On This Day in History - February 2 First Groundhog Day

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history


Feb 2, 1887: First Groundhog Day

On this day in 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist, is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.  

Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas Day, when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal--the hedgehog--as a means of predicting weather. Once they came to America, German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the Keystone State.  

Groundhogs, also called woodchucks and whose scientific name is Marmota monax, typically weigh 12 to 15 pounds and live six to eight years. They eat vegetables and fruits, whistle when they're frightened or looking for a mate and can climb trees and swim. They go into hibernation in the late fall; during this time, their body temperatures drop significantly, their heartbeats slow from 80 to five beats per minute and they can lose 30 percent of their body fat. In February, male groundhogs emerge from their burrows to look for a mate (not to predict the weather) before going underground again. They come out of hibernation for good in March.  

In 1887, a newspaper editor belonging to a group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney called the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club declared that Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America's only true weather-forecasting groundhog. The line of groundhogs that have since been known as Phil might be America's most famous groundhogs, but other towns across North America now have their own weather-predicting rodents, from Birmingham Bill to Staten Island Chuck to Shubenacadie Sam in Canada.  

In 1993, the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray popularized the usage of "groundhog day" to mean something that is repeated over and over. Today, tens of thousands of people converge on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney each February 2 to witness Phil's prediction. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club hosts a three-day celebration featuring entertainment and activities.







Feb 2, 1943: Germans surrender at Stalingrad

On this day, the last of the German forces fighting at Stalingrad surrender, despite Hitler's earlier declaration that "Surrender is out of the question. The troops will defend themselves to the last!"  

The Battle of Stalingrad began in the summer of 1942, as German forces assaulted the city, a major industrial center and a potential strategic coup. But despite repeated attempts, the German 6th Army, under Friedrich von Paulus, and part of the 4th Panzer Army, under Ewald von Kleist, could not break past the adamantine defense by the Soviet 62nd Army, despite pushing the Soviets almost to the Volga River in mid-October and encircling Stalingrad.  

Diminishing resources, partisan guerilla attacks, and the cruelty of the Russian winter began to take their toll on the Germans. On November 19, the Soviets made their move, launching a counteroffensive that began with a massive artillery bombardment of the German position. The Soviets then encircled the enemy, launching pincer movements from north and south simultaneously, even as the Germans encircled Stalingrad. The German position soon became untenable. Surrender was their only hope for survival. But Hitler wouldn't hear of it: "The 6th Army will hold its positions to the last man and the last round." Von Paulus held out until January 31, 1943, when he finally surrendered. Of more than 280,000 men under Paulus' command, half were already dead or dying, about 35,000 had been evacuated from the front, and the remaining 91,000 were hauled off to Soviet POW camps.  

Pockets of German belligerence continued until February 2. Hitler berated Von Paulus for not committing suicide. Von Paulus, captured by the Soviets, repaid Hitler by selling out to the Soviets, joining the National Committee for Free Germany, and urging German troops to surrender on other battlegrounds in the USSR.











Feb 2, 1971: Idi Amin takes power in Uganda

One week after toppling the regime of Ugandan leader Milton Obote, Major General Idi Amin declares himself president of Uganda and chief of the armed forces. Amin, head of the Ugandan army and air force since 1966, seized power while Obote was out of the country.  

Ruling directly, Amin soon revealed himself as an extreme nationalist and tyrant. In 1972, he launched a genocidal program to purge Uganda of its Lango and Acholi ethnic groups. Later that year, he ordered all Asians to leave the country, and some 60,000 Indians and Pakistanis fled, thrusting Uganda into economic collapse. A Muslim, he reversed Uganda's friendly relations with Israel and sought closer ties with Libya and the Palestinians. In 1976, he made himself president for life and stepped up his suppression of various ethnic groups and political opponents in the military and elsewhere.  

In 1978, Amin invaded Tanzania in an attempt to annex the Kagera region and divert attention from Uganda's internal problems. In 1979, Tanzania launched a successful counteroffensive with the assistance of the Uganda National Liberation Front, a coalition of various armed Ugandan exiles. Amin and his government fled the country, and Obote returned from exile to reassume the Ugandan presidency. Amin received asylum from Saudi Arabia. He is believed to have been responsible for the murder of as many as 300,000 Ugandans, though he never stood trial for his crimes.  

Amin died on August 16, 2003, in Saudi Arabia.








Feb 2, 1781: Nathanael Greene finds fortification at Steele's Tavern

On this day in 1781, American General Nathanael Greene receives two bags of specie (coin as opposed to paper currency) from Elizabeth Maxwell Steele at her tavern in Salisbury, North Carolina--an incident later memorialized in a painting by Alonzo Chappel.  

General Greene spent the night of February 1 until midnight awaiting the remaining militia from the previous day's encounter at Cowan's Ford in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. But the militia never arrived at the appointed meeting spot, David Carr's house on the road to the town of Salisbury, and General Greene soon learned of Brigadier General William Davidson's death at Cowan's Ford the previous day. He also learned that British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton's Dragoons had launched a surprise attack on Davidson's remaining forces gathered at Tarrant's (or Torrence's) Tavern six miles south of Carr's, killing between 10 and 50 men. The battle-weary militia took significant casualties before alighting on horseback.  

Greene rode overnight and arrived at Steele's Tavern for breakfast on the morning of February 2. Once there, Greene told his physician, who was also at the tavern, that he was hungry and penniless. After overhearing their conversation, Mrs. Steele saw first to Greene's hunger with breakfast and then gave him the much-needed money to supply both him and his army.  

With his mood boosted, Greene inscribed the back of Mrs. Steele's portrait of George III, O George, Hide thy face and mourn, before turning it to face the wall. The picture and inscription remain at the Thyatira Presbyterian Church Museum, in Salisbury, North Carolina.  

Greene's circumstances improved greatly while in Salisbury. First, he garnered Mrs. Steele's aid. Second, he discovered a collection of more than 1,700 Continental arms stashed away for the militia. In writing Baron von Steuben the following day, Greene happily observed that the Patriot's distribution of publick stores is enough to ruin a nation.











Feb 2, 1979: Sid Vicious dies of a drug overdose in New York City

To the New York City Police Department and Medical Examiner's Office, he was John Simon Ritchie, a 22-year-old Englishman under indictment for murder but now dead of a heroin overdose in a Greenwich Village apartment. To the rest of the world, he was Sid Vicious, former bassist for the notorious Sex Pistols and the living embodiment of everything punk rock stood for and against. His death, which likely came as a surprise to very few, came on this day in 1979.  

Sid Vicious was the last member to join the Sex Pistols, taking over for fired bassist Glen Matlock in early 1977. What he famously did not bring to the table was musical ability. Vicious faked his way through early gigs with the band, reportedly with his amplifier occasionally unplugged on stage by his own band mates. What he didn't have to fake was the attitude. Sid Vicious was the perfect living embodiment of the punk esthetic, a street kid who really did walk around London with a swastika on his chest, a padlocked chain around his neck and a gigantic chip on his shoulder. As his good friend the critic and author Alan Jones put it, "Sid, on image alone, is what all punk rests on."  

Seven months into his tenure as a Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious was introduced to a troubled American girl on the London punk scene named Nancy Spungen. Almost immediately, they began a relationship that led to both of their deaths. By all reports, they were very much in love, but their shared heroin addiction led to repeated instances of violence between them. Sid's addiction may have hastened the dissolution of the Sex Pistols midway through their first U.S. tour in January 1978, and it certainly contributed to the still mysterious events surrounding Nancy's death by stabbing on October 12 of that same year in the Chelsea Hotel room she shared with Vicious in New York City.  

