1327Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Edward III was crowned King of England. [see Jan 7,20]
(HN, 2/1/99)1328Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Charles IV, the Handsome, King of France (1322-28), died.
(MC, 2/1/02)1411Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Lithuania, Poland and the Knights of the Cross signed the Torun Peace Treaty. Samogitia was returned to Lithuania. The Teutonic Knights had regrouped and gone to battle against Vytautas and Jogaila. Peace was signed at Torun and western Lithuania was returned, but not Klaipeda (Memel).
(Ist. L.H., 1948, p. 71) (LHC, 1/31/03)1552Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Sir Edward Coke, English jurist, was born in Mileham, Norfolk. He helped the development of English law with his arguments for the supremacy of common law over royal prerogative.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Coke)1587Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Elizabeth I, Queen of England, signed the Warrant of Execution for Mary Queen of Scots.
(HN, 2/1/99)1633Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, the tobacco laws of Virginia were codified, limiting tobacco production to reduce dependence on a single-crop economy.
(HN, 2/1/99)1669Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, French King Louis XIV limited the freedom of religion.
(MC, 2/1/02)1709Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, British sailor Alexander Selkirk was rescued after being marooned on the desert island of Mas a Tierra for 5 years. His story inspired “Robinson Crusoe.” The island off the coast of Chile was later renamed Robinson Crusoe Island.
(ON, 6/12, p.6) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Selkirk)1733Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1697-1706) and twice King of Poland (1697-1706, 1709-1733), died in Warsaw.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_II_the_Strong)1788Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patented the steamboat on this day.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1790Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The US Supreme Court convened for 1st time in Royal Exchange Building, New York City, the nations temporary capital.
(www.supremecourthistory.org)1793Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Ralph Hodgson of Lansingburg, NY, patented one of the world’s greatest inventions this day: Oiled silk.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1793Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, France declared war on Britain and the Netherlands.
(HN, 2/1/99)1811Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Scotland’s Bell Rock lighthouse, at the mouth of Scotland’s Firth of Forth, began operations. Robert Stevenson (1772-1850) had begun work on the lighthouse in 1807.
(ON, 5/06, p.8)1827Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Alphonse de Rothschild, French banker, was born.
(MC, 2/1/02)1851Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (53), novelist (Frankenstein), died.
(MC, 2/1/02)1859Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Victor Herbert was born. (cellist, conductor: Pittsburgh Symphony; composer: operettas: Babes in Toyland, Naughty Marietta; songs: Ah Sweet Mystery of Life (at Last I’ve Found You)
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A furious Governor Sam Houston stormed out of a legislative session upon learning that Texas had voted 167-7 to secede from the Union. Texas became the 7th state to secede.
(AP, 2/1/97) (HN, 2/1/99) (MC, 2/1/02)1862      Feb 1, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was first published in “Atlantic Monthly” as an anonymous poem. The lyric was the work of Julia Ward Howe and was based on chapter 63 of the Old Testament’s Book of Isaiah. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” soon became the most popular Union marching song of the Civil War and is still being sung and to the tune of a song titled, “John Brown’s Body”. Julia Ward Howe (b.1819-1908) was an influential social reformer and wife of fellow reformer and educator Samuel Gridley Howe. She was prominent in the anti-slavery movement, woman”˜s suffrage, prison reform and the international peace movements. Julia Ward Howe was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Fine Arts and Letters in 1908. Ralph Waldo Emerson, said: “I honor the author of ‘The Battle Hymn’ … she was born in the city of New York. I could well wish she were a native of Massachusetts. We have no such poetess in New England.”
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999) (HNQ, 1/31/00,5/21/02)1863Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A committee in Vilnius issued a manifesto and took up a leadership role for a national revolution.
(LHC, 2/1/03)1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Lincoln’s home state of Illinois became the first to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery throughout the United States. President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, but it had not effectively abolished slavery in all of the states–it did not apply to slave-holding border states that had remained with the Union during the Civil War. After the war, the sentiment about blacks was mixed even among anti-slavery Americans: some considered Lincoln’s address too conservative and pushed for black suffrage, arguing that blacks would remain oppressed by their former owners if they did not have the power to vote. After the amendment was passed, the Freedmen’s Bureau was created to help blacks with the problems they would encounter while trying to acquire jobs, education and land of their own.
(HNPD, 2/1/99)1873Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Matthew Fontaine Maury (b.1806), American astronomer, died. He was also a historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator. Maury proposed that the US invite the maritime nations of the world to a conference to establish a “universal system” of meteorology, and he was the leading spirit of that pioneer scientific conference when it met in Brussels in 1853. Within a few years, nations owning three fourths of the shipping of the world were sending their oceanographic observations to Maury at the Naval Observatory, where the information was evaluated and the results given worldwide distribution.
(Econ, 2/27/10, SR p.10) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Fontaine_Maury)1878Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Hattie Caraway, first woman elected to the U.S. Senate, was born.
(HN, 2/1/99)1880Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In San Francisco the buildings of the new St. Ignatius campus at Van Ness and Hayes were dedicated. Archbishop Alemany and bishop James A. Healy presided over the dedication of the new church oh Hayes St.
(GenIV, Winter 04/05)1893Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The US Minister to Hawaii, at the request of Pres. Dole, placed the Provisional Government under formal US protection and raised the US flag over Hawaii.
(ON, 11/02, p.6)
1893Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Inventor Thomas A. Edison completed work on the world’s first motion picture studio, his “Black Maria,” in West Orange, N.J.
(AP, 2/1/97)
1893Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The opera “Manon Lescaut,” by Giacomo Puccini, premiered in Turin, Italy.
(AP, 2/1/01)1895Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, John Ford was born. (Sean O’Feeney) (Academy Award-winning director: The Informer [1935], The Grapes of Wrath [1940], How Green Was My Valley [1941], The Quiet Man [1952])
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1896Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The first production of Puccini’s opera “La Boheme” was performed in Turin.
(SFC, 5/26/96, SFEM p.4) (AP, 2/1/97)1898Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, CT (the company with the red umbrella over their logo) issued the very first automobile insurance policy on this day. Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, NY, paid $11.25 for the policy, which gave him $5,000 in liability coverage.
(AP, 2/1/97) (440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1900Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Chicago Ada and Minna Everleigh opened their Everleigh Club, a high-end brothel. They closed operations in 1911.
(WSJ, 1/7/07, p.P8)1901Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Clark Gable, American actor, was born. He is famous for his roles in Mutiny on the Bounty and Gone With the Wind.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999) (HN, 2/1/99)1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Langston Hughes, African-American poet. was born. (author: Way Down South)
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999) (HN, 2/1/99)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay protested Russian privileges in China as a violation of the “open door policy.”
(HN, 2/1/99)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, China’s empress Tzu-hsi forbade binding woman’s feet.
(MC, 2/1/02)1904Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, S.J. (Sidney) Perelman, author, humorist (Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, One Touch of Venus, Strictly from Hunger, Westward Ha!) was born in Brooklyn.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999) (MC, 2/1/02)
1904Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Enrico Caruso recorded his first sides for Victor Records. He did ten songs in the session for $4,000.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1905Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Germany contested French rule in Morocco.
(HN, 2/1/99)1906Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, 1st federal penitentiary building completed in Leavenworth, Kansas.
(MC, 2/1/02)1908Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Movie producer and animator George Pal was born in Austria-Hungary.
(AP, 2/1/08)
1908Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Carlos I (44), King of Portugal (1889-1908), assassinated by mob.
(MC, 2/1/02)1909Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, U.S. troops left Cuba after installing Jose Miguel Gomez as president.
(HN, 2/1/99)1915Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, San Francisco’s Police Commission appointed Mrs. Blanche Payson as the city’s first special police woman, following her request and letter of introduction from William Pinkerton.
(SSFC, 2/1/15, DB p.42)1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Admiral Tirpitz (1849-1930) announced that Germany would attack all shipping in the North Atlantic with its feared U-Boats. [see Jan 31]
(WSJ, 1/29/96, p. C-1) (WUD, 1994 p.1488)1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Andrea King (d.2003), Hollywood film star, was born in Paris, France, as Georgette Andre Barry.
(SFC, 5/9/03, p.A22)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, “There she is…” The first Miss America was crowned on this day, not in Atlantic City, but in New York City. Edith Hyde was not, the judges found, a Miss. She was a Mrs. Mrs. Tod Robbins, the mother of two children.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1920Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, 1st commercial armored car was introduced in St. Paul, Minn.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1920Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Royal North West Mounted Police was formed as the Royal Northwest Mounted Police merged with Dominion Police and incorporated as the federal organization called the Dominion Police. The name Royal Canadian Mounted Police was adopted.
(AP, 2/1/97) (AP, 5/23/97) (HNQ, 5/5/98) (MC, 2/1/02)1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, William Desmond Taylor, president of the Motion Picture Director’s Guild, was discovered murdered in his Hollywood bungalow. Taylor was discovered to actually be William Deane-Tanner, an Irishman who had abandoned his family and reinvented himself in the film industry. In 2014 William J. Mann authored “Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood.”
(AH, 2/05, p.47) (SSFC, 1/4/15, p.N2)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Lieutenant Colonel I. Matuszewski, the head of the II department of the Polish Joint Staff, informed the military minister of Poland in the letter, that 22,000 prisoners of war were lost in the camp of Tuchola during its existence.
(www.search.com/reference/Prisoner-of-war_camp)1923Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Fascists Voluntary Militia formed in Italy under Mussolini.
(MC, 2/1/02)1924Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Soviet Union was formally recognized by Britain.
(MC, 2/1/02)1926Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Land at Broadway & Wall Street sold at a record $7 per sq. inch.
(MC, 2/1/02)1928Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Tom Lantos, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, was born in Budapest, Hungary. Lantos later earned a doctorate in economics at UC Berkeley and served as a US Congressman from California (1980-2008).
(SFC, 1/3/08, p.A10)1929      Feb 1, Weightlifter, Charles Rigoulet of France, achieved the first 400 pound ”˜clean and jerk’ as he lifted 402-1/2 pounds.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1930Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A Loening Air Yacht of Air Ferries made its first passenger run between San Francisco and Oakland, California. Amphibious airplanes offered frequent six-minute flights between San Francisco and Oakland in 1930.
(HN, 2/1/99)1931Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Boris Yeltsin (d.2007), prime minister of Russia (1991-1992) and the first president of the Republic of Russia (1991-1999), was born in the Ural Mts. of the USSR.
(SFC, 1/23/96, p.A8) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Yeltsin) (Econ, 4/28/07, p.98)1933Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, German Parliament was dissolved and Gen Ludendorf predicted catastrophe.
