On This Day in History>>>>>>>>>>>>

0772 Adrian I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1539 Emperor Karel & King François I sign anti-English treaty
1587 English queen Elizabeth I signs Mary Stuart's death sentence
1662 Dutch garrison on Formosa surrenders for Chinese pirates
1669 French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion
1709 British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being marooned on a desert island (Fernandez Island) for 5 years, his story is the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe"
1717 Henri d'Aguesseau's 1st appointment as chancellor of France
1720 Sweden & Prussia sign peace treaty
1732 Parliament of Ratisborn accept Pragmatic Sanctions
1742 Sardinia & Austria sign alliance
1783 William Herschel announces star Lambda Herculis as apex
1788 1st US steamboat patent issued, by Georgia to Briggs & Longstreet
1789 Chinese troops driven out of Vietnam capital Thang Long
1790 Supreme Court convenes for the 1st time (New York NY)
1793 Patent granted Ralph Hodgson, New York, for oiled silk & linen
1793 France declares war on England & Netherlands
1809 Dutch King Louis Napoleon accepts metric system
1810 1st insurance company managed by blacks (American Insurance Company of Philadelphia)
1810 Seville, Spain surrenders to the French
1810 US Population - 7,239,881; Black population - 1,377,808 (19%)
1814 Lord Byron's "The Corsair" sells 10,000 copies on the day of publication
1814 Volcano Mayon on Luzon Philippines erupts killing 1,200
1840 Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 1st in US, incorporated
1860 1st rabbi to open House of Representatives, Morris Raphall of New York NY
1861 Dike breaks in Gelderland Netherlands
1861 Texas becomes 7th state to secede
1862 Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
1864 2nd German-Danish war begins
1864 Austrian/Prussian troops occupy Sleeswijk/Holstein
1864 Battle of Yazoo River, Mississippi
1865 13th amendment approved (National Freedom Day)
1865 General Sherman's march through South Carolina begins
1865 JS Rock, 1st black lawyer to practice in Supreme Court, admitted to bar
1867 Bricklayers start working 8-hour days
1871 Jefferson Long of Georgia is 1st black to make an official speech in House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates)
1881 US Assay Office in St Louis MO authorized
1883 French Lieutenant-Colonel Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes reaches Bamako on the Niger
1884 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published
1887 Harvey Wilcox of Kansas subdivides 120 acres he owned in Southern California & starts selling it off as a real estate development (Hollywood)
1892 Mrs William Astor invites 400 guests to a grand ball at her mansion thus beginning the use of the "400" to describe the socially elite
1893 Thomas Edison completes worlds 1st movie studio (West Orange NJ)
1893 Giacomo Puccini's Opera "Manon Lescaut" premieres in Turin
1896 Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme" premieres in Turin
1898 1st auto insurance policy in US issued, by Travelers Insurance Company
1902 China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet
1902 Hermann Sudermanns "Es lebe das Leben" premieres in Berlin
1905 Hague soccer team ADO forms
1905 Hungarian premier Tisza resigns
1906 1st federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth KS
1906 English Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Grey's wife Dorothy fatally injured
1909 US Assay Office in Salt Lake City, Utah opens
1910 1st British labour exchange opens
1910 Dragoumis government forms in Greece
1914 New York Giants & Chicago White Sox play an exhibition baseball game in Egypt
1914 Pennsylvania State Board of [motion picture] Censors appointed
1914 Tanganyika Railway opens
1917 Admiral Tirpitz announces unlimited submarine war
1918 Franz Lehárs opera "Wo die Lerche singt" premieres in Budapest
1918 Kern, Bolton & Wodehouse's musical premieres in New York NY
1918 Russia adopts Gregorian calendar (becomes Feb 14)
1919 Dodgers trade Jake Daubert to Reds for Tommy Griffith Daubert
1920 1st commercial armored car introduced (St Paul MN)
1920 Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police
1920 Soccer team Quick Boys forms
1923 Allied ultimatum on Lithuanian occupation of Memel
1923 Fascists Voluntary Militia forms in Italy under Mussolini
1923 Noël Coward's "Young Idea" premieres in London
1924 Amsterdam's Netherlands Press Museum opens
1924 New British MacDonald government recognizes USSR
1924 Soccer team VSV Tonido forms in Voorburg
1925 1st national conference of KPD's Rotfrontkämpferbund in Berlin
1926 Kirghiz Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Kirghiz ASSR
1926 Land at Broadway & Wall Street sold at a record $7 per square inch
1929 1st clean & jerk of 400 lbs (182 kg), Charles Rigoulet, 402½ lbs
1930 Arnold Schönbergs opera premieres in Frankfurt
1932 Bradman makes 299 vs South Africa, runs out partner going for 300th
1933 Colonial government arrests Anton de Kom in Paramaribo Suriname
1933 Dutch bishops forbid membership in non-catholic unions
1933 German Parliament dissolves, General Ludendorf predicts catastrophe
1934 Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss dissolves all political parties but his own
1935 James T Farrell finishes his "Studs Lonigan" trilogy
1935 1st "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol
1937 Stapleton, Staten Island becomes a customs-free port
1940 Russia begins new offensive against Finland
1941 US female Figure Skating championship won by Jane Vaughn
1941 US male Figure Skating championship won by Eugene Turner
1942 2nd Norwegian government of Quisling forms
1943 German occupiers make Vidkun Quisling Norwegian premier
1943 Mussert forms pro Nazi shadow cabinet (Netherlands)
1944 Supreme Soviet enlarges soviet republics' autonomy
1944 US 7th Infantry/25th Marine Division lands on Kwajalein/Roi/Namur
1945 US Army arrives at Siegfriedlinie
1946 Trygve Lie, a Norwegian socialist, becomes 1st Secretary-General of UN
1946 Republic of Hungary proclaimed, Zolt n Tildy as communist president
1947 Aleide de Gasperi forms Italian government of Christian-democrats & communists
1947 Dmitri Shostakovich named professor at conservatory of Leningrad
1947 NV United Dutch Fokker's Aircraft established
1948 Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed
1948 Federation Malaysia forms from 9 sultanates
1949 200" (5.08-meter) Hale telescope 1st used
1949 RCA releases 1st single record ever (45 rpm)
1950 Urko Kekkonen elected president of Finland
1950 USSR demands condemnation of Emperor Hirohito for war crimes
1951 1st telecast of atomic explosion - US nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1951 1st X-ray moving picture process demonstrated
1951 -50ºF (-46ºC), Gavilan NM (state record)
1951 Alfred Krupp & 28 other German war criminals freed
1951 UN condemns People's Republic of China as aggressor in Korea
1952 General strike against French colonial management in Tunisia
1952 S[amuel] N[athaniel] Behrman's "Jane" premieres in New York NY
1953 "General Electric Theater" premieres on CBS TV; Reagan later hosts
1953 "You Are There" with Walter Cronkite premieres on CBS television
1953 Dr A de Waal appointed as Netherlands 1st female assistant Secretary of state
1953 Flooding in Netherlands, kills 1,835
1953 WEEK TV channel 25 in Peoria IL (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 1st TV soap opera "Secret Storm" premieres
1954 Scapino Ballet Studio in Amsterdam destroyed by fire
1954 Soccer team The County forms in Doetinchem
1955 H C Hansen appointed premier of Denmark