Freed on bail after his arrest for the Spungen murder, Sid landed himself back in jail in December 1978 for assaulting Patti Smith's brother in a bar with a broken bottle. After seven weeks of detention and detox in the Rikers Island jail, Vicious made bail again on February 1, 1979. Late that same night, at a party, he would put heroin into his system that the Medical Examiner would later estimate to have been 80% pure. Sid Vicious died in the early morning hours of February 2, 1979.










Feb 2, 1882: James Joyce is born

Novelist James Joyce is born this day in Dublin, Ireland, the eldest of 10 children. His father, a cheerful ne'er-do-well, will eventually go bankrupt.  

Joyce attended Catholic school and University College in Dublin. A brilliant scholar, he learned Dano-Norwegian in order to read the plays of Henrik Ibsen in the original. In college, he began a lifetime of literary rebellion, self-publishing an essay rejected by the school's literary magazine adviser.  

After graduation, Joyce moved to Paris. He planned to become a doctor to support himself while writing, but soon gave up his medical studies. He returned to Dublin to visit his mother's deathbed and remained to teach school and work odd jobs. On June 16, 1904, he met Nora Barnacle, a lively uneducated woman with whom he fell in love. He convinced Nora to return to Europe with him. The couple settled in Trieste, where they had two children, and then in Zurich. Joyce struggled with serious eye problems, undergoing 25 operations for various troubles between 1917 and 1930.  

In 1914, he published The Dubliners. The following year, his novel Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man brought him fame and won him several wealthy patrons, including Edith Rockefeller.  

In 1818, the American journal Little Review began to serialize Ulysses, Joyce's revolutionary stream-of-consciousness novel. However, the U.S. Post Office stopped the publication's distribution in December of that year on the grounds that the novel was obscene. Sylvia Beach, owner of the bookstore Shakespeare and Co. in Paris, published the novel herself in 1922, but it was banned in the United Kingdom and in the United States until 1933.
  
Joyce's last novel, Finnegan's Wake, was published in 1939, and Joyce died two years later.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

506 - King Alarik II of Visigoten delegates Lex Romania Visigothorum out

962 - Pope John XII crowns German King Otto I the Great Emperor

1032 - Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy, succeeding Rudolf III

1119 - Guido di Borgogna elected Pope Callistus II

1141 - Battle at Lincoln: King Stephen captured

1461 - 2nd battle of St Alban's-Lancastrian defeat Yorkists

1536 - Pedro de Mendoza finds Argentine city of Buenos Aires

1542 - Portuguese under Christovão da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.

1550 - English Edward Seymour duke of Somerset, freed

1633 - M Rossi's opera "Erminia sul Giordano," premieres in Rome

1637 - Zorilla's "El más Impropio Verdugo Para Las," premieres in Madrid

1653 - New Amsterdam becomes a city (later renamed New York City)

1709 - British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being marooned on a desert island for 5 years, his story inspires "Robinson Crusoe"

1714 - Nicholas Rowe's "tragedy of Jane Shore," premieres in London

1731 - George F Handel's opera "Poro," premieres in London

1732 - King Frederik Willem I moves Lutherans towards East-Prussia

1742 - British Walpole government resigns

1762 - Thomas Arnes opera "Artaxerxes," premieres in London

1787 - Arthur St. Clair is elected the 9th President of the President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation.

Composer George Friedrich HandelComposer George Friedrich Handel 1795 - Joseph Haydns 102nd Symphony in B, premieres

1798 - Federal St Theater, Boston, becomes 1st in US destroyed by fire

1802 - 1st leopard exhibited in US, Boston (admission 25 cents)

1811 - Russian settlers establish Ft Ross trading post, north of SF

1823 - Rossini's opera "Semiramide" premieres in Venice

1829 - Madman Jonathan Martin sets York Cathedral afire, does £60,000 damage

1843 - US & British settlers in Oregon Country choose government committee

1848 - 1st ship load of Chinese arrive in SF

1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends Mexican War; US acquires Texas California, New Mexico & Arizona for $15 million

1852 - 1st British public men's toilet opens (Fleet St London)

1852 - Alexandre Dumas Jr's "Le Dame aux Camélias," premieres in Paris

1854 - Pope Pius IX encyclical "On persecution of Armenians"

1863 - Samuel Clemens becomes Mark Twain for 1st time

1864 - -Oct 7th) Cruise of CSS Florida

1869 - James Oliver invents removable tempered steel plow blade

1870 - Cardiff Giant (supposed petrified human) proved to be gypsum

1876 - Baseball's National League forms with teams in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Hartford, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, St Louis

1878 - Greece declares war on Turkey

1880 - SS Strathleven arrives in London with 1st Australian frozen mutton

1882 - Knights of Columbus forms in New Haven, Conn

1887 - In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.

1892 - Bottle cap with cork seal patented by William Painter (Baltimore)

1892 - Johnny Briggs takes a hat-trick, England v Aust SCG

1892 - Longest boxing match under modern rules; 77 rounds in Nameoki, Illinois between Harry Sharpe & Frank Crosby

1893 - 1st movie close-up (of a sneeze), Edison studio, West Orange, NJ

1894 - US warship Kearsarge wrecked on Roncador Reef, near Solomon Island

1899 - The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital (Canberra) between Sydney and Melbourne.

1900 - Gustave Charpentiers opera "Louise" premieres in Paris

1901 - Female Army Nurse Corps established as a permanent organization

1901 - Queen Victoria's funeral takes place.

1906 - Pope encyclical against separation of church & state

1909 - Italian writer Marinetti publishes Futurist Manifest in Paris

1912 - Frederick R Law, parachutes from Statue of Liberty (stunt for Pathe)

Versatile Athlete Jim ThorpeVersatile Athlete Jim Thorpe 1913 - NY football Giants sign Jim Thorpe

1913 - NYC's Grand Central Terminal opens

1914 - James Royce Shannon's musical "Shameen Dhu," premieres in NYC

1919 - Monarchist riot in Portugal

1920 - Estonia declares its Independence from Russia (Dorpat Peace)

1920 - France occupies (German) Memel territory

1920 - Tarto/Dorpat peace treaty: USSR recognizes Estonian independence

1922 - It was 2:22:22 on 2/2/22

1922 - James Joyce's "Ulysses" published in Paris (1,000 copies)

1923 - Ethyl gasoline 1st marketed, Dayton, Ohio

1923 - US signs friendship treaty with Central American countries

1924 - International Ski Federation (FIS) forms

1925 - Belgian episcopacy rejects liberalism, communism & socialism

1925 - Dogsleds reach Nome with emergency diphtheria serum after 1000-km

1925 - NL holds Golden Jubilee Year meeting at same hotel where NL began

Novelist & Poet James JoyceNovelist & Poet James Joyce 1926 - 3 men dance Charleston for 22 hours

1927 - Harry Tierney/Joseph McCarthy's "Rio Rita," premieres in NYC

1927 - Ziegfeld Theater (Loew's Ziegfeld) opens at 6th Ave & 54th St NYC

1931 - 1st siyyum of Talmud celebrated by Daf Yomi students

1931 - 1st use of a rocket to deliver mail (Austria)

1932 - Al Capone sent to prison (Atlanta, Georgia)

1932 - Geneva disarmament conference begins with 60 countries

1932 - Grimmett takes 14 wickets v South Africa (7-116 & 7-83)

1932 - Reconstruction Finance Corp organized

1933 - 2 days after becoming chancellor, Adolf Hitler dissolves Parliament

1933 - Hermann Goering bans communist meetings/demonstrations in Germany

1933 - Ucicky's "Rotten Morning," premieres in Berlin

1934 - Dutch RC Bishops warn against fascism/nazism

1935 - Lie detector 1st used in court (Portage Wisc)

1935 - Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine.