(MC, 2/1/02)1934Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Bob Shane was born. (singer) (group: The Kingston Trio: Tom Dooley, M.T.A., Greenback Dollar, Where Have All the Flowers Gone)
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1937Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Don Everly, was born. (singer: group: The Everly Brothers with brother, Phil: Wake Up Little Susie, Bye Bye Love, Cathy’s Clown, All I Have To Do Is Dream)
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1937Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Garrett Morris, was born. (comedian: Saturday Night Live, actor: The Anderson Tapes, Almost Blue)
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1937Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Ray Sawyer, was born. (singer: group: Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show: Only Sixteen, Cover of the Rolling Stone, Sylvia’s Mother)
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Benny Goodman and his Orchestra recorded “And the Angels Sing”, on Victor Records, on this day. The vocalist on that number, who went on to find considerable fame at Capitol Records, was Martha Tilton.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Contralto Marian Anderson was denied a performance at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, who owned the place. She performed instead on Easter Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial at the invitation of the Dept. Of the Interior.
(WSJ, 2/28/97, p.A14) (WSJ, 7/24/98, p.W11)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Some 4,00 prisoners at California’s San Quentin Prison, went on a hunger strike in protest against the monotony of prison menus.
(SSFC, 2/2/14, p.42)1940Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Frank Sinatra sang “Too Romantic” and “The Sky Fell Down” in his first recording session with the Tommy Dorsey Band on this day. The session was in Chicago, IL. Frankie replaced Jack Leonard as lead singer with the band.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, “Downbeat Magazine” reported this day that Glenn Miller had inked a new three-year contract with RCA Victor Records. The pact guaranteed Miller $750 a side, the fattest record contract signed to that time.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Planes of the U.S. Pacific fleet attacked Japanese bases in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands.
(HN, 2/1/99)1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, One of America’s most decorated military units of World War II, the 442d Regimental Combat Team, made up almost entirely of Japanese-Americans, was authorized.
(AP, 2/1/97)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, American tanks and infantry were battered at German positions at Fais pass in North Africa.
(HN, 2/1/99)1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, U.S. Army troops invaded two Kwajalein Islands in the Pacific. [see Jan 31]
(HN, 2/1/99)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Piet Mondrian (b.1872), Dutch artist, died in NYC of pneumonia. To create an art of harmony and order he used straight lines exclusively. “His trademark paintings of black lines forming a grid and primary colors are a calculated, mathematical blueprint for an organized life.” A leading abstract artist in the early half of the 20th century, Dutch painter Piet Mondrian was also a leading proponent of De Stijl (“The Style”). Born to an educator and amateur artist in 1872, Mondrian pursued a career as a painter from an early age. He was influenced by the Post-Impressionists, but gravitated towards Cubism after seeing an exhibition of works by Picasso and others.
(Hem, Dec. 94, p.131) (WSJ, 5/25/01, p.W10) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian)1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A press conference for what is considered the first computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC), was held at the University of Pennsylvania. The machine took up an entire room, weighed 30 tons and used more than 18,000 vacuum tubes to perform functions such as counting to 5,000 in one second. ENIAC, costing $450,000, was designed by the U.S. Army during World War II to make artillery calculations. The development of ENIAC paved the way for modern computer technology–but even today’s average calculator possesses more computing power than ENIAC did. John Mauchley and John “Pres” Eckert supervised the project. In 1999 Scott McCartney published “ENIAC: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World’s First Computer.”
(HN, 2/2/99) (WSJ, 6/30/99, p.A24) (SFEC, 8/29/99, BR p.5)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Norwegian statesman Trygve Lie was chosen to be the first secretary-general of the United Nations.
(AP, 2/1/97)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Yugoslavia and Hungary declared themselves republics.
(G&M, 2/1/96, p.A-2)1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Algis Ratnikas, timeliner, was born in a refugee camp in Munich, Germany, to Jonas and Stase Ratnikas from Lithuania.
(AR, 6/29/02)1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Palestine Post building in Jerusalem was bombed.
(MC, 2/1/02)1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Louis B. Mayer, the Mayer in Metro Goldwin Mayer (MGM), became a millionaire once more. He sold his breeding farm of race horses for one-million dollars.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1949      Feb 1, RCA Victor countered Columbia Records’ 33-1/3 ”˜long play’ phonograph disk on this day, with not only a smaller, 7-inch record (with a big hole in the center), but an entire phonograph playing system, as well. Soon, the newfangled product, which started a revolution (especially with the new rock and roll music) soon made the 78-rpm record a ”˜blast from the past’. The 45-rpm disk did well for about 20 years. Then it started to lose ground to cassette tapes, eight tracks and albums.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Joseph J. Kleiner was awarded a patent for the Becton Dickinson Vacutainer Tube, a stopper glass tube that maintained a vacuum for drawing blood. Kleiner had joined BD as a consultant in 1943.
(Echo, 6/2009, p.3) (www.bd.com/aboutbd/history/)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The 200″ (5.08-m) Hale telescope was 1st used.
(MC, 2/1/02)1951Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The third A-bomb test was completed in the desert of Nevada.
(HN, 2/1/99)
1951Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The 1st X-ray moving picture process demonstrated.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1951Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Alfred Krupp & 28 other German war criminals were freed.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1951Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The UN condemned the People’s Republic of China as aggressor in Korea.
(MC, 2/1/02)1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, CBS-TV debuted “Private Secretary”, starring Ann Sothern, on this day. Ann played Susie McNamera, private secretary to NY talent agent, Peter Sands (played by Don Porter). The show ran during the regular TV seasons on CBS, and last show was September 10, 1957. It ran on NBC-TV in the summers of 1953 and 1954.
(SFC, 2/21/97, p.A26) (440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, “You Are There” with Walter Cronkite premiered on CBS television.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A powerful storm breached sea dikes in the south of the Netherlands, killing more than 1,800 people and cementing a deep resolve among the Dutch that their ancient enemy, water, would never kill again.
(SSFC, 3/25/01, p.C3) (AP, 9/1/05)1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A television classic was born this day on CBS-TV, as the serial, “The Secret Storm”, was shown for the first day of what would become a 20-year run on the network.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1955 Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Top hits included: Melody of Love, Billy Vaughn/The Four Aces/David Carroll; Hearts of Stone, The Fontane Sisters; Earth Angel, Penguins/Crew-Cuts; Open Up Your Heart (and Let the Sun Shine In), Cowboy Church Sunday School.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, [Feb 1] A stick of dynamite exploded on the porch of the Martin Luther King family.
(SFEM, 1/19/97, BR p.8) (SFEM, 2/2/97, p.12)
1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Guy Mollet (12905-1975) became prime minister of France and continued to June 13, 1957.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Mollet)1957Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Friedrich von Paulus (66), German field marshal (Stalingrad), died.
(MC, 2/1/02)1958Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab Republic. Most Syrians resented the merger, which was led by the radical Baath (Arab Socialist Resurrection) party. The union of Syria and Egypt was dissolved in 1961 following a coup in Syria. Egypt kept the name United Arab Republic until 1971.
(WUD, 1994, p.1555) (HNQ, 6/5/98)(AP, 2/1/08)1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Texas Instruments requested a patent for the IC (Integrated Circuit).
(MC, 2/1/02)1960Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Four black North Carolina A&T students staged a sit-in in a dime store in Greensboro, NC, lunch counter, where they’d been refused service, to begin the first of the historic 1960s sit-ins.
(AP, 2/1/97) (AH, 2/05, p.16)1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Top hits included: Anyone Who Had a Heart: Dionne Warwick; Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um: Major Lance; Stop and Think It Over: Dale and Grace.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tried to ban “Louie Louie” for obscenity.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, President Lyndon B. Johnson rejected Charles de Gaulle’s plan for a neutral Vietnam.
(HN, 2/1/99)1965Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Selma, Alabama, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and 770 of his followers were arrested on their civil rights march. They protested against voter discrimination in Alabama.
(SFEC, 3/16/97, p.T1) (HN, 2/1/99)1966Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, US pilot Dieter Dengler (1939-2001) was shot down in his A-1 Skyraider over Laos. He managed to organize 6 American and Thai prisoners and escaped his captors in July. In 2007 a German documentary by Werner Herzog, “Little Dieter Needs To Fly,” was expanded into a full film. In 2010 Bruce Henderson authored “Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War.”
(SFC, 7/30/10, p.F2)1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The US Federal Hourly Minimum Wage was set at $1.40 an hour.
(www.dol.gov/ESA/minwage/chart.htm)1966Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Nicholas Piantanida, set a balloon flight record & died during the descent.
(MC, 2/1/02)1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Richard M. Nixon announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
(AP, 2/1/08)
1968      Feb 1, Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, was born. Lisa Marie married ”˜The Gloved One’, Michael Jackson, in the ”˜90s.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A1) (440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Pennsylvania Railroad and NYC Central merged into Penn Central.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Central)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, US troops drove the North Vietnamese out of Tan Son Nhut airport in Saigon. South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu declared martial law. Saigon’s police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head in a scene captured by Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams and NBC News.
(HN, 2/1/99) (SFC, 7/16/98, p.B2) (AP, 2/1/08)1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Buenos Aires, Argentina, an express train rammed stationary commuter train and 236 people were killed.
(SFC, 6/4/98, p.A15) (AP, 2/18/04)1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The soundtrack album from the movie, “Love Story”, starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw, with music by Frances Lai, was certified as a gold record on this day.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Evonne Goolagong scored her first major senior singles victory as she defeated Margaret Court in the finals of the Victorian Open, played in Melbourne, Australia.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The three astronauts aboard the Apollo XIV overcame a difficult docking problem but faced a critical test to determine whether they could land on the moon.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-2)1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The FAA issued a rule requiring air carriers to use a screening system, acceptable to the FAA, that would require screening all passengers “by one or more of the following systems: behavioral profile, magnetometer, identification check, physical search.”
(www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5116&page=6)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, 1st scientific hand-held calculator, the HP-35, was introduced at $395.
(www.hp-collection.org/calculators.html)1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Lynda Ann Healy, 1st Bundy murder victim, was abducted in Seattle.
(www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6664381)1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, “Rich Man, Poor Man” mini-series premiered on ABC TV.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074048/)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In San Francisco over 1,000 people took part in the Continental Walk for Peace and Social Justice led by comedian Dick Gregory and Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy.
(SFC, 1/26/01, WBb p.4)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Werner C. Heisenberg (b.1901), physicist and Nobel Prize winner (1932), died in Germany. In 1993 Thomas Powers authored “Heisenberg’s War,” in which he argued that Heisenberg destroyed the German atomic project from within. Niels Bohr later countered the argument with personal documentation.
(SFC, 2/7/02, p.A2) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg)1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Harriet Tubman became the 1st black woman honored on a US postage stamp.
(http://chi.gospelcom.net/DAILYF/2002/02/daily-02-01-2002.shtml)1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, US Pres. Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing.
(Hem., 8/96, p.113) (www.foamrangers.com/glossary_H.html)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, whose prison sentence for bank robbery had been commuted by President Jimmy Carter, left a federal prison at Pleasanton near SF. She later published “Every Secret Thing.”
