On This Day — 1 February
2000s
2022
Five-year-old Moroccan boy Rayan Aourram falls into a 32-meter (105 feet) deep well in Ighran village in Tamorot commune, Chefchaouen Province, Morocco, but dies four days later, before rescue workers reached him.
Death of Rayan Aourram
2021
A coup d'état in Myanmar removes Aung San Suu Kyi from power and restores military rule.
2021 Myanmar coup d'état
2013
The Shard, the sixth-tallest building in Europe, opens its viewing gallery to the public.
The Shard
2012
Seventy-four people are killed and over 500 injured as a result of clashes between fans of Egyptian football teams Al Masry and Al Ahly in the city of Port Said.
Port Said Stadium riot
2009
The first cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was formed in Iceland, making her the country's first female prime minister and the world's first openly gay head of government.
First cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
2007
The National Weather Service in the United States switches from the Fujita scale to the new Enhanced Fujita scale to measure the intensity and strength of tornadoes.
National Weather Service
2005
King Gyanendra of Nepal carries out a coup d'état to capture the democracy, becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.
Gyanendra of Nepal
2004
Hajj pilgrimage stampede: In a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured.
Incidents during the Hajj
2004
Double suicide attack in Erbil on the offices of Iraqi Kurdish political parties by members of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad
2004 Erbil bombings
2003
Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry of mission STS-107 into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
Space Shuttle Columbia
2002
Daniel Pearl, American journalist and South Asia Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal, kidnapped on January 23, is beheaded and mutilated by his captors.
Daniel Pearl
1900s
1998
Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.
Lillian E. Fishburne
1996
The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
Communications Decency Act
1992
The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal disaster case.
Bhopal
1991
A runway collision between USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport results in the deaths of 34 people, and injuries to 30 others.
1991 Los Angeles runway collision
1991
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the Hindu Kush region, killing at least 848 people in Afghanistan, Pakistan and present-day Tajikistan.
1991 Hindu Kush earthquake
1982
The Intel 80286 is released, which introduced protected mode memory. The IBM PC/AT and its clones used this CPU.
Intel 80286
1981
The Underarm bowling incident of 1981 occurred when Trevor Chappell bowls underarm on the final delivery of a game between Australia and New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Underarm bowling incident
1979
Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile.
Iran
1974
A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in São Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293.
Joelma Building fire
1972
Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur
1968
Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is recorded on motion picture film, as well as in an iconic still photograph taken by Eddie Adams.
Vietnam War
1968
Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces.
Royal Canadian Navy
1968
The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation.
New York Central Railroad
1964
The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
The Beatles
1960
Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Greensboro sit-ins
1957
Northeast Airlines Flight 823 crashes on Rikers Island in New York City, killing 20 people and injuring 78 others.
Northeast Airlines Flight 823
1950
The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
1946
Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary-General.
Trygve Lie
1946
The Parliament of Hungary abolishes the monarchy after nine centuries, and proclaims the Hungarian Republic.
National Assembly (Hungary)
1942
World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government.
World War II
1942
World War II: U.S. Navy conducts Marshalls–Gilberts raids, the first offensive action by the United States against Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater.
Marshalls–Gilberts raids
1942
Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the United States government, begins broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers.
Voice of America
1942
Mao Zedong makes a speech on "Reform in Learning, the Party and Literature", which puts into motion the Yan'an Rectification Movement.
Mao Zedong
1924
Russia–United Kingdom relations are restored, over six years after the Communist revolution.
Russia–United Kingdom relations
1908
Lisbon Regicide: King Carlos I of Portugal and Infante Luis Filipe are shot dead in Lisbon.
Lisbon Regicide
1900
Great Britain, defeated by Boers in key battles, names Lord Roberts commander of British forces in South Africa.
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
1800s
1897
Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
Shinhan Bank
1896
La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.
La bohème
1895
Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
Fountains Valley, Pretoria
1893
Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
Thomas Edison
1884
The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
Oxford English Dictionary
1865
President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Abraham Lincoln
1864
Second Schleswig War: Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig, starting the war.
Second Schleswig War
1861
American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States and joins the Confederacy a week later.
American Civil War
1835
Slavery is abolished in Mauritius.
Abolitionism
1814
Mayon in the Philippines erupts, killing around 1,200 people, which was the most devastating eruption of the volcano.
Mayon
Before 1800
1796
The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
Upper Canada
1793
French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
French Revolutionary Wars
1713
The Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender results from the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.
Skirmish at Bender
1662
The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.
Koxinga
1411
The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia).
Peace of Thorn (1411)
1327
The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
Edward III