ciccolini, Italian-French pianist (b. 1925)
2015 - Ann Mara, American football team owner (b. 1929)
2015 - Monty Oum, American animator (b. 1981)
2016 - Thomas Tigue, American politician (b. 1945)
2016 - Paul Pholeros, Australian architect (b. 1953)
2017 - E. Ahamed, Indian politician (b. 1938)
2017 - Albano Bortoletto Cavallin, Brazilian archbishop (b. 1930)
2017 - Sandy Gandhi, Indian-Australian comedian (b. 1958)
2017 - Desmond Carrington, English actor (b. 1926)
2017 - Stig Grybe, Swedish actor (b. 1928)
2017 - Ken Morrison, English businessman (b. 1931)
2017 - Cor van der Hoeven, Dutch footballer (b. 1921)
2017 - Asim Basu, Indian theatre director (b. 1935)
2017 - Lars-Erik Berenett, Swedish actor (b. 1942)
2017 - Ken Morrison, English businessman (b. 1931)
2017 - Edward Tipper, American World War II veteran (b. 1921)
2018 - Niranjan Bhagat, Indian poet (b. 1926)
2018 - Hazar Khan Bijarani, Pakistani politician (b. 1946)
2018 - Dennis Edwards, American singer (b. 1943)
2018 - Barys Kit, Belarussian mathematician, physicist, chemist and rocket scientist (b. 1910)
2018 - Su Bai, Chinese archaeologist (b. 1922)
2018 - Omar Aggad, Palestinian-Saudi businessman (b. 1927)
2018 - John Jacob Lavranos, South African botanist (b. 1926)
Observances
Start of Black History Month (Canada and United States)
Start of LGBT History Month (UK)
Freedom Day (United States)
Heroes Day (Rwanda)
Imbolc, a cross-quarter day in the Celtic calendar
St. Brigid's Day (Ireland)
Basque region - The alluvial Pheasant Island is controlled by Spain from this date until July 31
February 01