✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 32nd day of the year

February 1

A look at February 1 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Luther Blissett and Boris Yeltsin, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♒ZodiacAquarius ◈BirthstoneAmethyst ❀Birth flowerViolet
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2003

    Space Shuttle Columbia

    Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry of mission STS-107 into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

    Space Shuttle orbiter (1981–2003)
  2. 1979

    Iran

    Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile.

    Country in West Asia
  3. 1972

    Kuala Lumpur

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

    Capital city of Malaysia
  4. 1946

    Trygve Lie

    Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary-General.

    UN Secretary-General from 1946
  5. 1942

    Voice of America

    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.

    International US-owned broadcaster
  6. 1942

    World War II

    World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  7. 1865

    Abraham Lincoln

    President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

    President of the United
  8. 1814

    Mayon

    Mayon in the Philippines erupts, killing around 1,200 people, which was the most devastating eruption of the volcano.

    Stratovolcano in Luzon, Philippines
  9. 1411

    Peace of Thorn (1411)

    The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia).

    Part of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic
  10. 1327

    Edward III

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

    King of England from
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Famous birthday twins

Born on February 1

Luther Blissett

b. 1958

Jamaican-English footballer and manager

Boris Yeltsin

b. 1931

Russian politician, 1st President of Russia

Eli Ohana

b. 1964

Israeli football player, and club chairman

John Ford

b. 1894

American director and producer

Hugo von Hofmannsthal

b. 1874

Austrian author, poet, and playwright

Johannes Trithemius

b. 1462

German lexicographer, historian, and cryptographer

Conrad Celtes

b. 1459

German poet and scholar

Günter Eich

b. 1907

German author and songwriter

Deaths

  • 2025Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany
  • 2018Barys Kit, Belarusian rocket scientist
  • 2012Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1976Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1907Léon Serpollet, French businessman
  • 1851Mary Shelley, English novelist and playwright

Holidays & observances

  • —Abolition of Slavery Day (Mauritius)
  • —Air Force Day (Nicaragua)
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Candelaria of San José
  • —Christian feast day: Brigid of Ireland (Saint Brigid's Day)
  • —Christian feast day: Verdiana
  • —Christian feast day: February 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Earliest day on which Constitution Day can fall, while February 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in February. (Mexico)
  • —Federal Territory Day (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Malaysia)

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