Singer/Actor Frank SinatraSinger/Actor Frank Sinatra 1940 - Frank Sinatra's singing debut in Indianapolis (Tommy Dorsey Orch)

1942 - LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans

1942 - US auto factories switch from commercial to war production

1943 - Battle of Stalingrad ends with final surrender of the German army

1943 - Cubs return to original uniform after experimenting with a vest

1943 - German 6th Army surrenders at Stalingrad, turning point of WW II

1944 - 4th US marine division conquerors Roi, Marshall Islands

1944 - Allied troops 1st set foot on Japanese territory

1944 - Baseball meets in NYC to discuss postwar action

1944 - Edward Chodorov's "Decision," premieres in NYC

1945 - Escape attempt at Mauthausen concentration camp

1946 - "Nellie Bly" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 16 performances

1946 - The Proclamation of Hungarian Republic is made.

1948 - President Harry Truman urges congress to adopt a civil rights program

1949 - Golfing champ Ben Hogan seriously injured in an auto accident

Nazi Politician Hermann GoeringNazi Politician Hermann Goering 1950 - "Arms & the Girl" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 134 performances

1950 - 1st broadcast of "What's My Line," on CBS-TV

1951 - -35°F (-37°C), Greensburg, Indiana (state record until 1994)

1951 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1954 - Bevo Francis, Rio Grande College, scores 113 pts in basketball game

1954 - Pres Eisenhower reports detonation of 1st H-bomb (done in 1952)

1954 - Snow falls on Gibraltar

1955 - 1st presidential news conference on network TV-Eisenhower on ABC

1956 - Coasters sign with Atlantic Records

1957 - "Candide" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 73 performances

1957 - UN adopts a resolution calling for Israeli troops to leave Egypt

1958 - Fay Crocker wins LPGA Havana Biltmore Golf Open

1958 - Syria joins Egypt in United Arab Republic

1958 - WRIK (now WLUZ) TV channel 7 in Ponce, PR (PTC) begins broadcasting

1959 - Buddy Holly's last performance

Singer -songwriter Buddy HollySinger -songwriter Buddy Holly 1959 - Vince Lombardi signs a 5 year contract to coach Green Bay Packers

1960 - Michale Eufemia sinks 625 balls in pool match without a miss

1961 - Prince Bernhard opens new RAI building in Amsterdam

1962 - 1st pole vault over 16' (4.88m) (John Uelses-16', Melrose Games)

1962 - 8 of 9 planets align for 1st time in 400 years

1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1963 - Helen Shapiro begins tour (Beatles are part of undercard)

1964 - GI Joe, debuts as a popular American boy's toy

1964 - Sjoukje Dijkstra (Neth) wins Olympic gold for figure skating

1964 - Red Faber, Burleigh Grimes, Tim Keefe, Heinie Manush, John Montgomery Ward, & Miller Huggins are selected to Hall of Fame

1965 - Joe Ortons "Loot," premieres in Brighton

1966 - Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir dispute as number one item for the proposed Indo-Pak ministerial talks after 1965 war.

1967 - Bolivia adopts its constitution

1967 - Formation of American Basketball Association is announced

1968 - Springer Publishers in West Berlin, bombed

1969 - KMST TV channel 46 in Monterey-Salinas, CA (CBS) begins broadcasting

1969 - Stan Coveleski & Waite Hoyt are voted into baseball Hall of Fame

1970 - Pete Maravich becomes 1st to score 3,000 college basketball points

1971 - Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote to become dictator of Uganda

1972 - Lefty Gomez, Ross Youngs & William Harridge selected for Hall of Fame

Playwright Tom StoppardPlaywright Tom Stoppard 1972 - Tom Stoppard's "Jumpers," premieres in London

1973 - "Midnight Special" rock music show debuts on NBC-TV

1973 - James R Schlesinger, becomes 9th director of CIA (until July)

1973 - Richath Helms, ends term as 8th director of CIA

1973 - Test Cricket debut of Richard John Hadlee, NZ v Pakistan, Wellington

1974 - Barbra Striesand's 1st #1 hit, "The Way We Were"

1974 - Pope Paul VI encyclical "To Honor Mary"

1974 - Smallest crowd at Cleveland Arena (Cavs vs Golden State-1,641)

1974 - The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.

1975 - Army offensive against rebels in Eritrea Ethiopia

1975 - Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational

1975 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Dorothy Hamill

1975 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon McKellen Jr

1976 - "Honeymooners Second Honeymoon" airs on TV

1976 - "Rich Little Show," debuts on NBC-TV

1976 - Roger Connor, Fred Lindstrom & ump Cal Hubbard elected to Hall of Fame

1977 - Burn up of Salyut 4 Space Station (USSR)

1977 - Radio Shack officially begins creating TRS-80 computer

1977 - Toronto's Ian Turnbull scores 5 goals, NHL REcord for a defenseman

1980 - FBI releases details of Abscam, a sting operation that targeted 31 elected & public officials for bribes for political favors

1982 - Government troops & Moslem-fundamentalists battle in Hamah Syria

1982 - San Diego beats Miami 41-38 in OT after blowing a 24-0 lead

1982 - Hama Massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama and kills thousands of people.

1983 - Chicago Absp Joseph L Bernardin is among 18 new cardinals invested

264th Pope John Paul II264th Pope John Paul II 1983 - Pope John Paul II names 18 new cardinals

1984 - 8th Soap Opera Digest Poll Awards

1984 - Lebanese army fight in Beirut

1985 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano

1986 - "Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood" closes at Ritz NYC after 13 perfs

1986 - Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic

1986 - Dalai Lama meets Pope John Paul II in India

1986 - NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 28-24

1986 - Oscar Arias Sanchez elected president of Costa Rica

1987 - KC Royal pitcher Dennis Leonard (3X 20 game winner), retires

1987 - Philippines adopts constitution

1988 - David Boon's 6th Test Cricket century, 184* v England at Sydney

1989 - 0°F (-18°C) or below in 15 US states

1989 - FW de Klerk replaces Botha as South Africa's National Party leader

1989 - NL announces Yanks' broadcaster Bill White will be 1st black president

Anti-apartheid activist and South African President Nelson MandelaAnti-apartheid activist and South African President Nelson Mandela 1990 - South Africa's Pres FW de Klerk promises to free Nelson Mandela & legalizes ANC & 60 other political orgs

1991 - Aravinda De Silva scores 267 v NZ at Wellington

1991 - NH snaps its 32-game losing streak at home beating Holy Cross, 72-56

1991 - US postage is raised from 25 cents to 29 cents

1991 - Sting scores his second UK No.1 album with 'The Soul Cages'

1992 - Colleen Walker wins Oldsmobile LPGA Golf Classic

1992 - Danny Everett runs world record 400m indoor (45.02 sec)

1992 - David Boon's 13 Test Cricket century, 107 v India at Perth

1992 - IRS & Willie Nelson settle on $9M tax bill (of $16.7M)

1992 - Kieren Perkins swims world record 1500m freestyle (14:32.40)

1992 - NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 21-15

1993 - Frito Lay pays court ordered $2,500,000 to Tom Wait for using his song

1993 - Irina Privalova runs world record 50m indoor (6.05 sec)

1995 - "Moliere Comedies" opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 56 performances

1995 - Henry Olonga no-balled for throwing in Zimbabwe-Pakistan Test Cricket

Country Singer Willie NelsonCountry Singer Willie Nelson 1995 - US space shuttle Discovery launched