(AP, 2/1/99) (SFC, 2/4/99, p.A8) (SFEC, 5/16/99, p.A1)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The People’s Republic of China opened its 1st two American Consulates in San Francisco and Houston.
(SFC, 1/30/04, p.E6)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.
(AP, 2/1/97)1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Top hits included:Â Can’t Go for That (No Can Do) Daryl Hall and John Oates; Waiting for a Girl Like You Foreigner; Hooked on Classics The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; The Sweetest Thing I’ve Ever Known Juice Newton.
(440 Int’l, 2/1/1999)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The “Late Night with David Letterman” premiered on NBC TV.
(AP, 2/1/02)1984Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Iraq launched a new series of air attacks on Iran’s shipping.
(www.iranchamber.com/history/iran_iraq_war/iran_iraq_war2.php)1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Greenland left the European Community but remains associated with it as an overseas territory.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1985/index_en.htm)1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Haiti 2 days of anti-government riots in Port-au-Prince resulted in 14 dead.
(HN, 2/1/99)1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Terry Williams of Los Gatos, CA, won the largest slot machine payoff to that time. He put $4.9 million in his pockets after getting four lucky “7s” on a machine in Reno, NV.
(www.igt.com/Content/base.asp?pid=8.17.37.19)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Sala Burton (b.1925), US Representative from California (1983-1987), died of colon cancer in Washington, DC. She served as president of the San Francisco Democratic Women’s Forum from 1957 to 1959. Burton was succeeded by Nancy Pelosi.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sala_Burton)1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Denying any wrongdoing, US Attorney General Edwin Meese III said he didn’t recall part of a memo about a proposed Iraqi pipeline project that referred to a plan to bribe Israeli officials.
(AP, 2/1/97)1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In his first diplomatic mission of the Bush administration, Vice President Dan Quayle began a trip to Venezuela and El Salvador.
(AP, 2/1/99)1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Jane Novak (b.1896), film actress (Ghost Town), died of stroke in Woodland Hills, Ca. Her career began with silent films.
(www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8755790)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, East Germany’s Communist premier, Hans Modrow, appealed for negotiations with West Germany to forge a “united fatherland.”
(AP, 2/1/00)1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The 1st US bunker buster (GBU-28) was built using surplus 8-inch artillery tubes as part of the weapon. The project received the official go-ahead a fortnight later as part of Operation Desert Storm. The bomb was designed by engineer Albert Weimorts (1938-2005).
(SSFC, 12/25/05, p.B5)(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2895081.stm)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A US-Air jetliner crashed atop a commuter turboprop plane while landing at Los Angeles International Airport. 34 people were killed.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A1) (AP, 2/1/97)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Afghanistan and Pakistan were hit by an earthquake and 1,200 died.
(http://tinyurl.com/dsnjk)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, South African President F.W. de Klerk said he would repeal all remaining apartheid laws.
(AP, 2/1/01)1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin met at Camp David.
(AP, 2/1/02)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Florida Patrol Trooper Jimmy Fulford was killed when a pipe bomb exploded in a gift wrapped microwave oven. In 2014 drug trafficker Paul Augustus Howell (40) was executed for killing Fulford.
(SFC, 2/27/14, p.A8)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Ron Carey was sworn in as the first Teamsters president elected by the union’s rank-and-file.
(AP, 2/1/02)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, US Federal Judge Irving R. Kaufman (81), who sentenced Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death, died in New York.
(AP, 2/1/02)1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin announced that his country would repatriate about 100 Palestinians deported to Lebanon, an offer rejected by the deportees.
(AP, 2/1/97)1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Jeff Gillooly, Tonya Harding’s ex-husband, pleaded guilty in Portland, Ore., to taking part in the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Gillooly struck a plea bargain under which he confessed to racketeering charges in exchange for testimony implicating Harding.
(AP, 2/1/99)1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The US Federal Reserve boosted interest rates by 0.5%, the seventh rate hike in a year.
(AP, 2/1/00)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, House Republicans pushed through a bill restricting the US federal government’s ability to impose unfunded mandates on states.
(AP, 2/1/00)1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Both houses of Congress voted overwhelmingly to rewrite the 61-year-old Communications Act, freeing the exploding television, telephone and home computer industries to jump into each other’s fields.
(AP, 2/1/01)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Astronomers at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii detected a faint galaxy 14 billion light-years away in the constellation Virgo with a red shift of 4.38.
(G&M, 2/1/96, p.A-2)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Cypress Grove Baptist Church, St. Paul’s Free Baptist Church, and Thomas Chapel Benevolent Society Church in East Baton Rouge Parish, La., burned down. The Sweet Home Baptist Church in Baker, La., burned down. Arson was suspected and investigations by the FBI and ATF were later begun.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A16)1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Herb Caen died in San Francisco at age 80.
(SFEC, 2/2/97, p.A12) (AP, 2/1/97)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Hong Kong a Beijing-appointed committee voted to repeal several key civil liberties laws.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Iran 5 people were killed and 44 injured when worshipers stampeded at the entrance to a mosque in Kermanshah.
(SFC, 2/3/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori promised to open “preliminary dialogue” with rebels holding 72 hostages in Lima, but again rejected their demand to release jailed comrades.
(AP, 2/1/97)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, An Air Senegal plane crashed and at least 23 people died after liftoff from a wildlife refuge at Tambacounda.
(SFC, 2/3/97, p.C3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Turkey A movement began demanding an investigation in the car accident, the Susurluk scandal, that linked government officials and gangster groups. People in cities began making noise outside their windows at 9 PM every night.
(WSJ, 3/14/97, p.A1)1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In a round of Sunday talk show appearances, Monica Lewinsky’s attorney, William Ginsburg, predicted that the controversy over whether the former White House intern had had an affair with President Clinton would “go away” and that the president would survive unscathed.
(AP, 2/1/03)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Costa Rica Miguel Angel Rodriguez of the Social Christian Unity Party won the presidential elections by a narrow margin over Jose Miguel Corrales of the National Liberation party. Also elected were 2 vice-presidents, 57 members of the Legislative Assembly and 571 mayors.
(SFC, 2/2/98, p.A8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, With Israeli and Palestinian leaders digging in their heels, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright conceded she’d made little progress in a whirlwind visit to the region to prod the two sides closer together.
(AP, 2/1/99)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Lithuania became an official associate in the European Union.
(LHC, 2/1/03)1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Pres. Clinton presented a $1.77 trillion budget that he said will help rescue Social Security and Medicare. He proposed to use federal surpluses for the next 15 years to pay down the national debt.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A1) (WSJ, 2/2/99, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky gave a deposition that was videotaped for senators weighing impeachment charges against President Clinton.
(AP, 2/1/00)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Morse code SOS was officially retired and replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System.
(SFC, 2/1/99, p.A7)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Dearborn, Mich., an explosion at a Ford River Rouge power station killed one worker and injured 12 others. The Rouge power plant explosion killed 6 workers and shut it down for 3 months.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A3) (WSJ, 6/9/04, p.A8)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Paul Mellon, philanthropist; died at age 91. He left the National Gallery of Art $75 million and over 100 works of art.
(SFC, 6/25/99, p.A3)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Guinea-Bissau thousands fled the capital as fighting intensified between rebels and loyalists. At least 15 people were reported killed. Most of the 6,000 member army joined the rebellion to depose Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A9)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Nairobi, Kenya students protested for a 3rd day against plans for construction in a virgin forest.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In India officials agreed to sign a nuclear test ban if economic sanctions are lifted.
(SFC, 2/1/99, p.A7)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Mexico Hector Alejandro Galindo, film director, died at age 93. He directed or scripted over 70 films and won at least 8 Ariels, the Mexican equivalent of the Oscar.
(SFC, 2/11/99, p.A25)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Moldova Ion Ciubuc announced his resignation as prime minister. He blamed parliament and the ruling coalition for not supporting his efforts to implement market reforms.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Gaza a Palestinian security agent was killed in a shootout with 3 members of Hamas, who then sped away and ran over an 8-year-old girl. The girl died. Raed Attar, Osama Abu Taha, and Mohammed Abu Shamala were later arrested in Shati refugee camp.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Russia Prime Minister Primakov promised to double subsidies to the coal industry to $520 million to placate angry miners.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A9)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Switzerland the IOC adopted its first ethics commission and code of conduct.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A10)2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, US House members voted to strengthen military ties with Taiwan with a 341-70 vote in favor of the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Republican John McCain won the New Hampshire primary over George W. Bush, Steve Forbes and Alan Keyes 49.5 to 31 to 12.9 to 6.5%. Democrat Al Gore won over Bill Bradley 52.1 to 47.8%.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A1,19) (AP, 2/1/01) (SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A19)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Britain the Millennium Wheel, the world’s largest Ferris wheel, began operating after a month long delay.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.B8)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Chechnya rebel fighters suffered heavy losses to Russian troops and some 2000 broke out of Grozny to rejoin fellow rebels in the south. Some 600 rebels were killed or wounded when they crossed a Russian mine field following a $100,000 proposed bribe. Commanders Shamil Basayev, Aslanbek Ismailov and Khunkar-Pasha Israpilov were among the dead.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A14) (SFC, 2/5/00, p.A10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In France the new 35-hour work week took legal effect. Workers that included truckers struck across the country for a number of demands that included higher pay. The truckers were exempted from the reduced work week.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.B2)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Mexico 171 radical students were arrested in a skirmish with anti-strike students and security forces at a university-affiliated high school in Mexico City.
(SFC, 2/4/00, p.D5)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Chiapas, Mexico, 3 supporters of the Zapatista rebels were killed in an ambush at Chavajebal. Paramilitary supporters of the government were suspected.
(SFC, 2/4/00, p.D8)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Northern Ireland was on the brink of political crises after a disarmament report confirmed rebel groups had not surrendered any weapons.
(WSJ, 2/2/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Peru Shining Path rebels killed 3 park rangers in a reserve for vicuna.
(SFC, 2/3/00, p.A13)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Turkey 3 more bodies were found in Diyarbakir and one in Barman attributed to the militant Hezbollah. The total reached 51.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.B8)2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, John Ashcroft won confirmation as attorney general on a 58-42 Senate vote, completing President George W. Bush’s Cabinet over strong Democratic opposition.
(AP, 2/1/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, California state lawmakers enacted legislation to spend up to $10 billion for power. Gov. Davis ordered large retail outlets to dim lights with penalties beginning Mar 15.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Michigan Tony and Linda Calliea claimed their Big Game lottery win for $107 million. They selected a $57.7 lump sum option.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.A2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Ecuador Ronald Clay Sander (54), an oil technician from Missouri, was found shot to death. He had been kidnapped in October and 7 more hostages were still held.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.D2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The India earthquake death toll estimates rose to between 35-50 thousand with injuries to over 60,000. the damages in Gujarat state were estimated at $4.5 billion.