1956 Hague Daily Newspaper reveals war crimes of Hague mayor Schokking
1956 WSAV TV channel 3 in Savannah GA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1957 1st black pilot (PH Young) on a US scheduled passenger airline
1957 Gijsbert of Hall appointed mayor of Amsterdam
1958 1st US satellite (Explorer I) launched
1958 Egypt & Syria announce plans to merge into United Arab Republic
1958 WFTV TV channel 9 in Orlando FL (ABC) begins broadcasting
1959 Swiss males vote against voting rights for women
1959 Texas Instruments requests patent of IC (Integrated Circuit)
1959 US female Figure Skating championship won by Carol Heiss
1959 US male Figure Skating championship won by David Jenkins
1959 Wiffi Smith win LPGA Havana Golf Tournament
1959 WVUE TV channel 8 in New Orleans LA (ABC) begins broadcasting
1959 Zack Wheat unanimously elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1960 4 students stage 1st civil rights sit-in, at Greensboro NC Woolworth
1960 34th Australian Women's Tennis Margaret Smith beats J Lehane (7-5 6-2)
1960 48th Australian Men's Tennis Rod Laver beats N Fraser (5-7 3-6 6-3 8-6 8-6)
1960 Extreme right-wing rebels in Algiers surrender
1961 1st full-scale test of US Minuteman ICBM is successful
1961 British minister Enoch Powell makes medical insurance more expensive
1961 Mackay & Kline hang on for 100 minutes for cricket draw vs West Indies
1962 "New Faces of '62" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 28 performances
1962 NL releases its 1st 162-game schedule
1963 Nyasaland (now Malawi) becomes self-governing under Hastings Banda
1964 Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" 1st #1 hit & stays #1 for 7 weeks
1964 "Stop the World, I Want to..." closes at Shubert NYC after 556 performances
1964 Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tries to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity
1964 Suriname River dammed
1965 Martin Luther King Jr & 700 demonstrators arrested in Selma AL
1965 Dutch Queen Juliana opens Brienenoord Bridge in Rotterdam
1965 NL adopts emergency team replacement plan to restock any club struck by disaster
1965 Peter Jennings, 26, becomes anchor of ABC's nightly news
1967 Severe brush fires in Tasmania destroy $11 million & 60 lives
1967 WCLP TV channel 18 in Chatsworth GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1968 Famous photo Saigon police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head
1968 Vince Lombardi resigns as coach of the Green Bay Packers
1968 Former Vice-President Richard Nixon announces candidacy for President
1968 World trade conference Unctad 2 opens in New Delhi
1969 Jim Morrison arrested for exposing himself in concert
1969 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
1969 US male Figure Skating championship won by Tim Wood
1969 WPGH TV channel 53 in Pittsburgh PA (IND) begins broadcasting
1970 Stalled commuter train rammed by express in Argentina, 139 die
1970 Ford Frick, Earle Combs & Jesse Haines elected to Hall of Fame
1970 West-Germany & USSR sign gas contract
1970 WMAA TV channel 29 in Jackson MS (PBS) begins broadcasting
1972 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)
1972 Wings release "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" in UK
1973 Monte Irvin elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1974 "Good Times" (spinoff from "Maude") premieres on CBS TV
1975 1st successful Washington Capitals penalty shot, Ken Lockett vs Vancouver Canucks
1975 Lorne Henning scores on 3rd Islander penalty shot
1975 "Hoppy, Gene & Me" by Roy Rogers peaks at #65
1975 "Men on the Moon" closes at Little Theater NYC after 5 performances
1975 Otis Francis Tabler is 1st open homosexual to get security clearance to work for the Defense Department
1976 "Rich Man, Poor Man" mini-series premieres on ABC TV
1976 Sonny & Cher resume TV show, despite real-life divorce
1976 East Lansing police arrest Dodgers reliever Mike Marshall for taking batting practice at Michigan State University after he is warned not to
1976 Judy Rankin win LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
1977 Heavy blizzard in New England claims 100 lives
1977 Hillsdale High School defeats Person High School 2-0 in basketball
1978 Director Roman Polanski skips bail & fled to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
1978 Harriet Tubman is 1st black woman honored on a US postage stamp
1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile
1979 Patricia Hearst is released from a San Francisco prison for bank robbery
1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1980 Soap opera "Love of Life" ends a 28 year run
1980 Sears Radio Theater moves from CBS to Mutual Broadcasting System
1981 11th NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 21-7
1981 31st NBA All-Star Game East beats West 123-120 at Cleveland
1981 Duke Ellington-musical "Sophisticated Ladies" premieres in New York NY
1981 Dutch Antilles census is 231,932
1981 French government accord sends 60 Mirage fighter jets to Iraq
1981 Sandra Palmer win LPGA Whirlpool Golf Championship of Deer Creek
1981 Trevor Chappell bowls underarm to Brian McKechnie, WSC Final MCG
1982 Senegal & Gambia form loose confederation (Senegambia)
1982 "Late Night With David Letterman" debuts on NBC-TV
1983 USSR performs underground nuclear test
1984 Daniel Stern becomes NBA commissioner
1984 Ravindara Mhatrem, Indian diplomat, kidnapped in England (killed 0203)
1984 China & Netherlands regain diplomatic relations
1985 -69ºF (-56ºC), Peter's Sink UT (state record)
1985 -61ºF (-52ºC), Maybell CO (state record)
1985 Azharuddin scores 3rd Test century in 3rd Test Cricket (122 vs England)
1985 Cards trade D Green, Jose Uribe, Dave LaPoint to Giants for Jack Clark
1985 US female Figure Skating championship won by Tiffany Chin
1986 KHJ-AM in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KRTH
1986 Singer Diana Ross marries Norwegian businessman Arne Naess in Switzerland
1987 163 day strike against Deere & Company ends, workers accept wage freeze
1987 38,873 NBA crowd watch Chicago at Detroit
1987 Kathy Postlewait win LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
1987 NFL Pro Bowl AFC beats NFC 10-6
1989 Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 at perihelion
1989 Princess Diana of England visits New York NY
1991 President F W de Klerk, says he would repeal all apartheid laws
1991 Afghanistan/Pakistan hit by earthquake, 1,200 die
1991 Craig McDermott takes 8-97 vs England at the WACA
1991 US Air & Skywest Fairchild commuter jet collide at Los Angeles Airport killing 32
1992 Barry Bonds signs baseball's highest single year contract ($4.7 million)
1992 Denis Potvin's #5 becomes the 1st number retired by the New York Islanders
1992 "Crazy He Calls Me" closes at Walter Kerr Theater NYC after 7 performances
1993 New York Judge Sol Wachtler indicted for harassing Joy Silverman
1993 Soyuz TM-16 lands
1994 Irina Privalova runs world record 50 meter indoor (6.03 seconds)
1994 Large meteorite falls near Kusaie, Pacific Ocean
1995 Amtrak New York-Tampa run ends
1995 Amy van Dikes swims woman's world record 50 meter butterfly (26.73)
1995 Andy & Grant Flower make 269 stand vs Pakistan, brotherly record
1995 Belgium's TV channel VT4 goes on the air
1998 "Street Corner Symphony" closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 79 performances
1998 86th Australian Mens Tennis Petr Korda beats Marcelo Rios (6-2 6-2 6-2)
1998 Australian Mixed Doubles Tennis J Gimelstob & V Williams beat Suk & Sukova (6-2 6-1)
1998 NFL Pro Bowl Game, AFC beats NFC 29-24
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Missing in Action......................

