1621 – Alexander Ludovisi is elected Pope Gregory XV (-1623)
1926 – Teaching theory of evolution forbidden in Atlanta, Georgia schools
1934 – -14.3°F (-25.7°C), coldest day in New York City
1934 – Balkan Entente alliance forms (Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and Romania)
1971 – 5 men are killed near a BBC transmitter on Brougher Mountain, County Tyrone, in a landmine attack carried out by the Irish Republican Army
1986 – West German team swims world record 4×200 m freestyle (7:05.17)
1991 – “This Is Ponderous” by 2nu peaks at #46
2014 – Olympic teams figure skating event debuts in Sochi with Russia taking the gold medal; pairs champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov win first of 2 gold at the Games
2016 – US primary elections: New Hampshire Primary, In Republican race Donald Trump wins (35%), John Kasich 2nd (16%), and Bernie Sanders (60%) defeats Hillary Clinton (38%) in Democratic race
2020 – Storm Ciara makes landfall in northern Scotland bringing widespread wind and flooding to northern Europe resulting in 18 deaths
Category: Historical Events
Historical Events for 8th February 2021
1600 – Vatican convicts scholar Giordano Bruno to death
1909 – France and Germany sign treaty about Morocco
1923 – Coal mine explosion at Dawson, New Mexico kills 120
1927 – Belgian-Swiss treaty signed
1955 – The Government of Sindh abolished Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km²) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
1967 – Peter (Asher) and Gordon (Waller) discontinue their singing partnership
1968 – Orangeburg Massacre: highway patrol officers kill 3 students and injure 27 others demonstrating at South Carolina State University, 1st student killing by law enforcement in the US
1976 – Largest crowd at Cleveland Coliseum (Cavs vs Wash-21,130)
1979 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
2014 – Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe claim gold and silver medals in the moguls freestyle skiing event at the Sochi Winter Olympics; first Canadian sisters to stand together on the podium
Historical Events for 7th February 2021
1792 – Domenico Cimarosa’s opera “Il Matrimonio Segreto” premieres in Vienna
1795 – Dutch Prince William V accepts British occupation of Dutch Indies
1914 – Charlie Chaplin debuts silent film character The Tramp in “Kid Auto Races at Venice”
1945 – Harry Truman appoints Irwin C Mollison judge of US Customs Court
1960 – Old handwriting found in at Qumran, near the Dead Sea
1968 – Belgium government of Vanden Boeynants falls
1970 – “Hollywood Palace” last airs on ABC TV
1992 – Mike Tyson testifies in his rape trial
1994 – Howard Stern stops a would-be jumper on the George Washington Bridge
1995 – Last day of Test Cricket cricket for Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting
Historical Events for 6th February 2021
1926 – St Louis Browns acquire catcher Wally Schang from NY Yankees
1935 – 1st election to allow women to vote in Turkey
1948 – Nils Karlsson wins the 50k cross country gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Swedish skiers win all 3 cross-country events at the Games
1961 – “Jail, No Bail” Jail-in movement starts in Rock Hill, South Carolina
1970 – Graeme Pollock completes 274 v Australia at Durban
1971 – Bernard Watt (28), a Catholic civilian, is shot and killed by the British Army (BA) during street disturbances in Ardoyne, Belfast
1971 – 1st time a golf ball is hit on Moon (by Alan Shepard)
1974 – Dutch speed limit set at 100km due to oil crisis
2012 – Laureus World Sports Awards, Central Hall Westminster, London, England: Sportsman: Novak Đoković; Sportswoman: Vivian Cheruiyot; Team: FC Barcelona
2018 – Maldives President Abdulla Yameen declares state of emergency ordering arrest of two judges
Historical Events for 5th February 2021
1825 – Hannah Lord Montague of NY creates 1st detachable shirt collar
1887 – Snow falls on San Francisco
1897 – 1st showing of a motion picture in Hawaii at the Hawaiian Opera House
1901 – Pierpont Morgan forms US Steel Corp
1947 – Bolewet Beirut becomes President of Poland
1948 – Gretchen Fraser becomes 1st US woman Olympic slalom champion
1991 – All American Bowl ends after 14 years
1995 – Japan’s Shinshinto Party wins local elections
2013 – The US Postal Service announces the cessation of Saturday first-class mail delivery from August 2013
2015 – 65th Berlin International Film Festival: “Taxi” wins the Golden Bear
Historical Events for 4th February 2021
1787 – Shays’ Rebellion (of debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers) fails
1913 – National Institute of Arts and Letters founded
1924 – George Kelly’s play “Show-Off,” premieres in New York City
1924 – Jacob Tullin Thams of Norway wins ski jumping gold at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; in 1936 he earns a silver medal in sailing at Berlin Summer Games
1939 – Glenn Cunningham (top miler) says 4-min mile beyond human effort
1951 – US female Figure Skating championship won by Sonya Klopfer
1970 – “Gantry” opens at George Abbott Theater NYC for 1 performance
1971 – National Guard mobilized to quell rioting in Wilmington NC
1986 – 38th NHL All-Star Game, Hartford Civic Centre: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 4-3 (OT); MVP: Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers, G
2016 – Fifth Democratic presidential candidates debate, broadcast on MSNBC, held in Durham, New Hampshire
Historical Events for 3rd February 2021
1783 – Spain recognizes US independence
1923 – The Alpha Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia founded at Pennsylvania State University.
