This is a list of selected February 1 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
| ← January 31 | February 2 → |
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Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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STS-107 launch -
STS-107 Crew -
Insignia of the Final Mission of Columbia -
The section of lunch counter from the Greensboro sit-ins -
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir -
First Wankel engine at the Deutsches Museum in Bonn, Germany -
Trygve Lie
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| National Freedom Day in the United States | refimprove |
| 1662 – Forces under Chinese general Koxinga seized the island of Taiwan from the Dutch East India Company and established the Kingdom of Tungning. | ((refimprove)) |
| 1796 – The capital of Upper Canada was moved from Newark to York, which was judged to be less vulnerable to attack by the United States. | too many images |
| 1942 – Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the United States federal government, began broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers during World War II. | outdated |
| 1946 – As a result of a compromise between the major powers within the United Nations, Norwegian politician Trygve Lie was elected as its first Secretary-General. | unreferenced section |
| 1991 – On final approach to Los Angeles International Airport, USAir Flight 1493 collided with a smaller aircraft and caught fire, killing 34 people. | refimprove |
| 2001 – The capital of Malaysia was moved from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, although the government's legislative functions remained in the former Federal Territory. | Putrajaya tagged ((refimprove)) |
| 2003 – All seven crew members aboard Space Shuttle Columbia were killed when the orbiter disintegrated over Texas during reentry. | ((prose)) |
Eligible
- 1327 – Fourteen-year-old Edward III became King of England, but the country was ruled by his mother, Queen Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer.
- 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn was signed, ending the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.
- 1814 – The most destructive eruption of the Mayon Volcano occurred, killing over 2,000 people on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
- 1896 – Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy, eventually becoming one of the most frequently performed operas internationally.
- 1957 – Invented by German mechanical engineer Felix Wankel, the first working prototype of the Wankel rotary engine (pictured) ran for the first time at the research and development department of German manufacturer NSU Motorenwerke AG.
- 1960 – Four African American students staged the first Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
- 1968 – Photographer Eddie Adams took his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of the summary execution of Viet Cong prisoner Nguyen Van Lem, which helped build opposition to the Vietnam War.
- 1972 – Kuala Lumpur gained city status, the first settlement in Malaysia to do so after the nation's independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1978 – After having served 42 days in prison for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, Polish film director Roman Polanski skipped bail and fled the United States to France.
- 1982 – Senegal and the Gambia formed the Senegambia Confederation to promote cooperation between the two countries.
- 2001 – The Timor Leste Defence Force was established from the erstwhile anti-Indonesian independence movement Falintil.
- 2004 – During the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, Janet Jackson's breast was exposed by Justin Timberlake in what was later referred to as a "wardrobe malfunction", resulting in an immediate crackdown and widespread debate on perceived indecency in U.S. broadcasting.
- 2009 – Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became Iceland's first female Prime Minister and the world's first openly gay head of government of the modern era.
Notes
- John Marshall appears on January 31, so U.S. Supreme Court should not appear in the same year.
February 1: Feast day of St. Brigit of Kildare (Western Christianity); Black History Month begins in Canada and the United States; LGBT History Month begins in the United Kingdom
- 1329 – The Teutonic Knights succeeded in their siege of a fortress in Samogitia, Lithuania, and baptized the defenders in the Catholic rite.
- 1790 – The Supreme Court of the United States (modern building pictured), the highest judicial body in the US and the head of the judicial branch of the federal government, first convened at the Merchants' Exchange Building in New York City.
- 1884 – The first fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary, a 352-page volume that covered words from A to Ant, was published.
- 1968 – The Government of Canada merged the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and the Royal Canadian Air Force into a unified structure, the Canadian Armed Forces.
- 1985 – Aeroflot Flight 7841 crashed shortly after takeoff from Minsk National Airport, killing fifty-eight people on board.