1996 - Ali Landry, 22, (Louisiana), crowned 45th Miss USA

1997 - "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" closes at Gershwin NYC

1997 - Mark O'Meara wins Pebble Beach National Golf Pro-am

1997 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 26-23 (OT)

1997 - Royal Caribbean Senior Golf Classic

1998 - Daniel Baldwin hospitalized in NYC for cocaine overdose

1998 - Philippine DC-9 crashes apparently killing all 104 on board

2003 - Jennifer Lopez starts a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'All I Have'

2003 - Russian pop girl duo Tatu start a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'All The Things She Said'

2003 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 45-23

2012 - Cold snap across Europe kills more than 100 people (over 400 people by 08-02)

2012 - MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papa New Guinea with 246 people saved and 126 missing (100 of these estimated to be trapped inside)

2012 - NHL player Sam Gagner becomes the first player to scores eight points in one game for the Edmonton Oilers against the Chicago Blackhawks since 1989

2013 - 23 people are killed and 8 are injured after militants attacked an army base in the Lakki Marwat District, Pakistan

2013 - Shinzō Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister, vows to defend the Senkaku Islands "at all costs"

2013 - 18 people are killed and 34 are injured after a bus catches fire after falling down a ravine in Gansu province, China

1536 - The Argentine city of Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.   1653 - New Amsterdam, now known as New York City, was incorporated.   1802 - The first leopard to be exhibited in the United States was shown by Othello Pollard in Boston, MA.   1848 - The Mexican War was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty turned over portions of land to the U.S., including Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, California and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The U.S. gave Mexico $15,000,000 and assumed responsibility of all claims against Mexico by American citizens. Texas had already entered the U.S. on December 29, 1845.   1848 - The first shipload of Chinese emigrants arrived in San Francisco, CA.   1863 - Samuel Langhorne Clemens used a pseudonym for the first time. He is better remembered by the pseudonym which is Mark Twain.   1870 - The "Cardiff Giant" was revealed to be nothing more than carved gypsum. The discovery in Cardiff, NY, was alleged to be the petrified remains of a human.   1876 - The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (known as the National League) was formed in New York. The teams included were the Chicago White Stockings, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Mutual of New York, St. Louis Brown Stockings, Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Louisville Grays.   1878 - Greece declared war on Turkey.   1880 - The S.S. Strathleven arrived in London with the first successful shipment of frozen mutton from Australia.   1887 - The beginning of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA.   1892 - William Painter patented the bottle cap.   1893 - The Edison Studio in West Orange, NJ, made history when they filmed the first motion picture close-up. The studio was owned and operated by Thomas Edison.   1897 - The Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg was destroyed by fire. The new statehouse was dedicated nine years later on the same site.   1913 - Grand Central Terminal officially opened at 12:01 a.m. Even though construction was not entirely complete more than 150,000 people visited the new terminal on its opening day.   1935 - Leonard Keeler conducted the first test of the polygraph machine, in Portage, WI.   1943 - During World War II, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered to the Soviets. Stalingrad has since been renamed Volgograd.   1945 - U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill left for a summit in Yalta with Soviet leader Josef Stalin.   1946 - The first Buck Rogers automatic pistol was made.   1946 - The Mutual Broadcasting System aired "Twenty Questions" for the first time on radio. The show moved to television 3 years later.   1949 - Golfer Ben Hogan was seriously injured in an auto accident in Van Horn, TX.   1950 - "What's My Line" debuted on CBS television.   1962 - The 8th and 9th planets aligned for the first time in 400 years.   1967 - The American Basketball Association was formed by representatives of the NBA.   1971 - Idi Amin assumed power in Uganda after a coup that ousted President Milton Obote.   1980 - The situation known as "Abscam" began when reports surfaced that the FBI had conducted a sting operation that targeted members of the U.S. Congress. A phony Arab businessmen were used in the operation.   1989 - The final Russian armored column left Kabul, Afghanistan, after nine years of military occupation.   1990 - South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted a ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela.   1998 - U.S. President Clinton introduced the first balanced budget in 30 years.   1999 - 19 people were killed at Luanda international airport when a cargo plane crashed just after takeoff.   1999 - Hugo Chávez Frías took office. He had been elected president of Venezuela in December 1998.   2004 - It was reported that a white powder had been found in an office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) later confirmed that the powder was the poison ricin.


1536 The city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Mendoza. 1709 Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, was rescued after four years alone on an island off the coast of Chile. 1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican War, was signed. In the treaty, Mexico ceded to the United States a huge portion of what is today the American West and Southwest, including California and New Mexico. 1870 The Cardiff Giant was revealed to be a hoax. 1876 The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was formed. 1887 The first gathering at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsatawney, Pa. to wait for the groundhog's shadow occurred. 1922 James Joyce's Ulysses was published. 1943 Nazi troops surrendered in the World War II Battle of Stalingrad. 1971 Idi Amin became dictator of Uganda. 1980 The Abscam scandal was revealed. 1990 South African President F. W. de Klerk lifted a ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela. 2003 Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel stepped down after 13 years.



The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/feb02.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

Joe Namath To Admit He Has Brain Damage Caused By Football

In a story that might have more to do with the John Moffitt story than it may seem at first glance, legendary Jets quarterback Joe Namath, who is most famous for having brashly guaranteed a Jets victory over the prohibitively favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, and then delivered with a solid performance, as the Jets won 16-7, has admitted to having had brain damage caused from football.

On an interview set to air on "CBS Sunday Morning", Namath will discuss the damage that he sustained during his football career, which included not only the brain damage that he will detail further presumably during the interview, but also sustained serious knee injuries (he had to get both knees replaced).

Here are just some of the quotes taken from the Yahoo Sports Shutdown Corner article (and there are surely more to come when the interview is aired):

“I’ve been some through some things medically,” Namath told CBS News reporter Rita Braver. “I’ve seen some things on my brain. But I’ve had some treatment – and I’ve improved."

"None of the body was designed to play football," he said. "Excuse me, you know, football, we’re just not designed for.”

Namath now becomes the highest profile former football player to acknowledge brain damage specifically from playing the sport of football.

Not long ago, it was relatively easy to gloss over such issues, to make light of them, or even dismiss them. The NFL seemed intent on doing just that. It was only a fringe group that expressed real concern, and a desire to change.

Over time, however, the chargers, and the credibility behind them, grew in the public eye, to the point that the NFL could no longer ignore it. Some people have even called for the banning of football. Some have argued that children, including high schoolers, should not be subjected to it. Some have gone farther, and suggested that college football programs are inappropriate and should be banned. And some, still a fringe group at this point, have even argued that professional football needs to go.

Time will tell if those arguments gain traction in the future.

The interview with Joe Namath will air tomorrow morning on CBS's "Sunday Morning" program (check local listings):

Here is the link to the Namath article:


"Joe Namath says he has brain damage from football"  by Jay Busbee of Yahoo Sports Shutdown Corner, January 31, 2014:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/joe-namath-says-he-has-brain-damage-from-football-173756972.html

One Player From Both the Seahawks and the Broncos Will Not Be There For Super Bowl

So, there is one player who was recently a member of both teams participating in the Super Bowl this Sunday, but will not be playing for either side. Nor was he traded to another team, or injured.

No, his story is very different. This man's name is John Moffitt, and he was the guard for the Denver Broncos until November of this past season. He played for the Seattle Seahawks last season.

But he will not be playing for either Denver or Seattle on Sunday, nor will he be on the sidelines for either side.

The reason? He walked away from the game.