1924 – Alexei Ryko elected as President of People’s commission (succeeds Lenin)
1932 – “Shanghai Express” directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook and Anna Mae Wong premieres in Los Angeles
1956 – Toni Sailer of Austria wins the downhill at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics; becomes first athlete to sweep all 3 alpine skiing events in a single Olympics
1965 – Orbiting Solar Observatory 2 launches into Earth orbit (552/636 km)
1967 – “Purple Haze” recorded by Jimi Hendrix
1982 – Columbia Shuttle moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating for STS-3 mission
1989 – Military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay
1990 – Jockey Bill Shoemaker (58), retires after 40,350 horse race
Historical Events for 2nd February 2021
1829 – Madman Jonathan Martin sets York Cathedral on fire, does £60,000 damage
1924 – International Ski Federation (FIS) forms
1931 – 1st use of a rocket to deliver mail (Austria)
1934 – Dutch RC Bishops warn against fascism and nazism
1940 – Frank Sinatra’s singing debut in Indianapolis (Tommy Dorsey Orchestra)
1942 – LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans
1956 – Despite a severe ankle injury Tenley Albright leads an American 1-2 in the women’s figure skating at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics; Carol Heiss takes the silver medal
1965 – Joe Orton’s “Loot” premieres in Brighton
1983 – CBS’ premiere of fact based WW2 drama “The Scarlet and the Black”, based on the life of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty
2003 – 53rd NHL All-Star Game, Office Depot Centre, Sunrise, FL: West beats East, 6-5; MVP: Danny Heatley, Atlanta Thrashers, LW
Historical Events for 1st February 2021
1909 – US Assay Office in Salt Lake City, Utah, opens
1947 – Aleide de Gasperi forms Italian government of christian-dems and communists
1951 – Alfred Krupp and 28 other German war criminals freed
1972 – The Ministry of Defence also issues a detailed account of the British Army’s version of events during ‘Bloody Sunday’
1992 – Defenseman Denis Potvin’s #5 becomes first number retired by NY Islanders; Potvin played entire 15 year NHL career in NY
1993 – NY Judge Sol Wachtler indicted for harassing Joy Silverman
2004 – Wardrobe malfunction: Janet Jackson’s breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.
2005 – Arsenal’s English Premier League record 33-game unbeaten streak at home ends when the Gunners go down, 4-2 to Manchester United at Highbury
2009 – Super Bowl XLIII, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Arizona Cardinals, 27-23; MVP: Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh, WR
2014 – Ray Guy (Oakland/LA Raiders) becomes second pure kicker, and first pure punter to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Historical Events for 31st January 2021
1804 – British vice-admiral William Blighs fleet reaches Curacao
1905 – Carroll Wright appointed 1st Commissioner of Labor, USA
1917 – Mexican President Carranza announces a new constitution with many liberal elements; most of which his regime will not implement
1952 – Dutch Lutheran Church reunites after 1½ centuries
1978 – Israel turns 3 milt outposts in West Bank into civilian settlements
1980 – Police storm occupied Spanish embassy in Guatemala City, killing 41
1998 – Australian Open Women’s Tennis: Switzerland’s Martina Hingis retains her title; beats Conchita Martinez of Spain 6-3, 6-3 for 5th Grand Slam title
2000 – Alaska Airlines flight 261 MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard.
2015 – Atlanta Hawks set a new NBA monthly win record as they move to 17-0 for January, with a 91-85 win against the Philadelphia 76ers
2019 – Blockbuster NBA trade: NY Knicks send Kristaps Porziņģis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke to Dallas Mavericks for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and 2 future 1st-round picks