(WSJ, 2/2/01, p.A1) (SSFC, 2/4/01, p.A14)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Indonesia the parliament agreed to censure Pres. Abdurrahman Wahid for alleged involvement in 2 corruption scandals.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In East Timor the former guerrilla force was transformed into the core of a new national army.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.D4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Pres. Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro visited Washington DC to explain his reasons for independence, but Sec. Of State Colin Powell refused to see him.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.D4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Taiwan the legislature voted to reverse Pres. Shui-bian’s decision to scrap a partly built nuclear power plant.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.D4)2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, President George W. Bush responded to the collapse of Enron by proposing regulation reforms of 401(k) retirement plans. Justice Department investigators directed Bush’s staff to preserve the paper trail of any contact with Enron. The US Justice Dept. asked the president’s staff for all Enron-related documents back to Jan 1, 1999.
(AP, 2/1/03)(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Pres. Bush named Jim Tower (45), former Florida Sec. of Health, to lead his initiative to give federal money to religious charities.
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A5)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Actress Winona Ryder was charged with four felony counts stemming from her shoplifting arrest at a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, Cal., the previous December. Ryder was later convicted of felony grand theft and vandalism, and received three years’ probation.
(AP, 2/1/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The NCAA placed Alabama on five years’ probation, jolting the football program with a two-year bowl ban and heavy scholarship reductions.
(AP, 2/1/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Amtrak announced a new austerity plan and hope Congress would provide $1.2 billion in financing next year. Amtrak lost $1.1 billion last year.
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A3)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Idaho Legislature voted 50-20 to override Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s veto and repeal term limits, becoming the first state to do so.
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A5) (Econ, 4/23/11, SR p.11)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Comet Ikeya-Zhang was discovered by 2 amateur astronomers in Japan and China. Its closest approach to Earth was projected for Apr 30. It last flew into the solar system nearly 350 years earlier.
(SFC, 3/23/02, p.A3)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Danielle van Dam (7) went missing from Sabre Springs, her San Diego suburban home. David Westerfield (49), a neighbor, was arrested Feb 22 after her blood was found on his clothing and in his motor home. Her body was found Feb 27 some 25 miles northeast of San Diego at Dehesa. Westerfield was convicted of her kidnapping and murder on Aug 21 and was sentenced to death Jan 3, 2003.
(NW, 2/18/02, p.34) (SFC, 2/23/02, p.A3) (SFC, 2/28/02, p.A3) (SFC, 8/22/02, p.A3) (SFC, 1/4/03, p.A3)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Argentina the Supreme Court ruled 5-0 that the banking freeze was unconstitutional.
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A7)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, It was reported that Riduan Isamuddin (36), an Indonesian cleric known as Hambali, was a Southeast Asian pointman for an al Qaeda network.
(WSJ, 2/1/02, p.A13)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Israel over 100 reserve combat officers denounced the army for immoral behavior toward Palestinian civilians and placed ads in newspapers including Haaretz: “We will no longer fight beyond the Green Line with the aim of dominating, expelling, starving and humiliating an entire people.”
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A7)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Kuwait a huge oil field fire killed 4 workers and shut down production of some 600,000 daily barrels.
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A7)2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Space shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames over Texas, killing all 7 astronauts just 16 minutes before they were supposed to glide to ground in Florida. The astronauts included Michael P. Anderson (b.1959), David M. Brown (b.1956), Laurel Clark (b.1962), Kalpana Chawla (b.1962), Rick Husband (b.1957), William C. McCool (b.1961) and Ilan Ramon (b.1954). An explosion in the wheel well under the left wing was later suspected as the cause.
(AP, 2/1/03) (SSFC, 2/2/03, p.A8) (WSJ, 2/14/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Former Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng died in Modesto, Calif., at age 84.
(AP, 2/1/04)
2003      Feb 1, In western Canada 7 people were killed in the 2nd fatal avalanche to strike in less than two weeks.
(Reuters, 2/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Lunar Chinese New Year 4701, the Year of the Ram, began.
(SFC, 1/31/03, p.A23)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Colombia leftist guerrillas freed an American photographer and a British reporter.
(AP, 2/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Mongo Santamaria (81/85), Cuban-born Latin jazzman, died in Miami.
(WSJ, 2/3/03, p.A1) (SFC, 2/5/03, p.A22) (SSFC, 12/28/03, p.E4)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Across France at least 150,000 people, some braving snow, poured into the streets to protest government plans to reform the country’s generous, but overburdened, pension system.
(AP, 2/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In northern Ireland a protestant paramilitary commander and his friend were gunned down because of an apparent feud within his outlawed group.
(AP, 2/2/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Ivory Coast nearly 100,000 loyalists marched through Abidjan, burning French flags and calling for the death of the French president in the biggest protest yet against a French-brokered peace deal.
(AP, 2/2/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Liberia fighting between government and rebel forces raged within 60 miles of Monrovia.
(AP, 2/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In northwestern Zimbabwe a crowded passenger train and a freight train with flammable liquid collided, killed at least 50 people and injured about 40.
(AP, 2/3/03) (AP, 2/1/08)2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Texas a breast belonging to entertainer Janet Jackson escaped after singer Justin Timberlake ripped off one of her chest plates during the halftime Super Bowl performance in Houston. New England Patriots fans turned rowdy after their team’s 32-29 win over the Carolina Panthers. CBS’ parent company, Viacom, appealed a $550,000 fine.
(AP, 2/1/04) (SFC, 2/2/04, p.A2) (Econ, 2/7/04, p.55)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Sarasota, Florida, Carlie Brucia (11) was abducted. Brucia, whose abduction was captured by a surveillance camera, was found Feb 6 in a church parking lot, and Joseph P. Smith, a mechanic, was charged with her murder. Smith (39) was convicted of kidnapping, rape and murder on Nov 17, 2005. In 2006 Smith was sentenced to death.
(AP, 2/6/04)(SFC, 2/7/04, p.A3) (SFC, 11/18/05, p.A3) (SFC, 3/16/06, p.A7)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The first passenger train to cross Australia from south to north set off on its three-day journey, marking a new era of rail travel through the vast Outback. Regular train service from Adelaide to Darwin would take 43 hours. Plans for the Transcontinental line had begun in 1911.
(SSFC, 10/26/03, p.A1) (AP, 2/1/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, China reported 5 more cases of the avian influenza virus.
(SFC, 2/2/04, p.A4)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Tens of thousands of government opponents marched peacefully to demand President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s resignation. A day earlier Aristide vowed to disarm politically affiliated gangs, reform the police force and implement other measures to end the country’s recent unrest.
(AP, 2/1/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, More than a third of the Iranian parliament resigned and the speaker delivered a stinging rebuke to the hard-line Guardian Council for its disqualification of hundreds of liberal candidates in upcoming elections.
(AP, 2/1/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Irbil, Iraq, 2 suicide bombers struck the offices of two U.S.-backed Kurdish parties in near-simultaneous attacks as hundreds of Iraqis gathered to celebrate a Muslim holiday. At least 101 people were killed and more than 235 were wounded. Also about 20 Iraqis were killed when they accidentally set off an explosion while looting a former Iraqi munitions dump in the Polish-controlled south-central region of the country.
(AP, 2/2/04) (WSJ, 2/4/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Israeli troops riding jeeps and a tank raided the biblical town of Jericho for the first time in months, killing one Palestinian militant and forcing many residents to stay inside at the start of the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
(AP, 2/1/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Tepeyac, Mexico, a fight broke out between two families at an illegal cockfighting den, and seven people were killed.
(AP, 2/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Saudi Arabia 251 Muslim worshipers died in a hajj stampede during the annual stoning of Satan ritual.
(AP, 2/2/04) (WSJ, 2/3/04, p.A1)2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Russell Christoff, kindergarten teacher in Antioch, Ca., found out that he was awarded $15.6 million for a Taster’s Choice modeling photo taken in 1986.
(SFC, 2/1/05, p.A2)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, HP researchers introduced groundbreaking nanotechnology that could replace traditional transistors on computer chips.
(SFC, 2/1/05, p.A1)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Sun Microsystems began selling information technology on a pay-per-use basis offering customers access to computing power for $1 per hour.
(SFC, 2/1/05, p.A1)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Character actor John Vernon (72), who’d played nasty Dean Wormer in “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” died in Los Angeles.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Canadian government introduced its contentious same-sex marriage bill in Parliament, seeking to legalize gay marriage nationwide over the objections of the Roman Catholic Church and other conservative clergy.
(AP, 2/2/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, China lent Russia $6 billion to help finance the nationalization of OAO Yukos. The loan was in effect a forward payment for some 48 million metric tons of crude oil.
(WSJ, 2/2/05, p.A2)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In southwest Colombia leftist rebels attacked a Colombian Marine post with homemade rockets, killing at least 14 soldiers and wounding about 25.
(AP, 2/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Egyptian security forces clashed with Islamic militants in the mountains of Sinai, killing a suspect in last year’s deadly bombings of beach resorts on the peninsula.
(AP, 2/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Gori, Georgia, a car bomb exploded outside a police station, killing three policemen and injuring 13 other people.
(AP, 2/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Indonesia announced that it found the bodies of 1,000 additional victims from the Dec 26 tsunami disaster.
(AP, 2/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed to have captured the four Iraqi National Guard soldiers after Sunday’s elections.
(AP, 2/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Malawi Health Minister Heatherwick Ntaba said AIDS kills about 10 people every hour in Malawi and the government is increasingly unable to cope with the crisis.
(Reuters, 2/2/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal’s government and imposed a state of emergency, cutting off his Himalayan nation from the rest of the world as telephone and Internet lines were severed, flights diverted and civil liberties severely curtailed.
(AP, 2/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Russia’s finance minister said windfall oil export revenues will be used to repay nearly $3.3 billion in International Monetary Fund loans early, saving the country some $200 million in interest payments.
(AP, 2/1/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Pope John Paul II was hospitalized for breathing problems and the flu.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Venezuela’s Pres. Chavez said he intends to sell his country’s interests in 8 US oil refineries.
(WSJ, 2/2/05, p.A2)2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The US Congress passed the Deficit Reduction Act which included lopping off $12.7 billion from the student loan program.
(Econ, 2/18/06, p.71)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In his first case on the Supreme Court, new Justice Samuel Alito split with the court’s conservatives, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, New SEC rules went into effect for many hedge funds. US funds with over 15 American investors were required to register.
(Econ, 4/1/06, p.61)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Wa., offered a $45.7 million settlement to 75 people who said they were molested by priests.
(SFC, 2/2/06, p.A7)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, United Airlines left bankruptcy after a painful restructuring that lasted more than three years.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In West Virginia the deaths of 2 mine workers prompted Gov. Joe Manchin to call for all coal companies in the state to halt production and perform safety checks.