And in this era of football, where the reports of injuries caused specifically by the game of football, and what the appropriate response by NFL should be, are gaining traction, Moffitt's decision to walk away from a game that was rewarding him handsomely in terms of money makes bigger news. For that matter, that he is the only player this year to have played (even if only during the preseason) for both Super Bowl teams, makes this an especially relevant and high profile case, because the toll that the game was taking on his body was a factor in why he left it all behind.

That was not the only reason that he left. He told John Elway he was walking away from the Broncos because he had lost his passion for the game. But he also was uncomfortable with some aspects, such as the idol worship, the fame that he felt simply went too far. These men were playing a game, and had not done things to greatly improve society, although they were treated almost as such.

He also cited the writings of Noam Chomsky, as well as Tibetan Buddhism, both of which he had studied while majoring in sociology at the University of Wisconsin.

Moffitt was selected as a third round pick out of Wisconsin by the Seattle Seahawks, and remained there until he was traded this past August to the Denver Broncos. The Broncos were a hot team all season long, and many people favored them to go, and to even win, the Super Bowl. Moffitt might have had his chance to play in the big game, but he said that he didn't care about the Super Bowl.

Whether he cares or not, as a member of the team (actually both teams) he is supposed to get a ring from at least one of the teams. He was technically a member of both the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos this season.

Here, in his own words, are some of the quotes from a couple of different articles (see the links below) from the Raw Story and Yahoo's Shutdown Corner:

Quotes from Shutdown Corner (by Frank Schwab, November 6, 2013):

"I just really thought about it and decided I'm not happy. I'm not happy at all," Moffitt told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Seattle. "And I think it's really madness to risk your body, risk your well-being and risk your happiness for money.

"Everybody, they just don't get it and they think it's crazy. But I think what I was doing is crazy."




"I just want to be happy," Moffitt told the AP. "And I find that people that have the least in life are sometimes the happiest. And I don't have the least in life. I have enough in life. And I won't sacrifice my health for that.

"I'm not trying to be the poster boy for 'Oh, I thought I should leave because of concussions.' I'm just saying, it's a valid point. I love the game and I respect the game and everybody who plays it knows what they risk and I knew what I risked when I played, and I'm no longer willing to risk it."





"Once you tear away all the illusions of it, it's hard work. And it's dangerous work. And you're away from your family. And it's not good for families. It's very tough on families," he said, according to the AP.



Quotes from the Raw Story (Travis Gettys, November 12, 2013):

“I’ve saved enough. It’s not like I’m sitting here and I’m a millionaire,” Moffitt said. “That’s what I kind of realized. I’m sitting here and I got to this point and I was like, what is the number that you need? How much do you really need? What do you want in life? And I decided that I don’t really need to be a millionaire.”

“I don’t care about the Super Bowl. I don’t,” Moffitt said. “I used to. I mean, anytime I played this game, I gave my heart to it and I’m a person that does thing with his heart. … I don’t need the Super Bowl experience. I played in great stadiums and I played against great players. And I had that experience and it’s enough.”



John Moffitt is trying out radio, wanting to make his living doing that now, in his post-football life.



Here are the links to three articles about Moffitt's story:

"NFL player cites reading Noam Chomsky among reasons he quit playing pro football" by Travis Gettys of Raw Story,Tuesday, November 12, 2013:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/12/nfl-player-cites-noam-chomsky-among-reasons-he-quit-playing-pro-football/

"Broncos' quiet O-line makes loud statement" by By ARNIE STAPLETON (AP Pro Football Writer), January 28, 2014:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/broncos-39-quiet-o-line-230314026--nfl.html;_ylt=AwrBEiHAd.tSTXMAfElNbK5_



"Offensive lineman John Moffitt walks away from the NFL, says he’s ‘not happy at all’." by  Frank Schwab  By Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports Shutdown Corner, November 6, 2013:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/offensive-lineman-john-moffitt-walks-away-nfl-says-211429267--nfl.html;_ylt=AwrBEiHAd.tSTXMAe0lNbK5_

On This Day in History - February 1 Columbia Mission Ends in Disaster

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

Feb 1, 2003: Columbia mission ends in disaster

On this day in 2003, the space shuttle Columbia breaks up while entering the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven crew members on board.  

The Columbia's 28th space mission, designated STS-107, was originally scheduled to launch on January 11, 2001, but was delayed numerous times for a variety of reasons over nearly two years. Columbia finally launched on January 16, 2003, with a crew of seven. Eighty seconds into the launch, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the shuttle's propellant tank and hit the edge of the shuttle's left wing.  

Cameras focused on the launch sequence revealed the foam collision but engineers could not pinpoint the location and extent of the damage. Although similar incidents had occurred on three prior shuttle launches without causing critical damage, some engineers at the space agency believed that the damage to the wing could cause a catastrophic failure. Their concerns were not addressed in the two weeks that Columbia spent in orbit because NASA management believed that even if major damage had been caused, there was little that could be done to remedy the situation.  

Columbia reentered the earth's atmosphere on the morning of February 1. It wasn't until 10 minutes later, at 8:53 a.m.--as the shuttle was 231,000 feet above the California coastline traveling at 23 times the speed of sound--that the first indications of trouble began. Because the heat-resistant tiles covering the left wing's leading edge had been damaged or were missing, wind and heat entered the wing and blew it apart.  

The first debris began falling to the ground in west Texas near Lubbock at 8:58 a.m. One minute later, the last communication from the crew was heard, and at 9 a.m. the shuttle disintegrated over southeast Texas, near Dallas. Residents in the area heard a loud boom and saw streaks of smoke in the sky. Debris and the remains of the crew were found in more than 2,000 locations across East Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Making the tragedy even worse, two pilots aboard a search helicopter were killed in a crash while looking for debris. Strangely, worms that the crew had used in a study that were stored in a canister aboard the Columbia did survive.  

In August 2003, an investigation board issued a report that revealed that it in fact would have been possible either for the Columbia crew to repair the damage to the wing or for the crew to be rescued from the shuttle. The Columbia could have stayed in orbit until February 15 and the already planned launch of the shuttle Atlantis could have been moved up as early as February 10, leaving a short window for repairing the wing or getting the crew off of the Columbia.  

In the aftermath of the Columbia disaster, the space shuttle program was grounded until July 16, 2005, when the space shuttle Discovery was put into orbit.










Feb 1, 1884: Oxford Dictionary debuts

On this day in 1884, the first portion, or fascicle, of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), considered the most comprehensive and accurate dictionary of the English language, is published. Today, the OED is the definitive authority on the meaning, pronunciation and history of over half a million words, past and present  

Plans for the dictionary began in 1857 when members of London's Philological Society, who believed there were no up-to-date, error-free English dictionaries available, decided to produce one that would cover all vocabulary from the Anglo-Saxon period (1150 A.D.) to the present. Conceived of as a four-volume, 6,400-page work, it was estimated the project would take 10 years to finish. In fact, it took over 40 years until the 125th and final fascicle was published in April 1928 and the full dictionary was complete--at over 400,000 words and phrases in 10 volumes--and published under the title A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles.  

Unlike most English dictionaries, which only list present-day common meanings, the OED provides a detailed chronological history for every word and phrase, citing quotations from a wide range of sources, including classic literature and cookbooks. The OED is famous for its lengthy cross-references and etymologies. The verb "set" merits the OED's longest entry, at approximately 60,000 words and detailing over 430 uses. 

No sooner was the OED finished than editors began updating it. A supplement, containing new entries and revisions, was published in 1933 and the original dictionary was reprinted in 12 volumes and officially renamed the Oxford English Dictionary. Between 1972 and 1986, an updated 4-volume supplement was published, with new terms from the continually evolving English language plus more words and phrases from North America, Australia, the Caribbean, New Zealand, South Africa and South Asia. 

