On This Day In History
February 1st
1587 Queen Elizabeth I of England signs death warrant for her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots
1843 Oldest continuous writer of insurance in America – The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY) opens
1884 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published
1908 King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luis Filipe are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Terreiro do Paco, Lisbon
1979 Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile
2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
2021 Military stage a coup in Myanmar, detaining civilian leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi and declare a one-year state of emergency
Did You Know?
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is elected as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the first openly gay Head of Government in the modern world.
Today in History in 2009
Would You Believe?
1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)
Today in History in 1972
February 2nd
1653 New Amsterdam becomes a city (later renamed New York)
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican–American War: US acquires Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona for $15 million
1901 Queen Victoria‘s funeral takes place in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, England
1922 James Joyce‘s “Ulysses” first published by Sylvia Beach in Paris (1,000 copies)
1943 German 6th Army surrenders after Battle of Stalingrad in a major turning point in Europe during World War II
1971 Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote and appoints himself President (dictator) of Uganda
Did You Know?
Leonarde Keeler first uses his polygraph machine on criminals later convicted of assault on its findings in Portage, Wisconsin
Today in History in 1935
Would You Believe?
Longest boxing match under modern rules; 77 rounds in Nameoki, Illinois between Harry Sharpe & Frank Crosby
Today in History in 1892
February 3rd
1451 Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire
1509 The Battle of Diu, naval battle at port of Diu, India between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire, establishes Portuguese trading control
1870 US state of Iowa ratifies the 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution allowing suffrage for all races and colors
1928 Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names ‘Sinanthropus pekinensis’ (now known as ‘Homo erectus’)
1931 New Zealand’s worst natural disaster, the Hawke’s Bay Earthquake, kills 256 and injures thousands, devastating Napier and the Hawke’s Bay region
1966 1st soft landing on Moon (Soviet Luna 9)
Did You Know?
Circus owner P. T. Barnum buys his world-famous elephant Jumbo
Today in History in 1882
Would You Believe?
Arkansas legislature passes motion to pray for soul of journalist H. L. Mencken, after he calls the state the “apex of moronia”
Today in History in 1931
February 4th
211 Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies in Eboracum (York) in England, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta
960 Coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of the Song, initiating three centuries of Song Dynasty dominance in southern China
1789 1st US electoral college chooses George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President
1859 One of the oldest known copies of the Bible, “The Codex Sinaiticus” (Sinai Bible), is seen in Egypt by Constantin von Tischendorf who takes the manuscript home with him
1865 Robert E. Lee is named general-in-chief of Confederate forces
1969 The Palestine National Congress appoints Yasser Arafat chairman of the PLO
1988 Panamanian General Manuel Noriega indicted by US federal grand jury for drug trafficking and racketeering
2004 Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook from his Harvard dormitory room
Did You Know?
1st radioactive substance produced synthetically (radium E)
Today in History in 1936
Would You Believe?
Russian newspaper Izvestia reports baseball is an old Russian game
Today in History in 1962
February 5th
1576 Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) abjures Catholicism at Tours
1597 A group of early Japanese Christians, known as the 26 Martyrs, are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society
1885 King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal colonial possession
1885 News of the fall of Khartoum reaches London
1945 WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila, Philippines; month long battle ends 3 years of Japanese military occupation
1969 United States population reaches 200 million
Did You Know?
The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the “BBC pips”.
Today in History in 1924
Would You Believe?
Largest Jell-O made (9,246 gallons of watermelon-flavor) in Brisbane
Today in History in 1981
February 6th
1508 Maximilian I proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor, 1st Emperor in centuries not to be crowned by the Pope
1778 France recognizes USA, signs Treaty of Alliance in Paris, 1st US treaty
1819 Stamford Raffles founds Singapore as a British trading port
1840 The Treaty of Waitangi is signed between 40 Māori Chiefs (later signed by 500) and representatives of the British crown in Waitangi, New Zealand. The treaty was designed to share sovereignty between the two groups.
1952 Queen Elizabeth II succeeds King George VI to the British throne and proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms including Canada, Australia and New Zealand
1989 Solidarity union leader Lech Wałęsa begins negotiating with Polish government
Did You Know?
The Sámi people of the far northern Nordic countries have an official day celebrating their existence
Today in History in 1992
Would You Believe?
American astronaut Alan Shepard is 1st to hit a golf ball on the moon
Today in History in 1971
February 7th
1301 Edward of Caernarfon (later Edward II) becomes the first English Prince of Wales
1842 Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien
1856 Colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the 1st piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot
1991 Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting in an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister John Major, injuring four people
1992 The Maastricht Treaty is signed by 12 countries from the European Community (EC) to create the European Union (EU)
Did You Know?
Henry Clay declares in Senate “I had rather be right than president”
Today in History in 1839
Would You Believe?
All citrus fruit can be traced to the southeast foothills of the Himalayas, according to DNA study published in “Nature”
Today in History in 2018