1966 ALM RICHARD A. PAYALLUP WA
1966 COATES DONALD L. TIGARD OR
1966 DENGLER DIETER HILLSBORO CA 07/20/66 ESCAPED ALIVE IN 98
1966 HUMPHREY GALEN F. ST JOSEPH MO DAUGHTERS GAIL AND SUSAN IN ST. JOSEPH SON GARY FORMER PEROT EDS EMPLOYEE
1966 LOHEED HUBERT B. MIDDLEBORO MA REMAINS ID'D 08/23/94
1966 LUKER RUSSELL B. LANCASTER OH
1966 PREVOST ALBERT M. NORWALK CT
1966 VLAHAKOS PETER G. AUBURN ME
1968 ADKINS CLODEN 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG DECEASED OCT 1997
1968 BLOOD HENRY F. 07/69 DIC ON PRG LIST REMAINS IDENTIFIED 02 JUL 98
1968 BALAGOT ARTURO MENDOZA PHILIPPINES VOICE OF AMERICA 730305 RELSD BY DRV DECEASED
1968 GOSTAS THEODORE W. CHEYENNE WY 03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1968 HAUKNESS STEVEN A. 08/16/74 REMAINS RECOVERED ID'D 03/23/75
1968 HENDERSON ALEXANDER 03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1968 JOHNSON SANDRA 03/31/68 RELEASED
1968 MURDOCK MICHAEL GEORGE ROCKFORD WA 04/06/74 REMAINS RECOVERED
1968 MANHARD PHILLIP W. 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG HIGHEST RANKING CIV CAPTURED REFNO 1013 DECEASED 1998
1968 MEYER LEWIS E. SAN DIEGO CA 03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE 1998
1968 NELSON MARJORIE 03/68 RELEASED
1968 OLSON BETTY ANN NEW YORK NY 09/68 DIC ON PRG LIST
1968 OLSEN ROBERT F. 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1968 PAGE RUSSELL J. 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG DECEASED
1968 RANDER DONALD J. BRONX NY 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98 REFNO 1023/1031/1014
1968 RUSHTON THOMAS SANTA MARIA CA 03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1968 SPAULDING RICHARD ENID OK 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG REFNO 1023 ALIVE 99
1968 STARK LAWRENCE J. CHICAGO IL 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG REFNO 1023
1968 WEAVER EUGENE A. KENOSHA WI 03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG CIA AGENT/KGB ATTEMT RECRUITMENT/VEITH
1968 WILLIS CHARLES E. 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98
1969 LUNA DONALD A. HOUSTON TX

Births which occurred on February 01:

1552 Sir Edward Coke England, jurist/politician (defended common law)
1603 Michael Trumper composer
1605 Isaac Aboab de Fonseca Portuguese/Netherlands rabbi/mystic
1633 Gabriel Schutz composer
1659 Jacob Roggeveen Dutch Swiss lawyer/navigator (Easter Island)
1669 Miguel Lopez composer
1690 Francesco Maria Veracini Italian opera composer
1710 Konrad E Ackermann German actor (Die Oberpfalz)
1757 John P Kemble England, actor/director (Drury Lane, Covent Garden)
1763 Thomas Campbell founder (Church of Disciples in America)
1789 Hippolyte-André-Baptiste Chelard composer
1791 Charles J Sax Belgian music instrument builder
1801 Thomas Cole US, romantic landscape painter (Hudson River School)
1801 Adolf Fredrik Lindblad composer
1805 Auguste Blanqui France, revolutionary (workers' leader)
1807 Henri Klimrath French lawyer (Mémoire sur lesson Olim)
1807 William Bowen Campbell Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1810 Charles Lenox Remond Salem MA, famous black
1819 Henry Lawrence Eustis Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1885
1821 Charles Samvei Bovy-Lysberg composer
1827 Alphonse de Rothschild French banker
1829 John Potts Slough Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1833 Henry McNeal Turner black methodist bishop
1839 James A Herne [J Aherne], US playwright (Hearts of Oak)
1841 William H H Davenport Buffalo, stage medium
1844 Granville Stanley Hall US, psychologist
1844 Eduard Adolf Strasburger German botanist (Angiospermen)
1848 Adhémar Esmein French lawyer
1859 Victor August Herbert Dublin Ireland, composer (Babes in Toyland)
1869 Johannes F "Frits" Bakker Sr actor (Holland Tooneelgezelschap)
1872 Paul Fort French poet/founder of Vers et Prose
1873 Clara Butt Southwick Sussex, contralto (Country of Hope & Glory)
1874 Hugo von Hofmannsthal Austria, poet/dramatist/essayist
1875 Eddie Pola composer (Lullabye of Broadway)
1877 Thomas Frederick Dunhill composer
1878 Hattie Wyatt Caraway politician/teacher/1st woman elected to senate
1879 Sydney Baynes composer
1880 Antonio Guarnieri composer
1880 Francesco Balilla Pratella composer
1881 Jose Ignacio Quinton composer
1882 Louis St Laurent Compton Québec Canada, (L) 12th Canadian PM (1948-57)
1883 Jevgeni B Vachtangov Armenian/Russian actor/director (Eric XIV)
1884 Yevgeny Zamyatin Russia, novelist/playwright (We)
1885 Camille Chautemps premier France
1887 Dirk Roosenburg Dutch architect
1889 Gertrude Caton-Thompson British archaeologist (Zimbabwe, Southern Arabia)
1891 James Price Johnson composer
1892 K Rudolf Mengelberg composer/musicologist (Amsterdam Concert Hall)
1895 John Ford Maine, director (Stagecoach, Air Mail, Quiet Man)
1896 Anastasio "Tacho" Somoza General/President of Nicaragua (1937-56)
1897 Denise Robins London, romantic novelist (1st Long Kiss)
19-- Bill Leydon Chicago IL, TV host (Musical Chairs)
19-- Don Amendolia Glassboro NJ, actor (Emory Battis-Twin Peaks, Dino-Mama Malone)
1900 Stephen Potter humorist/writer (School for Scoundrels, Shipbuilders)
1901 Clark Gable Cadiz OH, actor (Gone With the Wind)
1902 Langston Hughes poet/translator (The Weary Blues)
1902 Carlo Borbolla composer
1903 Georg Rendl Austria miner/bee-keeper/writer (The Bees Novel)
1904 S J Perelman Brooklyn NY, author/humorist (Around the World in 80 Days)
1905 Emilio Segre
1905 Ernst Carl Gerlach Stueckelberg
1906 Hildegarde Adell WI, night club singer (I'll Be Seeing You)
1906 Pierre Cardevielle French composer/conductor (Amants Captifs)
1907 John Canaday art critic (Metropolitan Museum of Art Portfolios)
1907 Alan Strode Campbell Ross professor (coined the terms U & non-U)
1907 Camargo Guarnieri Brazil, composer/conductor
1907 Günter Eich German literary (Underground Highway, Girls of Viterbo)
1907 Mozart Camargo Guarnieri composer
1907 Sándor Veress Hungarian pianist/composer
1908 Albie Booth collegiate Hall of Fame football star (Yale)
1908 Edward Staempfli composer
1908 George Pal Hungarian/US director (When Worlds Collide, Puppetoons)
1909 Douglas Hall Governor (Somaliland Protectorate)
1909 Helen Chandler Charleston SC, actress (Christopher Strong, Dracula)
1910 H Stanley Cayzer
1910 Jahangir Khan cricketer (father of Majid, Indian player 1932-36)
1910 Michael Kanin Rochester NY, director/writer/actor (Woman of the Year)
1913 Jeffrey Kindersley Quill Test pilot
1914 Hans Zülig Swiss dancer
1915 Sir Stanley Matthews 1st British soccer player to be knighted
1916 Gordon Hobday Lord Lieutenant (Nottinghamshire)
1918 Maurice Laing life president (John Laing)
1918 Muriel Spark Edinburgh Scotland, novelist (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)
1920 Pierre Jonquéres d'Oriola France, equestrian jumper (Olympics-gold-1952, 64)
1920 Kenneth Bond former vice-chairman
1921 Peter Sallis actor (Taste the Blood of Dracula)
1922 Renata Tebaldi opera singer (La Bohéme)
1922 Bogumil Witalis Andrzejewski professor of Cushtic Languages
1922 Clifford McWatt cricketer (West Indies wicket-keeper in 6 Tests 1954-55)
1926 Douglas Johnson historian
1926 Peter Crill Bailiff of Jersey
1926 Stuart Whitman San Francisco CA, actor (Captain Apache, Ransom, Cimarron Strip, Revenge)
1927 Galway Kinnell Providence RI, author (Body Rags, Book of Nightmares)
1928 Peter Gordon Dorrell archaeologist/photographer
1928 Sam Edwards physicist
1928 Thomas Eric Evans dean (St Paul's)
1928 Tom Lantos (Representative-D-CA, 1981- )
1928 Ursula Mamlok composer
1930 Peter Tapsell British MP
1931 Boris Yeltsin Ural Mountains USSR, president of Russian SSR
1931 Madeline Berthod Switzerland, downhill skier (Olympics-gold-1956)
1931 Barrel [ABM] Frinking, teacher/Dutch MP (CVP)
1931 Mark Richmond CEO (Science & Engineering Research Council)
1931 Ton [ABM] Frinking Dutch MP (CDA)
1932 John Hart Denver CO, newsman (CBS News Retrospective, NBC News)
1932 John Nott British MP
1933 Reynolds Price US writer (Strengthened by a Pale Green Light)
1934 Bob Shane vocalist (Kingston Trio-Scarlet Ribbons)
1935 Ruth Clarke Moderator (General Assembly of the United Reform Church)
1935 Vladimir Viktorovich Aksyonov USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 22, T-2)
1936 G H Blake Principal (Collingwood College, Durham University)
1937 Don Everly Brownie KY, singer (Everly Brothers-Wake Up Little Susie)
1937 Ray Sawyer [Dr Hook] Alabama, vocalist (Dr Hook-When You're in Love)
1937 Garrett Morris New Orleans LA, actor/comedian (Saturday Night Live, Martin, Carwash)
1938 Jacky Cupit golfer (Rookie of the Year 1961)
1938 Sherman Hemsley Philadelphia PA, actor (All in the Family, Jeffersons, Amen)
1938 Jimmy Carl Black rocker (Mothers Of Invention)
1939 Del McCoury bluegrass singer/musician
1939 Paul E Gillmor (Representative-R-OH)
1939 Ray Sawyer rocker
1940 Herve Filion sulky driver (1969 Canadian Sports Hall of Fame)
1941 Anatoliy Firssov USSR, ice hockey play (Olympics-gold-1964, 68, 72)
1941 Franco Nones Italy, 30K cross country skier (Olympics-gold-1968)
1941 Robert Walmsley British Vice-Admiral
1942 Bibi Besch Vienna Austria, actress (Star Trek 2, The Beast Within)
1942 Dave Sincock cricketer (chinaman bowler played for Australia 1964-66)
1942 Terry Jones Colwyn Bay North Wales, actor/comedian (Monty Python)
1943 Tina Sloan New York, actress (Lillian-Guiding Light, Search for Tomorrow)
1943 Josceline Dimbleby cookery writer
1943 Lord Mountevans
1944 Leo Burmester Louisville KY, actor (Flo, Chiefs, The Abyss, Odd Jobs)
1944 Tommy Duffy rocker (Echos)
1945 Ole Buck composer
1946 Bert Braverman Los Angeles CA, actor (Bobby-Vega$, Roy-New Odd Couple)
1947 Adam Ingram British MP
1947 Terry Hibbitt soccer star
1948 Debbie Austin LPGA golfer
1948 Jennifer Adams superintendent (Central Royal Parks)
1949 Jimmy Lee Thorpe Roxboro NC, PGA golfer (1985 Greater Milwaukee Open)
1951 Andrew Smith British MP
1951 Brandis Kemp Palo Alto CA, actress/comedienne (Fridays)
1952 Rick James [James Johnson], rock/soul/funk vocalist (Super Freak)
1953 Andy Mill skier/husband of Chris Evert
1953 C A Barnett headmaster (Whitgift School)
1954 Mike Campbell guitarist (Tom Petty & Heartbreakers-Breakdown)
1954 Billy Mumy California, actor (Will Robinson-Lost in Space, Dear Brigitte)
1955 Kate Ashbrook General Secretary (Open Spaces Society)
1957 Donna Adamek Duarte CA, bowler (BWAA Woman of Year 1978-81)
1958 Maureen Madill Coleraine Northern Ireland, golfer (British Open Amateur 1979)
1959 Anthony LaPaglia Adelaide South Australia, actor (Murder One, Criminal Justice, Betsy's Wedding)
1959 Carolyn Hill Santa Monica CA, LPGA golfer (1994 McCall's Classic)
1959 Mike Horan NFL punter (New York Giants)
1959 Wade Wilson NFL quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
1961 Daniel M Tani Ridley Park MD, astronaut
1961 Gabrielle Carteris Phoenix AZ, actress (Beverly Hills 90210)
1961 Gina Hull Jacksonville FL, LPGA golfer (1989 USX Golf Classic-8th)
1964 Jani Lane rocker (Warrant-Cherry Pie)
1964 Dwayne Rudolph Goettel musician
1964 Kaitlin Hopkins New York NY, actress (Kelsey-Another World)
1964 Sharon Bruneau Toronto Ontario, actress (Sensuous Muscle)
1965 Brandon Lee Emerson CO, actor (Showdown in Little Tokyo)
1965 Sherilyn Fenn Detroit MI, actress (2 Moon Junction, Twin Peaks)
1965 David Callaghan cricketer (South African all-rounder in one-dayers 1992)
1965 Stephanie Marie Elisabeth de Grimaldi Monte Carlo Monaco, Princess
1966 Donna Edmondson Greensboro NC, playmate of the year (November 1986)
1966 Eddie Zambrano Venezuelan/US baseball outfielder (Chicago Cubs)
1966 Michelle Akers Santa Clara CA, soccer forward (Olympics-96)
1967 Laura E Dern Los Angeles CA, actress (Blue Velvet, Mask, Smooth Talk)
1967 Tim Naehring Cincinnati OH, infielder (Boston Red Sox)
1968 George Quigley Jr Cincinnati OH, skeet (Olympics-1996)
1968 Javier Sanchez Spain, tennis star
1968 Kent Mercker Dublin OH, pitcher (Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles)
1968 Lisa Marie Presley Keough Jackson Memphis TN, (Elvis' daughter)
1968 Mark Recchi Kamloops, NHL right wing (Montréal Canadiens)
1968 Pauly Shore Hollywood, comedian (Totally Pauly, Encino Man)
1968 Sean Millington CFL fullback (British Columbia Lions)
1969 Bryan Jacob Palatka FL, 59 kg (130 lbs) weightlifter (Olympics-1992, 96)
1969 John Moore Australian baseball catcher (Olympics-1996)
1970 Eric Mobley NBA center (Vancouver Grizzlies)
1970 Malik Sealy NBA guard/forward (Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers)
1971 Ajay Jadeja cricketer (Indian opening batsman)
1971 Derek Byrd NFL cornerback (New Orleans Saints)
1971 Robert O'Neal WLAF safety (Amsterdam Admirals)
1971 Tommy Salo Surahammar Sweden, NHL goalie (Team Sweden, New York Islanders)
1972 [Thomas] Carlton Bruner US, 1500 meter freestyle swimmer (Olympics-96)
1972 Brian Krause actor (December, Sleepwalkers, Return to Blue Lagoon)
1972 Geoff Sanderson Hay River, NHL left wing (Hartford Whalers)
1972 Richard Becker Aurora IL, outfielder (Minnesota Twin)
1973 Andrew DeClercq NBA forward (Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics)
1973 Elena Makarova Moscow Russia, tennis star (1993 Futures-Val)
1973 Michael Joyce Santa Monica CA, tennis star (1989 USTA National Boys' 18)
1973 Tlia Reima ice hockey center (Finland, Olympics-98)
1974 Jennifer Lien actress (Hannah Moore-Another World)
1974 Lisa Marie Scott Pensacola FL, playmate (February 1994)
1974 Randy Josselyn Los Angeles CA, actor (Fever Lake, Andy Colby's Incredible Adventure)
1974 Walter McCarty NBA forward (Boston Celtics)
1975 Martijn Reuser Dutch soccer player (Ajax)
1980 Courtney Hamilton Miss Arizona Teen-USA (1996)
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Deaths which occurred on February 01:

0656 Sigebert III king of Austrasia, dies at about 25
1204 Alexius IV Angelus regent of Byzantium (1203-04), murdered
1248 Hendrik II duke of Brabant (1235-48), dies
1294 Louis II the Stern, ruler of Upper-Bayern, dies
1328 Charles IV the Handsome, King of France (1322-28), dies
1502 Olivier de la Marche Flemish writer/poet/governor, dies
1542 Hieronymus Aleander [Girólamo Aleandro], Italian diplomat, dies at 61
1650 Rene Descartes philosopher "I think therefore I am", stops thinking
1666 Sjihab al-Din Sultan C Shah Djahan mogol of India (Taj-Mahal), dies
1669 Abandoned child Huygens friend poet Catharina Questiers, buried at 31
1691 Alexander VIII [Pietro Ottoboni], Italian Pope (1689-91), dies at 80
1691 George Etherege English stage writer (Love in a Tub), dies at 56
1694 John L baron van Elderen 63rd bishop of Liege (1688-94), dies at 73
1733 August II the Strong, King of Poland (355 children), dies at 62
1743 Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni Italian composer, dies at 85
1747 Jacobus E J Capitein Dutch slave/vicar/merchant, dies
1795 Giacomo Insanguine composer, dies at 66
1818 Giuseppi Gazzaniga composer, dies at 74
1824 Maria Theresia von Paradis composer, dies at 64
1832 Ecco Epkema Dutch classic linguist (Frisian/Old Frisian), dies at 71
1838 Abraham de Veer Dutch Governor-General of Suriname (1822-28), dies at 71
1839 Giuseppe Valadier Italian architect/archaeologist, dies at 76
1851 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley novelist (Frankenstein), dies at 53
1869 Frederik W Conrad hydraulic engineer/railway pioneer, dies at 68
1871 Alexander Nikoleyevich Serov composer, dies at 51
1873 Matthew Maury hydrographer, dies
1875 William Sterndale Bennett composer, dies at 58
1877 Joseph-Leon Gatayes composer, dies at 71
1878 George Cruikshank English illustrator (Grimm), dies at 85
1883 Pavel Melnikov Russian historian/author, dies
1889 Joseph Gungl composer, dies at 78
1902 Salomon Jaoassohn composer, dies at 70
1903 George G Stokes British physicist/presidential Royal Society, dies at 83
1904 Peter PM Alberdingk Thijm Dutch historian/writer, dies at 76
1905 Oswald Aschenbach German painter, dies at 77
1908 Carlos I King of Portugal (1889-1908), assassinated by mob at 44
1910 Otto Julius Bierbaum German writer (Irrgarten Der Liebe), dies at 44
1916 Anton Simon composer, dies at 65
1922 William Desmond Taylor director/actor (Broken Coin), dies at 49
1929 August Otto Halm composer, dies at 59
1937 Marguerite Audoux writer, dies
1944 Martin Lunssens composer, dies at 72
1944 Piet Mondrian abstract painter (Composition in Blue), dies at 71
1945 Johan Huizinga Dutch culture historian (Homo Ludens), dies at 72
1946 Hans Betghe writer, dies at 70
1949 Herbert Stothart composer, dies at 63
1950 Harry Blomberg Swedish author (Jacobs Dröm), dies at 56
1954 Julius P Hoste Belgian minister/newspaper publisher, dies at 69
1957 Friedrich von Paulus German field marshal (Stalingrad), dies at 66
1958 Clinton Joseph Davisson dies
1959 Madame Sul-To-Wan [Conley], actress (Birth of a Nation), dies at 85
1966 Nicholas Piantanida sets balloon flight record & dies in descent
1966 Buster Keaton [Joseph Francis], US comic (General), dies at 69
1966 Hedda Hopper [Elda Furry], US gossip columnist, dies at 75
1966 William Harrigan actor (Invisible Man, Girl in 419), dies at 71
1967 Ernie Bromley cricketer (2 Tests for Australia 1933-34), dies
1967 Langston Hughes poet/translator (Weary Blues), dies on 65th birthday
1968 Lawson Little amateur golfer (US/British Opens 1934, 35), dies at 57
1970 Blaz Arnic composer, dies at 69
1971 Jim A J Christy cricket (10 Tests for South Africa, 638 runs at 34 33), dies
1974 Lynda Ann Healy 1st Bundy murder victim, abducted in Seattle
1974 Marieluise Fleißer writer, dies at 71
1975 Richard Wattis actor (Dick & the Duchess, Liberace), dies at 62
1976 Edgar Pangborn sci-fi author (Judgment of Eve, Davy), dies at 66
1976 Werner C Heisenberg physicist (Nobel 1932, field theory), dies at 74
1977 Edmond [Moore] Hamilton US, sci-fi author (Danger Planet), dies at 72
1979 Mort Marshall actor (Cully-Dumplings), dies at 60
1980 Jack Bailey TV host (Queen for a Day), dies at 72
1980 Romolo Valli actor (Boom, La Viaccia), dies at 54
1981 Donald W Douglas US aviation pionieer/builder, dies at 88
1981 Ernst Pepping composer, dies at 79
1981 Nils Geirr Tveitt composer, dies at 72
1981 Wanda Hendrix actress (Sierra, Ride the Pink Horse), dies
1983 Tullio Campagnolo Italian bicycle manufacturer, dies
1986 Alva Myrdal Swedish Nobel peace prize winner (1982), dies at 84
1986 Dick James Beatles' music publisher (1962-70), dies in London at 58
1987 Erin Westmore makeup artist (Hollywood Backstage), dies at 82
1988 Heather O'Rourke "Poltergeist" star dies of intestinal ailment at 12
1988 Reinder Zwolsman Dutch businessman, dies at 75
1991 Carol Dempster actress (Sally of Sawdust, America), dies at 89
1991 H J van Ommeren-Averink Dutch MP (CPN), dies
1991 James G MacDonald cartoon voice (Mickey Mouse), dies at 84
1991 Phil Watson NHL coach (New York Rangers), dies
1992 George Berkeley actor (Life Stinks, Captains & the Kings), dies at 70
1992 Irving R Kaufman federal judge (Rosenberg Case), dies at 81
1994 Fouad Fram al-Boustani Lebanese historian (Rawaeaa), dies at 88
1994 Olan Soule radio voice (Super Friends), dies of lung cancer at 83
1995 George Abbot director (Damn Yankees), dies at 107
1995 John Smith CEO (Liverpool FC), dies at 74
1995 Michael Caesar pope of pot, dies of liver cancer at 52
1996 Clive Burton neuropathologist, dies at 54
1997 Herb Caen columnist, dies of lung cancer at 80
1997 Mitchell Goodman writer, dies at 71
1997 Peter Morris historian of France, dies at 50
1997 Thelma Moss psychologist, dies at 78