In 1984, Oxford University Press embarked on a five-year, multi-million-dollar project to create an electronic version of the dictionary. The effort required 120 people just to type the pages from the print edition and 50 proofreaders to check their work. In 1992, a CD-ROM version of the dictionary was released, making it much easier to search and retrieve information. 

Today, the dictionary's second edition is available online to subscribers and is updated quarterly with over 1,000 new entries and revisions. At a whopping 20 volumes weighing over 137 pounds, it would reportedly take one person 120 years to type all 59 million words in the OED.






Feb 1, 1979: Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran

On February 1, 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran in triumph after 15 years of exile. The shah and his family had fled the country two weeks before, and jubilant Iranian revolutionaries were eager to establish a fundamentalist Islamic government under Khomeini's leadership.  

Born around the turn of the century, Ruhollah Khomeini was the son of an Islamic religious scholar and in his youth memorized the Qur'an. He was a Shiite--the branch of Islam practiced by a majority of Iranians--and soon devoted himself to the formal study of Shia Islam in the city of Qom. A devout cleric, he rose steadily in the informal Shiite hierarchy and attracted many disciples.  

In 1941, British and Soviet troops occupied Iran and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the second modern shah of Iran. The new shah had close ties with the West, and in 1953 British and U.S. intelligence agents helped him overthrow a popular political rival. Mohammad Reza embraced many Western ideas and in 1963 launched his "White Revolution," a broad government program that called for the reduction of religious estates in the name of land redistribution, equal rights for women, and other modern reforms.  

Khomeini, now known by the high Shiite title "ayatollah," was the first religious leader to openly condemn the shah's program of westernization. In fiery dispatches from his Faziye Seminary in Qom, Khomeini called for the overthrow of the shah and the establishment of an Islamic state. In 1963, Mohammad Reza imprisoned him, which led to riots, and on November 4, 1964, expelled him from Iran.  

Khomeini settled in An Najaf, a Shiite holy city across the border in Iraq, and sent home recordings of his sermons that continued to incite his student followers. Breaking precedence with the Shiite tradition that discouraged clerical participation in government, he called for Shiite leaders to govern Iran.  

In the 1970s, Mohammad Reza further enraged Islamic fundamentalists in Iran by holding an extravagant celebration of the 2,500th anniversary of the pre-Islamic Persian monarchy and replaced the Islamic calendar with a Persian calendar. As discontent grew, the shah became more repressive, and support for Khomeini grew. In 1978, massive anti-shah demonstrations broke out in Iran's major cities. Dissatisfied members of the lower and middle classes joined the radical students, and Khomeini called for the shah's immediate overthrow. In December, the army mutinied, and on January 16, 1979, the shah fled.  

Khomeini arrived in Tehran in triumph on February 1, 1979, and was acclaimed as the leader of the Iranian Revolution. With religious fervor running high, he consolidated his authority and set out to transform Iran into a religious state. On November 4, 1979, the 15th anniversary of his exile, students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took the staff hostage. With Khomeini's approval, the radicals demanded the return of the shah to Iran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The shah died in Egypt of cancer in July 1980.  

In December 1979, a new Iranian constitution was approved, naming Khomeini as Iran's political and religious leader for life. Under his rule, Iranian women were denied equal rights and required to wear a veil, Western culture was banned, and traditional Islamic law and its often-brutal punishments were reinstated. In suppressing opposition, Khomeini proved as ruthless as the shah, and thousands of political dissidents were executed during his decade of rule.  

In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran's oil-producing province of Khuzestan. After initial advances, the Iraqi offense was repulsed. In 1982, Iraq voluntarily withdrew and sought a peace agreement, but Khomeini renewed fighting. Stalemates and the deaths of thousands of young Iranian conscripts in Iraq followed. In 1988, Khomeini finally agreed to a U.N.-brokered cease-fire.  

After the Ayatollah Khomeini died on June 3, 1989, more than two million anguished mourners attended his funeral. Gradual democratization began in Iran in early the 1990s, culminating in a free election in 1997 in which the moderate reformist Mohammed Khatami was elected president.






Feb 1, 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.












Feb 1, 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.








Feb 1, 1861: Texas secedes from the Union

On this day in 1861, 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. A staunch Unionist, Houston's election in 1859 as governor seemed to indicate that Texas did not share the rising secessionist sentiments of the other Southern states.  

However, events swayed many Texans to the secessionist cause. John Brown's raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in October 1859 had raised the specter of a major slave insurrection, and the ascendant Republican Party made many Texans uneasy about continuing in the Union. After Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency in November 1860, pressure mounted on Houston to call a convention so that Texas could consider secession. He did so reluctantly in January 1861, and 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. Houston refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and was replaced in March 1861 by his lieutenant governor.  

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 more states--Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas-- waited until the formal start of the Civil War, with the April 1861 firing on Fort 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.



Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

772 - Adrian I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.

1539 - Emperor Karel & King Francois I sign anti-English treaty

1587 - English queen Elizabeth I signs Mary Stuarts death sentence

1662 - Dutch garrison on Formosa surrenders for Chinese pirates

1669 - French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion

1709 - Alexander Selkirk [Robinson Crusoe] rescued from Juan Fernandez

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.

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 1st time (NYC)

1793 - France declares war on England & Netherlands

1793 - Patent granted Ralph Hodgson, NY, for oiled silk & linen

1796 - The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.

The Sun King of France Louis XIVThe Sun King of France Louis XIV 1809 - Dutch King Louis Napoleon accepts metric system

1810 - 1st insurance co managed by blacks (American Insurance Co of Phila)

1810 - Seville, Spain surrenders to French

1810 - US Population: 7,239,881, Black population: 1,377,808 (19%)

1814 - Lord Byron's "Corsair" sells 10,000 copies on day of publication

1814 - Volcano Mayon on Luzon Philippines erupts killing 1,200

1840 - Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 1st in US, incorporated

1846 - Theophile Gautier publishes "Hashish Club" about his initiation

1856 - Auburn University is chartered as the East Alabama Male College.

1860 - 1st rabbi to open House of Representatives, Morris Raphall of NYC

1861 - Dike breaks in Gelderland Netherlands

1861 - American Civil War: Texas becomes the 7th state to secede from the United States.

1862 - Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of Republic"

1864 - -Feb 8th] Battle of Yazoo River, MS

1864 - 2nd German-Danish war begins

1864 - Austrian/Prussian troops occupy Sleeswijk/Holstein

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 Ct, 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 Reps (opposing leniency to former Confederates)

1880 - The first edition of theatrical newspaper The Stage is published.

1881 - US Assay Office in St Louis, Missouri authorized

1883 - French lt-col Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes reaches Bamako on the Niger

1884 - 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published

1887 - Harvey Wilcox of Ks 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 use of "400" to describe socially elite

1893 - Puccini's Opera "Manon Lescaut," premieres in Turin

Inventor Thomas EdisonInventor Thomas Edison 1893 - Thomas Edison complete's worlds 1st movie studio (West Orange NJ)

1896 - Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme," premieres in Turin

1897 - Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.

1898 - 1st auto insurance policy in US issued, by Travelers Insurance Co

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 froms

1905 - Hungarian premier Tisza resigns

1906 - 1st federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth, Kansas

1906 - English min of Frgn affairs Edward Grey's wife Dorothy fatally injured

1908 - King Carlos I of Portugal and his son, Prince Luis Filipe are killed in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon.