(SFC, 2/2/06, p.A5)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Burger King’s parent company said it plans to sell shares to the public for the first time in the fast-food chain’s 52-year history, part of its attempt to recoup ground lost in fierce competition with rivals McDonald’s Corp. and Wendy’s International Inc.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The journal Nature reported that object UB313 is larger than Pluto according to German heat calculations.
(WSJ, 2/2/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A provincial governor said avalanches in northeast Afghanistan have killed at least 18 people and destroyed dozens of homes in the past week.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In eastern Afghanistan a suicide bomber disguised as a woman blew himself up at an army checkpoint, killing five Afghans and wounding four.
(AP, 2/2/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A joint British and Irish report said the Irish Republican Army has halted violence but is still gathering intelligence on enemies and remains deeply involved in organized crime.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In southern England thieves driving Jeeps forced entry to the Ramsbury Manor, a property tycoon Harry Hyams, stealing around 300 museum-grade artifacts. The value of the stolen art was later put at $142 million.
(AP, 4/24/06) (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=171132006)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In northern China a blast at the Sihe Coal Mine, the subsidiary of a state-owned coal mine, killed 23 workers and injured 53 others in Shanxi Province.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Colombia’s attorney general charged seven soldiers in the shooting deaths of five members of a peasant family, including a 6-month-old baby.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Two top Egyptian officials called on Hamas to recognize Israel, disarm and honor past peace deals, the latest sign Arab governments are pushing the militant group to moderate after its surprise election victory.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, French and German newspapers republished caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in what they called a defense of freedom of expression.
(SFC, 2/2/06, p.A10)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In eastern Indonesia naval vessels picked up 114 survivors from a passenger ferry that went down in rough seas, but there was no sign of dozens of others still missing.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Saddam Hussein and four other defendants refused to attend their trial, and their defense attorneys boycotted the proceedings, demanding the removal of the chief judge they claim is biased against the former Iraqi leader.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A bomb exploded alongside a group of Iraqi men waiting for work in eastern Baghdad, killing at least eight and wounding more than 50. A key Sunni Arab leader threatened to call for a nationwide “uprising” unless the Shiite interior minister is replaced.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A roadside bomb blast killed three US soldiers south of Baghdad, while a fourth soldier died the same day from wounds sustained in a small-arms fire attack in the capital’s southwest. A US Marine was fatally wounded during combat near the western city of Fallujah.
(AP, 2/2/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Israeli forces completed the evacuation of the Amona West Bank settlement outpost, ending a violent operation in which dozens of people were injured in clashes between police and Jewish settlers.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Israel said it froze this month’s transfer of $45 million in tax rebates and customs payments to the Palestinian Authority while it reviews its options following the Hamas victory in last week’s parliamentary election. A senior Palestinian official said Saudi Arabia and Qatar pledged Wednesday to transfer millions to ease the crisis.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Kenya Four suspended senior officials of the City Council of Nairobi were charged with negligence in the Jan 23 collapse of a building in Nairobi that killed at least 17 people and injured more than 100.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Liberia’s Pres. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf fired top officials appointed by a transitional administration to help run the Finance Ministry, a perceived center of corruption.
(AP, 2/2/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Nepal’s king pledged to hold national elections within 15 months, the one-year anniversary of his power grab, and claimed success in fighting communist rebels, despite an overnight attack that killed at least 20 security forces.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Amsterdam an experimental ban on smoking marijuana went into effect intended to reduce loitering and petty crime. “No toking” signs appeared as part of the ban on the street in “De Baarsjes,” one of the city’s poorer neighborhoods. Amsterdam soon began selling the “no toking” signs to prevent the official ones from being stolen as collector’s items.
(AP, 2/4/06)2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The departing top US commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that improving security in Baghdad would take fewer than half as many extra troops as President Bush had chosen to commit.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The National Academy of Engineering announced that the 2007 Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability would go to Abul Hussam, a chemistry professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. He had developed an inexpensive, easy-to-make system for filtering arsenic from well water, and planned to use most of the $1 million engineering prize to distribute the filters to needy communities around the world.
(AP, 2/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Montana sued Wyoming in the Supreme Court saying its neighbor takes more Tongue- and Powder- River water that it is entitled to.
(WSJ, 2/2/07, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In SF Mayor Gavin Newsom admitted to having an affair with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, his campaign manager’s wife.
(SFC, 2/2/07, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Coca-Cola announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire Fuze Beverage LLC in a deal estimated at $225-250 million. Fuze was launched in 2001.
(WSJ, 2/2/07, p.B3)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Oil giant Exxon Mobil topped its own record for the biggest annual profit by a US company last year, racking up earnings that amounted to $4.5 million an hour for the world’s largest publicly traded oil company.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Whitney Balliett (80), jazz chronicler writer for the New Yorker magazine, died.
(WSJ, 2/6/07, p.D5)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, John Bryan, underground press writer and editor, died in SF. He had started the Open City Press, San Francisco’s 1st alternative paper, in 1964.
(SSFC, 2/11/07, p.B7)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The United States presented hundreds of armored vehicles and trucks and thousands of weapons to the Afghan army as Afghanistan braces for renewed fighting with Taliban-led insurgents. In southern Afghanistan Taliban militants overran Musa Qala, where a contentious peace agreement was negotiated last fall, roaming through the town center, burning its government compound and threatening elders. In eastern Paktika province coalition aircraft dropped two bombs, killing as many as seven militants.
(AP, 2/1/07) (AP, 2/2/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Defense Secretary Des Browne said Britain will increase its military presence in southern Afghanistan by about 800 troops to 5,800 this summer.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Chadian rebels fighting to overthrow President Idriss Deby attacked the eastern border town of Adre on the main road route into Sudan’s Darfur region.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, China’s Pres. Hu Jintao arrived in Liberia. He held talks with Liberian Pres. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and address the parliament, before meeting some 500 Chinese peacekeepers. Jintao was also due to visit Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and the Seychelles during his 12-day tour.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Colombia President Alvaro Uribe ordered the seizure of assets belonging to demobilized paramilitary leaders after the killing of a woman who was leading a campaign to reclaim land stolen by the illegal militias.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Ahmed Abu Laban (60), Denmark’s most prominent Muslim leader and a central figure in last year’s uproar over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons, died from cancer.
(AP, 2/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Ecuador’s government named Lorena Escudero (41) to be defense minister, to take over after the first female to hold the office was killed in a helicopter accident.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A Lebanese publisher said the Egyptian government had censored several Egyptian and foreign titles at its annual book fair, including the classic novel “Zorba the Greek” as well as books by Czech author Milan Kundera.
(AFP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In France top global warming experts huddled for a last day of talks with bureaucrats from more than 100 countries on a closely watched global warming report that could influence government and business policy worldwide.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In France a ban on smoking in public spaces came into effect.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A suicide attack in Hillah killed at least 73 people with 163 wounded. Mortar rounds slammed into a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad for the third day in a row, killing at least three people and wounding 10. At least 9 people were killed in Baghdad as a bomb tore through a minibus in a predominantly Shiite commercial district and mortars hit a Sunni area. A US soldier died of wounds sustained in fighting in Anbar province.
(AP, 2/1/07) (AP, 2/2/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched anniversary celebrations for Iran’s Islamic Revolution with a defiant promise to push ahead with the country’s controversial nuclear program.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen in an exchange of fire in Nablus.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Gian Carlo Menotti (b.1911), Italian composer and Pulitzer Prize winner, died in Monaco. His operas included “The Medium” (1946) and “Amahl and the Night Visitors” (1951).
(SFC, 2/2/07, p.B7)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon praised a new law that obligates federal and local authorities to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women, and he promised a “relentless” fight against gender-related abuse.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A Nigerian oil worker abducted 2 days earlier from a facility operated by Addax Petroleum in southern Nigeria was found dead.
(AFP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Hamas officials in separate attacks, marring efforts to shore up a truce that brought relative quiet to Gaza after days of deadly factional violence.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Romanian President Traian Basescu told Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates that pirated Microsoft software helped Romania to build a vibrant technology industry.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Russia’s Emergency Ministry planned to fly a chemical laboratory to the Omsk region in southern Siberia to analyze oily yellow and orange snow which has covered an area home to 27,000 people. Omsk is a heavily industrial city with a number of oil and gas refineries.
(Reuters, 2/2/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In South Africa 20 people, including four children, were killed in a car accident in Mpumalanga province.
(AFP, 2/1/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, said child soldiers are increasingly being used in the war-torn region of Darfur, even as their use is on the decline elsewhere in Sudan.
(AP, 2/1/07)2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Microsoft Corp. made an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion for Yahoo Inc. in its boldest bid yet to challenge Google Inc.’s dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Exxon Mobil Corp. posted the largest annual profit by a US company, $40.6 billion, as the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from historic crude prices.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, According to a new study the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer in women is poised to become one of the leading causes of oral cancer in men.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Loganville, Ga., Darryl Spearman (55) and Cherri Spearman (52) were found dead in their home by relatives. Investigators said they were beaten to death. The next day police arrested their son, Joshua Spearman (18), on two counts of murder.
(AP, 2/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Cockeysville, Md., Nicholas Waggoner Browning (15) shot and killed his father John Browning (45) and mother Tamara (44) and his brothers Gregory (13) and Benjamin (11). On Oct 27 Browning pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges and faced at least 2 decades in prison. On Jan 23, 2009, he was sentenced to 4 life terms, but could be eligible for parole in 23 years with good behavior.
(SFC, 2/4/08, p.A4) (SFC, 10/28/08, p.A6) (AP, 1/24/09)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Actress Shell Kepler (49) died at Oregon Health & Science University hospital. For years she played the gossipy nurse Amy Vining on the TV soap opera “General Hospital.”
(AP, 2/4/08)
2008      Feb 1, An Australian report said that Japanese harpoonists killed five whales in one day after Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd ships, which had halted the hunt in Antarctic waters, were forced to return to port to refuel.
(AFP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Bangladesh livestock officials said more than 27,000 chickens and ducks have been slaughtered after bird flu was confirmed at a poultry farm near the border with India.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Brazil men dressed as nuns swilled beer and danced down the cobblestoned streets of a Rio hillside to kick off five days of uninhibited carnival madness.
(AP, 2/2/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Chad’s army fought to drive off rebels who pushed to within 100 km (60 miles) of the capital N’Djamena and the clashes delayed the deployment of European peacekeepers. A French Defense Ministry official said France has sent about 150 supplementary troops to Chad as a “precautionary measure” in response to a rebel offensive.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, China’s government said 3 weeks of crippling snow storms have inflicted $7.5 billion in damages and announced a $700 million relief fund for farmers.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Chinese aluminium giant Chinalco said it and US peer Alcoa have bought a 12-percent stake in Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto, setting up a possible takeover tussle with rival BHP Billiton.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Ethiopia a summit of African Union leaders shifted its attention from the crisis in Kenya to Chad, with delegates voicing fears of a major conflict that could scupper peace efforts in Sudan.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Hundreds of Hamas supporters protested on the breached Gaza-Egypt border to demand it remain open, while Egyptian troops poured cement and laid down metal spikes in a new attempt to halt the influx of Gazans.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Scientists in Finland said they had replaced a 65-year-old patient’s upper jaw with a bone transplant cultivated from stem cells isolated from his own fatty tissue and grown inside his abdomen.