1781 Davidson College namesake killed at Cowan’s Ford

On this day in 1781, American Brigadier General William Lee Davidson dies in combat attempting to prevent General Charles Cornwallis’ army from crossing the Catawba River in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

Davidson’s North Carolina militia, numbering between 600 and 800 men, set up camp on the far side of the river, hoping to thwart or at least slow Cornwallis’ crossing. The Patriots stayed back from the banks of the river in order to prevent Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tartleton’s forces from fording the river at a different point and surprising the Patriots with a rear attack.

At 1 a.m., Cornwallis began to move his troops toward the ford; by daybreak, they were crossing in a double-pronged formation--one prong for horses, the other for wagons. The noise of the rough crossing, during which the horses were forced to plunge in over their heads in the storm-swollen stream, woke the sleeping Patriot guard.

The Patriots fired upon the Britons as they crossed and received heavy fire in return. Almost immediately upon his arrival at the river bank, General Davidson took a rifle ball to the heart and fell from his horse; his soaked corpse was found late that evening. Although Cornwallis’ troops took heavy casualties, the combat did little to slow their progress north toward Virginia.

General Davidson was the son of Ulster-Scot Presbyterian immigrants to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The family moved in 1748, two years after William’s birth, to what was then known as Rowan (now Iredell) County, North Carolina.

In 1835, Davidson’s son, William Lee Davidson II, gave the Concord Presbytery land on which to build a college in his father’s honor. The school was named Davidson College.
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1861 Texas secedes

Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the Union when a state convention votes 166 to 8 in favor of the measure.

The Texans who voted to leave the Union did so over the objections of their governor, Sam Houston. The hero of the Texas War for Independence was in his third term as the state's chief executive; a staunch Unionist, his election seemed to indicate that Texas did not share the rising secessionist sentiments of the other southern states.

But events in the year following Houston's election swayed many Texans to the secessionist cause. John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in October 1859 raised the specter of a massive slave insurrection, and the ascendant Republican Party made many Texans uneasy about continuing in the Union. After Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency, pressure mounted on Houston to call a convention so that Texas could consider secession. He did so reluctantly in January, and he sat in silence on February 1 as the convention voted overwhelmingly in favor of secession. Houston grumbled that Texans were "stilling the voice of reason," and he predicted an "ignoble defeat" for the South.

Texas' move completed the first round of secession. Seven states--South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas--left the Union before Lincoln took office. Four states--Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas-- waited until the formal start of the war with the firing on Ft. Sumter at Charleston, South Carolina, before deciding to leave the Union. The remaining slave states--Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri--never mustered the necessary majority for secession.
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1917 Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare

On this day in 1917, the lethal threat of the German U-boat submarine raises its head again, as Germany returns to the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare it had previously suspended in response to pressure from the United States and other neutral countries.

Unrestricted submarine warfare was first introduced in World War I in early 1915, when Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be attacked by the German navy. A string of attacks on merchant ships followed, culminating in the sinking of the British ship Lusitania by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915. Although the Lusitania was a British ship and it was carrying a supply of munitions—Germany used these two facts to justify the attack—it was principally a passenger ship, and the 1,201 people who drowned in its sinking included 128 Americans. The incident prompted U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to send a strongly worded note to the German government demanding an end to German attacks against unarmed merchant ships. By September 1915, the German government had imposed such strict constraints on the operation of the nation’s submarines that the German navy was persuaded to suspend U-boat warfare altogether.

German navy commanders, however, were ultimately not prepared to accept this degree of passivity, and continued to push for a more aggressive use of the submarine, convincing first the army and eventually the government, most importantly Kaiser Wilhelm, that the U-boat was an essential component of German war strategy. Planning to remain on the defensive on the Western Front in 1917, the supreme army command endorsed the navy’s opinion that unrestricted U-boat warfare against the British at sea could result in a German victory by the fall of 1917. In a joint audience with the kaiser on January 8, 1917, army and naval leaders presented their arguments to Wilhelm, who supported them in spite of the opposition of the German chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, who was not at the meeting. Though he feared antagonizing the U.S., Bethmann Hollweg accepted the kaiser’s decision, pressured as he was by the armed forces and the hungry and frustrated German public, which was angered by the continuing Allied naval blockade and which supported aggressive action towards Germany’s enemies.

On January 31, 1917, Bethmann Hollweg went before the German Reichstag government and made the announcement that unrestricted submarine warfare would resume the next day, February 1. “The destructive designs of our opponents cannot be expressed more strongly. We have been challenged to fight to the end. We accept the challenge. We stake everything, and we shall be victorious.”
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1943 Japanese begin evacuation of Guadalcanal

On this day, Japanese forces on Guadalcanal Island, defeated by Marines, start to withdraw after the Japanese emperor finally gives them permission.

On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island, part of the Solomon Islands chain, and began constructing an airfield. In response, the U.S. launched Operation Watchtower, in which American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain, including Guadalcanal. The landings on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tananbogo met with much initial opposition from the Japanese defenders, despite the fact that the landings took the Japanese by surprise because bad weather had grounded their scouting aircraft. "I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting," wrote one American major general on the scene. "These people refuse to surrender."

The Americans who landed on Guadalcanal had an easier time of it, at least initially. More than 11,000 Marines landed, but 24 hours passed before the Japanese manning the garrison knew what had happened. The U.S. forces quickly met their main objective of taking the airfield, and the outnumbered Japanese troops temporarily retreated. Japanese reinforcements were landed, though, and fierce hand-to-hand jungle fighting ensued. The Americans were at a particular disadvantage because they were assaulted from both sea and air, but when the U.S. Navy supplied reinforcement troops, the Americans gained the advantage. By February 1943, the Japanese retreated on secret orders of their emperor. In fact, the Japanese retreat was so stealthy that the Americans did not even know it had taken place until they stumbled upon abandoned positions, empty boats, and discarded supplies.

In total, the Japanese lost more than 25,000 men compared with a loss of 1,600 by the Americans. Each side lost 24 warships.
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1964 Operation Plan 34A commences

U.S. and South Vietnamese naval forces initiate Operation Plan (Oplan) 34A, which calls for raids by South Vietnamese commandos, operating under American orders, against North Vietnamese coastal and island installations.

Although American forces were not directly involved in the actual raids, U.S. Navy ships were on station to conduct electronic surveillance and monitor North Vietnamese defense responses under another program called Operation De Soto. The Oplan 34A attacks played a major role in events that led to what became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. On August 2, 1964, North Vietnamese patrol boats, responding to an Oplan 34A attack by South Vietnamese gunboats against the North Vietnamese island of Hon Me, attacked the destroyer USS Maddox which was conducting a De Soto mission in the area. Two days after the first attack, there was another incident that still remains unclear. The Maddox, joined by destroyer USS C. Turner Joy, engaged what were thought at the time to be more attacking North Vietnamese patrol boats.

Although it was questionable whether the second attack actually happened, the incident provided the rationale for retaliatory air attacks against the North Vietnamese and the subsequent Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which became the basis for the initial escalation of the war in Vietnam, and ultimately the insertion of U.S. combat troops into the area.
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1968 Nixon announces his candidacy for president

Richard M. Nixon announces his candidacy for the presidency. Most observers had written off Nixon's political career eight years earlier, when he had lost to John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election.

Two years after losing to Kennedy, Nixon ran for governor of California and lost in a bitter campaign against Edmund G. ("Pat") Brown, but by 1968 he had sufficiently recovered his political standing in the Republican Party to announce his candidacy for president. Taking a stance between the more conservative elements of his party, led by Ronald Reagan, and the liberal northeastern wing, led by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Nixon won the nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.

Nixon chose Spiro T. Agnew, the governor of Maryland, as his running mate. Nixon's Democratic opponent, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, was weakened by internal divisions within his own party and the growing dissatisfaction with the Johnson administration's handling of the war in Vietnam. Alabama governor George C. Wallace, running on a third party ticket, further complicated the election. Although Nixon and Humphrey each garnered about 43 percent of the popular vote, the distribution of Nixon's nearly 32 million votes gave him a clear majority in the Electoral College, and he won the election.