1909 - US Assay Office in Salt Lake City, Utah opens

1910 - 1st British labour exchange opens

1910 - Dragoumis government forms in Greece

1914 - NY Giants & Chicago White Sox play an exhibition baseball game in Egypt

Composer Giacomo PucciniComposer Giacomo Puccini 1914 - Pennsylvania State Board of [motion picture] censors appointed

1914 - Tanganyika Railway opens

1917 - Admiral Tirpitz announces unlimited submarine war

1918 - Franz Lehars opera "Wo die Lerche singt," premieres in Budapest

1918 - Kern, Bolton & Wodehouse's musical premieres in NYC

1918 - Russia adopts Gregorian calender (becomes Feb 14)

1919 - Dodgers trade Jake Daubert to Reds for Tommy Griffith Daubert

1920 - 1st commercial armored car introduced (St Paul Minn)

1920 - Soccer team Quick Boys forms

1920 - Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police

1923 - Allied ultimatum on Lithuanian occupation of Memel

1923 - Fascists Voluntary Militia forms in Italy under Benito Mussolini

1923 - Noel Coward's "Young Idea," premieres in London

1924 - Amsterdam's Netherlands Press Museum opens

1924 - New British MacDonald government recognizes USSR

Italian Dictator Benito MussoliniItalian Dictator Benito Mussolini 1924 - Soccer team VSV Tonido forms in Voorburg

1924 - Soviet Union formally recognized by Britain

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 sq inch

1929 - 1st clean & jerk of 400 lbs (182 kg), Charles Rigoulet, 402½ lbs

1930 - Arnold Schönbergs opera, Von heute auf Morgen 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 disolves, Gen Ludendorf predicts catastrophe

1934 - Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss dissolves all political parties but his

1935 - 1st "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol

1935 - James T Farrell finishes his "Studs Lonigan" trilogy

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 (Neth)

1944 - Supreme Soviet enlarges soviet republics' autonomy

1944 - US 7th Infantry/4th Marine Division lands on Kwajalein/Roi/Namur

1945 - US Army arrives at Siegfriedlinie

1946 - Republic of Hungary proclaimed, Zolt n Tildy as communist president

1946 - Trygve Lie, a Norwegian socialist, becomes 1st Sec-Gen of UN

1947 - Aleide de Gasperi forms Italian government of christian-dems & communists

1947 - Dmitri Shostakovitch named professor at conservatory of Leningrad

1947 - NV United Dutch Fokker's Aircraft established

1948 - Federation Malaysia forms from 9 sultanates

1948 - Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed

1949 - 200" (5.08-m) Hale telescope 1st used [See June 3, 1948]

1949 - RCA releases 1st single record ever (45 rpm)

1950 - USSR demands condemnation of Emperor Hirohito for war crimes

1950 - Urko Kekkonen elected president of Finland

1951 - -50°F (-46°C), Gavilan, New Mexico (state record)

1951 - 1st X-ray moving picture process demonstrated

1951 - 1st telecast of atomic explosion

1951 - Alfred Krupp & 28 other German war criminals freed

1951 - UN condemns People's Republic of China as aggressor in Korea

1951 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1952 - General strike against French colonial management in Tunisia

1952 - SN Behrman's "Jane," premieres in NYC

1953 - "General Electric Theater" premieres on CBS TV; Ronald Reagan later hosts

Broadcast Journalist Walter CronkiteBroadcast Journalist Walter Cronkite 1953 - "You Are There" with Walter Cronkite premieres on CBS television

1953 - Dr A de Waal appointed as Neth 1st female asst sect 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 froms in Doetinchem

1955 - HC 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

1957 - Felix Wankel's first working prototype DKM 54 of the Wankel engine was running at the NSU research and development department Versuchsabteilung TX in Germany

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 - WVUE TV channel 8 in New Orleans, LA (ABC) begins broadcasting

1959 - Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Havana Golf Tournament

1959 - Zack Wheat unanimously elected to baseball Hall of Fame

1960 - 34th Australian Womens Tennis: Margaret Smith beats J Lehane (75 62)

1960 - 4 students stage 1st civil rights sit-in, at Greensboro NC Woolworth

1960 - 48th Australian Mens Tennis: Rod Laver beats N Fraser (57 36 63 86 86)

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 mins 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 - "Stop the World, I Want to..." closes at Shubert NYC after 556 perf

1964 - Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand," 1st #1 hit, stays #1 for 7 weeks

1964 - Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tries to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity

1964 - Suriname River dammed

1965 - Dutch Queen Juliana opens Brienenoord Bridge in Rotterdam

Clergyman and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr.Clergyman and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr. 1965 - Martin Luther King Jr & 700 demonstrators arrested in Selma Ala

1965 - Peter Jennings, 26, becomes anchor of ABC's nightly news

1965 - NL adopts emergency team replacement plan to restock any club struck by disaster

1967 - Severe brush fires in Tasmania destroy $11 million & 60 lives

1967 - WCLP TV channel 18 in Chatsworth, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting

1968 - Former VP Richard Nixon announces candidacy for president

1968 - Vince Lombardi resigns as coach of Green Bay Packers

1968 - World trade conference Unctad 2 opens in New Delhi

1968 - Famous photo: Saigon police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to head

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 - Ford Frick, Earle Combs & Jesse Haines elected to Hall of Fame

1970 - Stalled commuter train rammed by express in Argentina, 139 die

37th US President Richard Nixon37th US President Richard Nixon 1970 - WMAA TV channel 29 in Jackson, MS (PBS) begins broadcasting

1970 - West-Germany & USSR sign gas contract

1972 - 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)

1972 - Wings release "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" in UK

1972 - Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

1973 - Monte Irvin elected to baseball Hall of Fame

1974 - "Good Times" (spinoff from "Maude") premieres on CBS TV

1974 - Kuala Lumpur is declared a Federal Territory.

1975 - "Hoppy, Gene & Me" by Roy Rogers peaks at #65

1975 - "Men on the Moon" closes at Little Theater NYC after 5 performances

1975 - 1st successful Wash Cap penalty shot, Ken Lockett vs Vancouver Canucks

1975 - Lorne Henning scores on 3rd Islander penalty shot

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 - Judy Rankin wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational

Goddess of Pop  Cher Goddess of Pop Cher 1976 - Sonny & Cher resume TV show, despite real-life divorce

1976 - East Lansing police arrest Dodgers reliever Mike Marshall for taking batting practice at Mich State U after he is warned not to

1977 - Heavy blizzard in New England claims 100 lives

1977 - Hillsdale High School defeats Person High School 2-0 in basketball

1978 - Harriet Tubman is 1st black woman honored on a US postage stamp

1978 - Director Roman Polanski skips bail & fled to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl

1979 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 yrs in exile

1979 - Patricia Hearst is released from a SF prison for bank robbery

1979 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1980 - Sears Radio Theater moves from CBS to Mutual Broadcasting System

1980 - Soap opera "Love of Life" ends a 28 year run

1981 - 11th AFC-NFC pro bowl, NFC wins 21-7

1981 - 31st NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 123-120 at Cleveland

1981 - Duke Ellington-musical "Sophisticated Ladies," premieres in NYC

1981 - Dutch Antilles census is 231,932

1981 - French government accord sends 60 Mirage fighter jets to Iraq

1981 - NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 21-7

1981 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Whirlpool Golf Championship of Deer Creek

1981 - Trevor Chappell bowls underarm to Brian McKechnie, WSC Final MCG

1982 - "Late Night With David Letterman" debuts on NBC-TV

1982 - Senegal & Gambia form loose confederation (Senegambia)