(Reuters, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Iraq 2 female suicide bombers blew themselves up in separate attacks on Baghdad pet bazaars, killing at least 68 people and wounding dozens. The attacks were the deadliest in the Iraqi capital since 30,000 more American troops flooded into the center of the country last spring. The next day officials raised the death toll to at least 99, including 62 people killed at the central al-Ghazl market and 37 others killed about 20 minutes later across town. PM al-Maliki said the suicide bombers were both mentally disabled and that their suicide vests were remotely controlled.
(AP, 2/1/08) (AP, 2/2/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Scientists in Japan and New Zealand said they have created a “tear-free” onion using biotechnology to switch off the gene behind the enzyme that makes us cry.
(AFP, 2/2/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The US promised Kazakhstan to help it bring its armed forces up to NATO standards in a new military cooperation pact certain to irritate Russia.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Kenya’s rival sides said they had agreed to take action to end monthlong violence from a disputed presidential election, but the death toll mounted when police fired on mobs setting homes and businesses ablaze in the west of the country. At least 14 people were killed as the death toll rose to over 800 with some 300,000 forced from their homes.
(AP, 2/2/08) (SFC, 2/2/08, p.A5)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Mauritania at least one gunman opened fire on the Israeli Embassy, setting off a battle with guards that wounded one person. 8 people were soon detained, but all were released for lack of evidence. 2 suspected terrorists were arrested on April 30.
(AP, 2/1/08) (AP, 2/19/08) (AP, 4/30/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Pakistan a suicide bomber attacked a military checkpoint in North Waziristan, killing five government soldiers about two miles from the scene of a US missile attack that had killed a top al-Qaida commander.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Pirates seized a Danish-owned tug boat and its six crew members off Somalia’s northeastern coast and demanded ransom. The 115-foot Svitzer Korsakov was built in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was on its way to Sakhalin Island in the Far East.
(AP, 2/4/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In northern Sri Lanka government troops attacked Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers along the front lines, triggering a battle that killed 10 guerrillas and two soldiers.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Sweden Christer Merrill Aggett (32), a British man, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for infecting two young women with HIV and putting 13 more at risk of infection. Six of them were under the age of 15, the legal age of consent in Sweden, when the sexual encounters took place.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The US announced it will resume military and other aid to Thailand as a result of the country’s successful election and its formation of a democratically elected government.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Wireless equipment maker LM Ericsson AB reported a sharp drop in fourth-quarter net profits and said it would lay off around 1,000 employees in Sweden because of costs cuts.
(AP, 2/1/08)2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Super Bowl XLIII at Tampa, Florida, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23.
(SFC, 2/2/09, p.A1)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In California police officers and two armed robbers exchanged gunfire at a Papa John’s Pizza outlet in Chino, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Bystander Daniel Baledran (21), of Rubidoux, died after he was shot by officers.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber in a car attacked a convoy of foreign troops in Kabul, wounding two Afghans. Afghans demonstrated against an overnight US military raid in Ghazni province that one villager said killed several civilians. The US military said its forces only killed two militants.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The African Union’s 12th summit opened in Ethiopia with an agenda officially focused on infrastructure development. Leaders set aside the first day to discuss Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s long-standing pet project to establish a United States of Africa.
(AFP, 2/1/09) (Reuters, 2/1/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Algerian newspapers reported that Ali Ben Touati, a leading member of Al-Qaeda’s North African branch, has surrendered to Algerian authorities.
(AFP, 2/1/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Brazil the world’s biggest counterculture political gathering ended with a flurry of photo-snapping, tent folding and farewell embraces, as well as uncertainty about what concrete results were accomplished in the stifling heat of Belem.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Colombia’s battered FARC rebels freed three police officers and a soldier held hostage for more than a year, handing them over to the International Red Cross. A car bomb exploded near a police post in the city of Cali, killing at least one person and injuring at least 18 others after officers were lured to the scene by a bogus fire alarm.
(AP, 2/2/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Iran police killed 10 drug smugglers in a shootout near the Afghan border. After the shootout, police confiscated more than 2,500 pounds of drugs, most of it opium.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Iraq according to unofficial projections allies of Iraq’s US-backed prime minister appeared to have made gains in the provincial elections, rewarding groups credited with reining in insurgents and militias.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Italy an Indian (35) was attacked while sleeping on a bench in Nettuno, a town 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Rome. 3 young men were arrested for allegedly beating and setting on fire the Indian immigrant.
(AP, 2/2/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Mexico City shut down a main water pipeline under a new conservation program, cutting service to more than 2 million residents after some reservoirs dropped to their lowest levels in 16 years.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009      Feb 1, In Pakistan at least 16 suspected militants, one soldier and 19 civilians were killed in clashes over the last 24 hours in the northwestern Swat Valley, as the military escalated its offensive against insurgents in the one-time tourist haven. In the southwest a bomb rigged to a motorcycle exploded in a market, wounding at least 10 people.
(AP, 2/1/09) (WSJ, 2/2/09, p.A10)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Gaza militants launched at least 10 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel, drawing a threat of “disproportionate” retaliation from Israel’s prime minister and further straining a cease-fire that ended Israel’s Gaza offensive. Israeli warplanes bombed the area where Hamas smuggles in weapons from Egypt.
(AP, 2/1/09) (WSJ, 2/2/09, p.A10)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Sri Lanka’s army declared that rescuing civilians trapped by its offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels is now one of its top priorities, and said it captured two camps used by suicide squads. Shells hit a crowded hospital in the northeast combat zone, killing at least nine people.
(AP, 2/1/09) (AFP, 2/2/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Sudan a spokeswoman for the UN mission known as UNAMID said the has government asked peacekeepers to clear out of the town of Muhajeria. She said Sudan wants to launch an offensive against rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement, a Chad-backed rebel group that has held the south Darfur town since mid-January.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Switzerland the 5-day World Economic Forum at Davos ended with the realization that the depth of the global financial crises is still unknown and that the solution remains elusive.
(SFC, 2/2/09, p.A10)2010      Feb 1, President Barack Obama unveiled a multitrillion-dollar spending plan, pledging an intensified effort to combat high unemployment and asking Congress to quickly approve new job-creation efforts that would boost the deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion. Obama also made his first YouTube interview and spent about 40 minutes answering about a dozen of over 11,000 questions submitted by YouTube users following his State of the Union address. This included $708 billion requested by the Pentagon for 2011.
(AP, 2/1/10) (SFC, 2/2/10, p.A9) (http://tinyurl.com/ycfdtxv) (Econ, 2/6/10, p.34)
2010      Feb 1, NASA’s back-to-the-moon program, Constellation, fell victim to budget cuts.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.86)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, FBI agents arrested Mohammed Wali Zad, the father of terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi, at his suburban Denver home. A new indictment accused him of conspiring with others to destroy or hide evidence in a foiled NYC terrorism plot.
(SFC, 2/2/10, p.A4)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, US Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly a ton of marijuana hidden in a banana shipment at a cargo facility near the US-Mexico border. Officers opened boxes in a truck and found 235 packages of pot worth an estimated $1.1 million.
(AP, 2/2/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Brazil’s Cosan, a producer of ethanol, unveiled a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell to pool their retail operations.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.73)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, China launched a 10-day emergency crackdown on tainted milk products after several were found creeping back onto the market despite a massive scandal that sickened hundreds of thousands of children in 2008.
(AP, 2/2/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, It was reported that Cuba has declared a two-month amnesty for citizens to register unlicensed guns. Starting Feb. 12, Cubans will have the “exceptional and one-time only” chance to register their guns with police, and will be allowed to keep them provided they are over 18 and have passed the proper tests administered at police stations.
(AP, 2/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Egypt’s Parliament amended an antiquities law to bring in stiffer punishments for the theft and smuggling of relics while granting patent rights to the country’s antiquities council.
(AFP, 2/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Many schools in Haiti’s outlying provinces reopened for the first time since an earthquake devastated the nation, though it may take a month or more to open classrooms in the quake-crushed capital.
(AP, 2/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Iraq a female suicide bomber mingling among Shiite pilgrims in northern Baghdad detonated an explosives belt, killing at least 54 people on the outskirts of the Shiite neighborhood of Shaab.
(AP, 2/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Israel two barrels, each containing 22 pounds (10kg) of explosives, washed up on Israel’s shores late in the day. No one was hurt. Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip said the failed attempt to send floating bombs toward Israeli beaches was meant to avenge the mysterious death of a Hamas commander in Dubai.
(AP, 2/2/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Seven American and European scientists were named winners of Israel’s prestigious $100,000 Wolf Prize. Its prize in medicine went to Axel Ullrich of Germany for groundbreaking cancer research that has led to development of new drugs. Sir David Baulcombe of Cambridge University was awarded for agriculture research in defending plants against viruses. The physics prize was shared by US professor John F. Clauser, Alain Aspect of France and Anton Zeilinger of Austria for their work in quantum physics. The mathematics prize was shared by two US-based professors: Shing-Tung Yau for geometric analysis, and Dennis Sullivan for contributions to algebraic topology and conformal dynamics. The Wolf Foundation was founded by the late German-born Dr. Ricardo Wolf, an inventor, philanthropist and former Cuban ambassador to Israel.
(AP, 2/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Lithuanian PM Andrius Kubilius visited Silicon Valley, San Francisco. He and his delegation met with managers at Oracle Corp., Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard. He also met with one of the most powerful groups in the IT sector, i.e. members of major Venture Capital Association Accel Partners and other IT investors. The participants of the meeting included Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar, the only Lithuanian capital company with the head office in the Silicon Valley.
(http://irzikevicius.wordpress.com/)(EW)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Mexico armed men burst into a bar Ciudad Juarez around dawn and killed four men and a woman. Gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 15 in a bar in Torreon, a city in the northern state of Coahuila. A shootout that began in a shopping center and spilled onto a highway in Torreon caused the death of 7 suspected Zetas gunmen and one federal police officer while freeing two kidnap victims. The La Familia gang, strung up about a dozen banners in the western state of Michoacan urging the public at large and other gangs to form a common “resistance” front against the Zetas.
(AP, 2/2/10)(AP, 2/3/10)
2010      Feb 1, Polish scientists said they have discovered 3 Neanderthal teeth, dating back some 100,000 to 80,000 years, in the Stajnia Cave, north of the Carpathian Mountains.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100201/ap_on_re_eu/eu_poland_neanderthal_teeth)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Officials from the two Koreas met in North Korea to discuss their joint industrial complex just days after an exchange of gunfire at sea emphasized the constant security threat on the divided peninsula.
(AP, 2/1/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Thailand and the United States began their annual Cobra Gold military exercise, now in its 29th year, with South Korea taking part for the first time. Singapore, Japan and Indonesia will also participate in the three-week training exercise, describes as the largest of its type in the world.
(AP, 2/1/10)2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, US authorities said an Iranian man has been charged with exporting specialized metals to his homeland for potential use in nuclear and ballistic missile programs, in violation of a US embargo. Milad Jafari (36) was indicted on 11 charges for “illegally exporting and attempting to export specialized metals from the United States through companies in Turkey to several entities in Iran. He remained at large and was believed to be in Iran.
(AFP, 2/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, US Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, (D-HI) announced that the Senate Committee on Appropriations will implement a moratorium on earmarks for the current session of Congress. This amounts to a 2 year moratorium, as it will apply to both the FY 2011 and FY 2012 bills.
(http://tinyurl.com/kqwyodo)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, According to the “Keystone XL Assessment,” a new study commissioned by the US Department of Energy, a proposed pipeline from Canada’s oil sands to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico would help “essentially eliminate” US oil imports from the Middle East in a decade or two.
(Reuters, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed laying off up to 9,800 state workers and cutting billions from education and Medicaid as he laid out his first budget designed to close a $10 billion deficit.
(Reuters, 2/1/11) (SFC, 2/2/11, p.A4)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Chevron Corp. filed a racketeering lawsuit against a team of lawyers, who have been fighting the company over oil field pollution in Ecuador, for conspiring to extort up to $113 billion relating to an 18-year-old lawsuit.
(SFC, 2/2/11, p.D1)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Australia evacuated thousands of people from its northeast coast as a cyclone rivaling Hurricane Katrina bore down on tourism towns and rural communities.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Brazil the Civil Defense department in Santa Catarina state said severe floods triggered by torrential downpours have killed at least six people and driven thousands from their homes.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, BP reported its first annual loss ($4.9 billion) since 1992, as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, and outlined plans to shift its focus away from the United States. BP also announced it is resuming dividend payouts for the first time since the Gulf of Mexico well disaster.
(AP, 2/1/11) (Econ, 2/5/11, p.73)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Derek Rawcliffe (89), the first Church of England bishop to be open about his homosexuality, died. Rawcliffe disclosed his homosexuality on television in 1995, when he was serving as an honorary bishop in Ripon and Leeds diocese. He was dismissed the following year for conducting blessings of same-sex couples.
(AP, 2/11/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A Cambodian court sentenced two Thais to lengthy prison terms for illegally crossing the border and spying. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Veera Somkwamkid, who heads a political pressure group, the Thailand Patriot Network, and his assistant Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, guilty of espionage, illegal entry and trespassing in a military zone. Veera was sentenced to eight years in prison and Ratree to six years.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In the CAR provisional results said Francois Bozize has been comfortably re-elected to a 2nd term as president with 66% of the Jan 23 vote. By the next day all four rival candidates denounced the result as a fraud. The independent commission said former president Ange-Felix Patasse came second with 20.10% of the vote, followed by former premier Martin Ziguele with 6.46%, Emile Gros-Raymond Nakombo with 4.64% and ex-defense minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth with 2.72%.
(AFP, 2/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, China Harbor Engineering Company, a subsidiary of state-owned China Communications Construction Company, signed a 1.2-billion-dollar contract to build Khartoum’s new international airport.
(AFP, 2/15/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Egypt more than a quarter-million people flooded Cairo’s main square in a stunning and jubilant array of young and old, urban poor and middle class professionals, mounting by far the largest protest yet in a week of unrelenting demands for President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power. A coalition of opposition groups told Egypt’s government that they would only begin talks with the military on a transition to democracy once President Hosni Mubarak stands down. Mubarak went on national television and rejected demands he step down immediately and said he would serve out the remaining seven months of his term.
(AP, 2/1/11) (Reuters, 2/1/11) (AP, 2/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Maj. Gen. Buster Howes, commander of the EU Naval Force, said Somali pirates have begun systematically torturing hostages and using them as human shields.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced another sharp rebuke from opponents in parliament as lawmakers dismissed his transportation minister in the wake of several deadly plane crashes in the country.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Human Rights Watch said elite Iraqi troops controlled by PM Nouri al-Maliki’s office are holding prisoners at a secret jail and torturing inmates at another facility.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Ireland’s PM Brian Cowen (51) declared a formal end to his government, in a farewell address tinged with regret over the nation’s plunge to the brink of bankruptcy. Analysts forecast Feb. 25 as the most likely election date.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Ireland ordered a Russian diplomat to be expelled, after an investigation concluded that the country’s intelligence service used stolen Irish identities as cover for spies operating in the United States.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, New satellite imagery showed Malaysia is destroying forests more than three times faster than all of Asia combined, and its carbon-rich peat soils of the Sarawak coast are being stripped even faster.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Mexican federal police reported they had captured a leading enforcer for the Independent Cartel of Acapulco. The enforcer allegedly took part in last year’s kidnap-killing of 20 vacationers from the western state of Michoacan and in the killing and beheading of 14 men in Acapulco in early January. Police identified the suspect as Miguel Gomez Vazquez, alias “The Cat,” and said he was caught with an assault rifle and drugs. The navy said that it had detained six suspected drug cartel gunmen on four separate occasions Jan 30-31 in the northern states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. One suspect was killed and two marines were wounded in one of the confrontations.
(AP, 2/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Mexico a series of attacks in Monterrey left a federal police officer and three suspected cartel gunmen dead and three police officers injured. In Zacatecas gunmen opened fire on state police officers who had arrived after receiving a tip that armed men were parked outside an office-supply store. Two bystanders, a man and a boy, suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the gunbattle. In Guadalajara 7 attacks within two hours late in the day appeared to have been coordinated, and were staged by drug gangs, possibly in retaliation for the arrests of their members.
(AP, 2/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Mexico Adam Mark Zachs (47), a fugitive from Connecticut, was arrested in the small town of Leon Guanajuato where he apparently had been running a computer repair business. Zachs was convicted of the 1987 murder of Peter Carone (29) outside a West Hartford bar and sentenced to 60 years in prison. However he fled while free on appeal.
(Reuters, 2/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Myanmar’s first parliament in more than two decades nominated five vice-presidential candidates, one of whom will become president and lead the new military-dominated government.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Nepal Christians threatened to parade corpses in front of the parliament building after the government ruled last week that an area near a revered Hindu temple could no longer be used as their burial ground.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province gunmen killed four policemen and kidnapped four others, including a senior local official, in separate incidents.
(AP, 2/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Palestinian Cabinet in West Bank said it would hold long-promised municipal elections “as soon as possible.”
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev unveiled a huge monument to his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, praising him for leading Russia through its difficult first years after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse expressed his country’s support for Palestinian national rights and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the latest Latin American country to do so.
(www.israel-palestinenews.org/2011/02/surinam-recognizes-palestinian-state.html)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Switzerland blocked Haiti ex-dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s frozen Swiss millions under new legislation that came into force today to ease their return to the impoverished country. The “Duvalier law” was rushed through parliament last year to ease the restitution of assets stolen by corrupt or greedy politicians to their home countries.
(AFP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Swiss police said a 54-year-old man has admitted sexually abusing 100 mentally disabled children and adults in Switzerland and Germany during almost 3 decades.
(SFC, 2/2/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Syrians were reported organizing campaigns on Facebook and Twitter calling for a “day of rage” in Damascus on Feb 4-5, taking inspiration from Egypt and Tunisia in using social networking sites to rally their followers for sweeping political reforms.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The head of a UN human rights mission said some 219 people were killed and 510 injured during the violent protests that led to the ouster of Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. A gang set fire overnight to a small synagogue, in what appeared to be the first attack on a Jewish institution since the start of the unrest.
(AP, 2/1/11)2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, President Barack Obama proposed a multi-billion-dollar package to help U.S. homeowners refinance and stave off foreclosure.
(Reuters, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, TSA agent Alexandra Schmid (31) took $5000 in cash from the jacket of a Bangladeshi passenger as it went along an X-ray conveyor belt at JFK airport. Schmid was arrested on a charge of grand larceny and suspended pending an investigation.
(AP, 2/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A Univ. of Alabama study said the state’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, widely seen as the toughest in the United States, has cost the state’s economy up to $10.8 billion.
(Reuters, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The California Public Utilities Commission approved an opt-out program for PG&E customers who refuse SmartMeters and wish to keep their analog gas and electricity meters. It would cost a one-time fee of $75 plus $10 per month.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A1)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed legislation making Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A7)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Planned Parenthood announced that it has received over $400,000 since a recent announcement by the Susan B. Komen Foundation that it had stopped funding Planned Parenthood. On Feb 3 Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation apologized for cutting off funding from Planned Parenthood and vowed to revise its policy that led to that decision.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A11) (AP, 2/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Treasure hunter Greg Brooks said he has located the wreck of a British merchant ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Cape Cod during World War II while carrying what he claims was a load of platinum bars now worth more than $3 billion. The SS Port Nicholson sank on Jun 16, 1942.
(AP, 2/2/12) (www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item_10244.html)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Don Cornelius (75), the man who created Soul Train (1971-1993), was reportedly found dead at his Los Angeles home.
(ABCNews, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, NATO confirmed a secret report saying that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control of Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw, raising the prospect of a major failure of Western policy after a costly war.
(AP, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Argentina’s government enacted new laws to block or restrict the importing of some 600 goods while requiring foreign companies to partner with local manufacturers. This helped the domestic manufacturing capacity to rebound, but made many products hard to find, pushing up prices and further heating up inflation.
(AP, 12/23/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Some 24,000 Australian ducks were being destroyed after testing positive for a low pathogenic strain of the bird flu virus, an outbreak which has prompted poultry export bans in parts of Asia.
(AFP, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A group of Internet hackers said they took down the website of Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s largest state-run bank.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Four British Islamists – Mohammed Chowdhury (21), Shah Rahman (28), and brothers Gurukanth Desai (30) and Abdul Miah (25), inspired by a former Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaqi, admitted in court to plotting to blow up the London Stock Exchange in 2010.
(AFP, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Colombia a bomb exploded outside a police station in the Pacific port city of Tumaco just as lunch hour ended, killing 9 people and wounding 76. Tumaco is in Narino state, which borders Ecuador, and is laced with dozens of rivers popular with drug traffickers, who include the FARC.
(AP, 2/2/12) (AP, 2/2/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Egypt fans from the local Al-Masry team in Port Said chased supporters of the visiting Al-Ahly soccer club with knives, clubs and stones. Hundreds fled into the exit corridor, only to be crushed against a locked gate, their rivals attacking from behind. The Interior Ministry said 74 people died, including one police officer, and 248 were injured, 14 of them police.
(AP, 2/2/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The death toll from a severe cold spell in Eastern Europe rose to 71, including 43 in the Ukraine, most of them homeless people.
(AP, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Haiti visitng Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Brazil will offer 6,000 visas to Haitians over a five-year period as one of several efforts that look to help the troubled Caribbean nation get on its feet.
(AP, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In northern Japan an avalanche killed three bathers at a hot spring in Akita, where heavy snow also paralyzed traffic and forced schools to close.
(AP, 2/2/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Mexican soldiers found dozens of large plastic containers with over 3,600 liters of opium paste during a raid on a drug lab in Coyuca de Catalan, a mountain town in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.
(AP, 3/14/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Myanmar an agreement was reached by authorities in Mon State and the rebel New Mon State Party. They agreed to allow the rebel group to open a liaison office and freely travel without weapons.
(AP, 2/2/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Nigeria several security sources said that a suspect believed to be the person who goes by the alias Abul Qaqa had been arrested, but authorities have not officially confirmed his detention or his identity.
(AFP, 2/2/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In the southern Philippines gunmen abducted Swiss and Dutch tourists and a Filipino bird photographer and took the trio away by boat on Tawi-Tawi island province.
(AP, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Poland Wislawa Szymborska (b.1923), Nobel-winning poet (1996), died. She published fewer than 400 poems.
(AP, 2/9/12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wis%C5%82awa_Szymborska)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, South Africa’s national parks agency said 3 young Mozambican poachers will spend 25 years behind bars after they were found with two fresh rhino horns in Kruger Park.
(AFP, 2/2/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Sudan’s military bombed a Bible school built by a US Christian aid group, prompting students and teachers at the school to run for their lives in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state. The Heiban Bible College was built by Samaritan’s Purse, a North Carolina-based aid group.
(AP, 2/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Syrian troops battled army defectors in a string of towns in the mountains overlooking Damascus in a new assault to crush rebellious areas around the capital. Activists said at least 6-17 people were killed in the fighting. 8 residents in Homs were reported killed. A UN Security Council resolution would give Assad 15 days to start implementing the Arab peace plan and halt the crackdown, otherwise the Council would consider “further measures.”
(AP, 2/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Eleven Iranian pilgrims were kidnapped in the central Syrian city of Hama.
(AFP, 2/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Tunisia men, described as bearded by the state news agency, were stopped in their car at a checkpoint and then opened fire with assault rifles, before fleeing into a nearby olive orchard in the southern Bir Ali Ben Khalifa region.
(AP, 2/2/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Senior UN nuclear expert Herman Nackaerts announced plans to revisit Tehran soon after a “good trip,” indicating progress on his team’s quest to probe suspicions that the Islamic Republic is secretly working on an atomic arms program.
(AP, 2/1/12)2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Hillary Rodham Clinton formally resigned as America’s 67th secretary of state, capping a four-year tenure that saw her shatter records for the number of countries visited.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist frequently the target of Republican criticism, announced that he was stepping down in the latest shake-up of Pres. Barack Obama’s Cabinet.
(AP, 2/2/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The American TV series “House of Cards” premiered on Netflix.
(Econ, 2/2/13, p.52)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Detroit’s Mayor Bing said the city will close 50 of its 107 parks, but keep Belle Isle running. Services at 38 other parks will be reduced. The city council voted not to accept state assistance for Bell Isle.
(SFC, 2/2/13, p.A6)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Edward Koch (b.1924), NYC’s 105th mayor (1978-1989), died from congestive heart failure.
(SFC, 2/2/13, p.A7)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Edward Koch (b.1924), NYC’s 105th mayor (1978-1989), died from congestive heart failure.
(SFC, 2/2/13, p.A7)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The IMF gave the government of Argentina until Sep 29 to comply with the fund’s rules on the reporting of inflation statistics. On Dec 9 the IMF deferred action until March.
(Econ, 2/9/13, p.38)(Econ, 12/21/13, p.56)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Bolivia’s mining town of Oruro formally dedicated its Virgin of Socavon, a new statue of the Virgin Mary that’s a little taller than Rio’s famed Christ the Redeemer, as it kicked off its Carnival celebrations.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Senior British counterterrorism Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn (53) was sentenced to 15 months in prison for trying to sell information to Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Chinese car maker Geely said it has bought Manganese Bronze, the maker of London’s black taxis since 1948, for 11 million pounds, safeguarding jobs and production of the vehicles in Britain.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In central China an elevated portion of highway collapsed after a truck loaded with illegal fireworks for Lunar New Year celebrations exploded, killing at least 10 people and sending vehicles plummeting 30 meters to the ground.
(AP, 2/1/13)(AP, 2/2/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Thousands of Egyptians marched across the country, chanting against the rule of the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, in a fresh wave of protests. Protesters denouncing Pres. Morsi hurled stones and firebombs through the gates of his palace gates, clashing with security forces who fired tear gas and water cannons. Video footage showed at least seven black-clad riot police beating Hamada Saber (48), whose pants are down around his ankles, with sticks before dragging him along the muddy pavement and tossing him into a police van.
(AP, 2/1/13) (AP, 2/2/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In western Iraq tens of thousands of Sunni protesters blocked a major highway, as an al-Qaida-affiliated group called on Sunnis to take up arms against the Shiite-led government.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Italy a Milan appeals court vacated acquittals for a former CIA station chief and two other Americans, and instead convicted them in the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect from a Milan street as part of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program. The court sentenced former CIA Rome station chief Jeffrey Castelli to seven years, and handed sentences of six years each to Americans Betnie Medero and Ralph Russomando. All three were tried in absentia at both levels.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Lebanon at least three people were killed and 10 others wounded in clashes between the army and gunmen in the northeastern town of Arsal near the border with Syria. Residents of Arsal, a Sunni Muslim town, are known to be sympathetic to the Syrian opposition, and arms smuggling into Syria is widespread in the area.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Mali 3 suspected jihadists, arrested in the days since the liberation of the town of Timbuktu. said that Malian soldiers were torturing them with a method similar to waterboarding.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Netherlands nationalized SNS Reaal bank and expropriated its bonds in a $14 billion rescue. Investors in the subordinated bonds were wiped out.
(Econ, 3/16/13, p.72) (http://tinyurl.com/bllbeqf)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A Nigerian military official said 18 militants and one soldier have been killed during days of fighting in Sambisa Game Reserve, Borno state, pitting soldiers against suspected rebels with the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram.
(AP, 2/1/13) (SFC, 2/2/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Nigerian lawmaker Rep. Farouk Lawan, who led a probe into the nation’s fuel subsidy program that saw billions of dollars lost through fraud, was charged, along with his aide Emenalo Boniface, with allegedly soliciting a $3 million bribe from someone targeted by the inquiry. The allegations stem from their investigation of Femi Otedola, the chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd. and a powerful ally of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In northwestern Pakistan a suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a Shiite mosque as worshippers were leaving prayers, killing 23 people and wounding over 50 in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
(AP, 2/1/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A court in northern Sweden ordered retrials in 2 remaining two cases against Sture Bergwall (62), an alleged serial killer who had confessed to more than 30 murders over three decades, and was convicted of eight of them. Bergwall later said his ghastly tales of slaughter, rape and even cannibalism were all lies, spawned by loneliness, a desire for attention and heavy medication. On July 31, 2013, prosecutors dropped the last remaining charges against Bergwall.
(AP, 2/2/13)(AP, 7/31/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Turkey a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the US Embassy in Ankara, killing himself and a guard.
(AP, 2/1/13)2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Afghanistan an insurgent ambush killed 4 soldiers and wounded another four in an attack on an Afghan National Army foot patrol along the main highway in Farah province. Gunmen shot dead two members of former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah’s team in Herat, dealing an early blow to hopes of a peaceful presidential campaign.
(AP, 2/1/14) (AFP, 2/2/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Austrian-born actor Maximilian Schell (b.1930), a fugitive from Adolf Hitler who became a Hollywood favorite and won an Oscar for his role as a defense attorney in “Judgment at Nuremberg” (1961), died overnight in Innsbruck.
(AP, 2/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung volcano, that has been rumbling for months, unleased a major eruption killing at least 15 people just a day after authorities allowed thousands of villagers who had been evacuated to return to its slopes.
(AP, 2/1/14) (AFP, 2/3/14)
2014      Feb 1, In Lebanon a car bomb blew up near a gas station in the Shiite town of Hermel in the northeast, killing at least 3 people.
(AP, 2/2/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Libya over 54 detainees escaped from a prison in Tripoli. Officials said the prison was short five guards at the time of the breakout.
(AP, 2/2/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In the southern Philippines a homemade bomb, likely set off by Muslim rebels, wounded 12 people, including six soldiers and two television journalists.
(AP, 2/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In South Africa Duduzane Zuma (29), the son of President Jacob Zuma, crashed his Porsche into a minibus taxi just before midnight. Zimbabwean national Phumzile Dube (30) was killed. Police later confirmed an investigation of manslaughter against Duduzane.
(AP, 2/9/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, South Sudan government forces and allied militias reportedly attacked northern Leer town and surrounding villages in Unity state, killing an unknown number of people and destroying property. Rebels’ defensive positions in Upper Nile state also came under attack.
(AP, 2/2/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Spain thousands of people marched in Madrid to protest against a government plan to limit abortions that has caused unusually open divisions in the ruling conservative People’s Party.
(Reuters, 2/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Sudan’s Secretary of the National Council for Press and Publications Obeid Murawah told the Sudanese state news agency that all restrictions on the opposition “The People’s Opinion” daily had been lifted and that the paper could resume printing after completing the appropriate procedures. Three other newspapers remained banned.
(AP, 2/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Sudan suspended activities of the international Red Cross because it violated guidelines for working in the war-torn country.
(AFP, 2/2/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Syria at least 9 people were killed when Syrian regime helicopters dropped explosive-filled barrels on two neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo. At least 7 people killed in a double car bombing carried out by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targeting a rebel headquarters in Aleppo.
(AFP, 2/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Thailand gunfire rang out across an intersection in Bangkok for more than an hour as government supporters clashed with protesters trying to derail tense nationwide elections before the vote begins.
(AP, 2/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said in a resolution published in the official government newspaper that each person would still be allowed up to 50 cubic meters of gas for free, but anything over that amount would cost $7 per thousand cubic meters.
(AP, 2/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, In Yemen a battle, that began a day earlier, between Shiite and Sunni tribesman over land in the northwest left more than 65 dead. Armed tribesmen bombed Yemen’s main oil pipeline, halting crude flow to the country’s main export terminal less than a month after it was repaired.
(AP, 2/1/14) (Reuters, 2/1/14)Â http://www.timelinesdb.com
Discover more from NewsBreakers
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
What's your reaction?
Excited
0
Happy
0
In Love
0
Not Sure
0
Silly
0