1983 - USSR performs underground nuclear test

1984 - China & Netherlands regain diplomatic relations

1984 - Daniel Stern becomes NBA commissioner

1984 - Ravindara Mhatrem, Indian diplomat, kidnapped in England (killed 0203)

1985 - -61°F (-52°C), Maybell, Colorado (state record)

1985 - -69°F (-56°C), Peter's Sink, Utah (state record)

1985 - Azharuddin scores 3rd Test century in 3rd Test Cricket (122 v Eng)

1985 - Cards trade D Green, Jose Uribe, Dave LaPoint to Giants for Jack Clark

1985 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Tiffany Chin

Comedian David LettermanComedian David Letterman 1986 - KHJ-AM in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KRTH

1987 - 163 day strike against Deere & Co ends, workers accept wage freeze

1987 - 38,873 NBA crowd watch Chicago at Detroit

1987 - Kathy Postlewait wins LPGA Mazda Golf Classic

1987 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 10-6

1989 - Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 at perihelion

1989 - Princess Diane of England visits NYC

1989 - The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

1991 - Afghanistan/Pakistan hit by earthquake, 1,200 die

1991 - Craig McDermott takes 8-97 v England at the WACA

1991 - President F W de Klerk, says he would repeal all apartheid laws

1991 - US Air & Skywest Fairchild jet collide at LA Airport killing 32

1992 - "Crazy He Calls Me" closes at Walter Kerr Theater NYC after 7 perfs

1992 - Barry Bonds signs baseball's highest single year contract ($4.7 mil)

1992 - Denis Potvin's #5 becomes 1st number retired by NY Islanders

1993 - NY Judge Sol Wachtler indicted for harassing Joy Silverman

1993 - Soyuz TM-16 lands

1994 - Irina Privalova runs world record 50m indoor (6.03 sec)

1994 - Large meteorite falls near Kusaie, Pacific Ocean

1995 - Amtrak NY-Tampa run ends

1995 - Amy van Dikes swims woman's world record 50 m butterfly (26.73)

1995 - Andy & Grant Flower make 269 stand vs Pak, brotherly record

1995 - Belgium's TV channel VT4 goes on the air

1996 - The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.

1998 - "Street Corner Symphony," closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 79 perf

1998 - 86th Australian Mens Tennis: Petr Korda beats Marcelo Rios (62 62 62)

1998 - Australian Mixed: J Gimelstob & V Williams beat Suk & Sukova (62 61)

1998 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 29-24

1998 - Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne became the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.

2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

2004 - 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Singer Janet JacksonSinger Janet Jackson 2004 - Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.

2004 - Super Bowl XXXVIII: New England Patriots beat Carolina Panthers, 32-29 at the Reliant Stadium MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB

2005 - Nepal King Gyanendra exercises Coup d'état to capture the democracy becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.

2005 - Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country to sanction same-sex marriage.

2009 - Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is elected as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the first openly gay Head of State in the modern world.

2009 - Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Arizona Cardinals, 27-23 at the Raymond James Stadium MVP: Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh, WR

2012 - At least 73 people are killed in the Egyptian football riots in Port Said

2013 - The Nigerian Army bomb a Boko Haram camp, killing 18 people

2013 - 21 people are killed and 30 are wounded by a market suicide bombing in Hangu, Pakistan

2013 - 26 people are killed after a fireworks truck explodes and causes a highway to collapse in Henan, China

2013 - Zenit-3SL, a Ukranian-Russian carrier rocket, fails 40 seconds after liftoff and crashes into the Pacific Ocean

1788 - Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patented the steamboat.   1790 - The U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time in New York City.   1793 - France declared war on Britain and Holland.   1793 - Ralph Hodgson patented oiled silk.   1861 - Texas voted to secede from the Union.   1862 - "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," by Julia Ward Howe was first published in the "Atlantic Monthly."   1867 - In the U.S., bricklayers start working 8-hour days.   1884 - The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.   1893 - Thomas A. Edison completed work on the world's first motion picture studio in West Orange, NJ.   1896 - Puccini's opera "La Boheme" premiered in Turin.   1898 - The Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, CT, issued the first automobile insurance policy. Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, NY, paid $11.25 for the policy, which gave him $5,000 in liability coverage.   1900 - Eastman Kodak Co. introduced the $1 Brownie box camera.   1913 - Grand Central Terminal (also known as Grand Central Station) opened in New York City, NY. It was the largest train station in the world.   1919 - The first Miss America was crowned in New York City.   1920 - The first armored car was introduced.   1920 - Canada's Royal North West Mounted Police changed their name to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The organization was commissioned in 1873.   1921 - Carmen Fasanella registered as a taxicab owner and driver in Princeton, New Jersey. Fasanella retired November 2, 1989 after 68 years and 243 days of service.   1929 - Weightlifter Charles Rigoulet of France achieved the first 400 pound ‘clean and jerk’ as he lifted 402-1/2 pounds.   1930 - The Times published its first crossword puzzle.   1946 - Norwegian statesman Trygve Lie was chosen to be the first secretary-general of the United Nations.   1951 - The first telecast of an atomic explosion took place.   1951 - The first X-ray moving picture process was demonstrated.   1953 - CBS-TV debuted "Private Secretary."   1954 - CBS-TV showed "The Secret Storm" for the first time.   1957 - P.H. Young became the first black pilot on a scheduled passenger airline.   1958 - The United Arab Republic was formed by a union of Egypt and Syria. It was broken 1961.   1960 - Four black college students began a sit-in protest at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. They had been refused service.   1968 - During the Vietnam War, South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. The scene was captured in a news photograph.   1976 - "Sonny and Cher" resumed on TV despite a real life divorce.   1979 - Patty Hearst was released from prison after serving 22 months of a seven-year sentence for bank robbery. Her sentence had been commuted by U.S. President Carter.   1979 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was welcomed in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.   1987 - Terry Williams won the largest slot machine payoff, at the time, when won $4.9 million after getting four lucky 7s on a machine in Reno, NV.   1991 - A USAir jetliner crashed atop a commuter plane at Los Angeles International Airport. 35 people were killed.   1994 - Jeff Gillooly pled guilty in Portland, OR, for his role in the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Gillooly, Tonya Harding's ex-husband, struck a plea bargain under which he confessed to racketeering charges in exchange for testimony implicating Harding.   1996 - Visa and Mastercard announced security measures that would make it safe to shop on the Internet.   1998 - Stuart Whitman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   1999 - Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky gave a deposition that was videotaped for senators weighing impeachment charges against U.S. President Clinton.   2001 - Three Scottish judges found Abdel Basset al-Mergrahi guilty of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people. The court said that Megrahi was a member of the Libyan intelligence service. Al-Amin Khalifa, who had been co-accused, was acquitted and freed.   2003 - NASA's space shuttle Columbia exploded while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. All seven astronauts on board were killed.      

1790 The Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time, in New York City. 1862 Julia Ward Howe's poem "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was published in the Atlantic Monthly. 1884 The first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary A–Ant, was published. 1946 A press conference announced the first electronic digital computer, ENIAC, was held at the University of Pennsylvania. 1960 Four black college students began a series of sit-ins at a white-only lunch counter in Woolworth’s, Greensboro, N.C. 1968 During the Vietnam War, a Viet Cong officer was executed with a pistol shot to the head by Saigon's police chief and the image captured in a famous news photograph. 1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after 15 years of exile. 2003 The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it tried to reenter the Earth's atmosphere after a sixteen-day mission in space. All seven members of the crew were lost. 2004 Janet Jackson's famous "wardrobe malfunction" occurred at Super Bowl XXXVIII. 2009 Johanna Sigurdardottir takes office as Iceland's first female prime minister.



The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/feb01.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory