On this day: February 1

Events on February 1

• 1662 The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. Wikipedia
• 1662 Sino-Dutch conflicts: After besieging Fort Zeelandia for nine months, Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong secured the Dutch East India Company's surrender and the end of their rule in Taiwan. Wikipedia
• 1814 Mayon in the Philippines erupts, killing around 1,200 people, which was the most devastating eruption of the volcano. Wikipedia
• 1835 Slavery is abolished in Mauritius. Wikipedia
• 1861 American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States and joins the Confederacy a week later. Wikipedia
• 1865 President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Wikipedia
• 1893 Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey. Wikipedia
• 1896 Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy, eventually becoming one of the most frequently performed operas internationally. Wikipedia
• 1897 Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul. Wikipedia
• 1908 Lisbon Regicide: King Carlos I of Portugal and Infante Luis Filipe are shot dead in Lisbon. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government. Wikipedia
• 1942 Mao Zedong makes a speech on "Reform in Learning, the Party and Literature", which puts into motion the Yan'an Rectification Movement. Wikipedia
• 1957 Northeast Airlines Flight 823 crashes on Rikers Island in New York City, killing 20 people and injuring 78 others. Wikipedia
• 1964 The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Wikipedia
• 1968 Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is recorded on motion picture film, as well as in an iconic still photograph taken by Eddie Adams. Wikipedia
• 1972 Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. Wikipedia
• 1972 Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, was granted city status. Wikipedia
• 1974 A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in São Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293. Wikipedia
• 1979 Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile. Wikipedia
• 1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile and soon led the Iranian Revolution to overthrow the Pahlavi dynasty. Wikipedia
• 2003 All seven crew members aboard Space Shuttle Columbia were killed when the orbiter disintegrated over Texas during reentry. Wikipedia
• 2004 Hajj pilgrimage stampede: In a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured. Wikipedia
• 2007 The National Weather Service in the United States switches from the Fujita scale to the new Enhanced Fujita scale to measure the intensity and strength of tornadoes. Wikipedia
• 2009 The first cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was formed in Iceland, making her the country's first female prime minister and the world's first openly gay head of government. Wikipedia
• 2021 A coup d'état in Myanmar removes Aung San Suu Kyi from power and restores military rule. Wikipedia
• 2021 The Burmese military staged a coup d'état that deposed the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking nationwide protests and a civil war. Wikipedia

Born on February 1

• 1666 Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, Princess of Conti and titular queen of Poland (died 1732) Wikipedia
• 1874 Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (died 1929) Wikipedia
• 1882 Louis St. Laurent, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Canada (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1884 Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian journalist and author (died 1937) Wikipedia
• 1894 John Ford, American director and producer (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1901 Clark Gable, American actor (died 1960) Wikipedia
• 1902 Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (died 1967) Wikipedia
• 1902 Therese Brandl, German concentration camp guard (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1905 Emilio Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1989) Wikipedia
• 1915 Stanley Matthews, English footballer and manager (died 2000) Wikipedia
• 1918 Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1931 Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1942 Terry Jones, Welsh actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1965 Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (died 1993) Wikipedia
• 1968 Lisa Marie Presley, American singer-songwriter and actress (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1969 Gabriel Batistuta, Argentinian footballer Wikipedia
• 1971 Michael C. Hall, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1972 Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist Wikipedia
• 1984 Darren Fletcher, Scottish footballer Wikipedia
• 1987 Ronda Rousey, American mixed martial artist, wrestler and actress Wikipedia
• 1994 Harry Styles, English singer-songwriter and actor Wikipedia
• 1994 Julia Garner, American actress Wikipedia

Died on February 1

• 772 Pope Stephen III (born 720) Wikipedia
• 1691 Pope Alexander VIII (born 1610) Wikipedia
• 1851 Mary Shelley, English novelist and playwright (born 1797) Wikipedia
• 1944 Piet Mondrian, Dutch-American painter (born 1872) Wikipedia
• 1958 Clinton Davisson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1888) Wikipedia
• 1966 Buster Keaton, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 1976 Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 1976 George Whipple, American physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1878) Wikipedia
• 1986 Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia crew Wikipedia
• 2012 Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2014 Maximilian Schell, Austrian-Swiss actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1930) Wikipedia
• 2022 Remi De Roo, Canadian bishop of the Catholic Church (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 2025 Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany (born 1943) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Abolition of Slavery Day (Mauritius) Wikipedia
• Air Force Day (Nicaragua) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Candelaria of San José Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Brigid of Ireland (Saint Brigid's Day) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Verdiana Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: February 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Earliest day on which Constitution Day can fall, while February 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in February. (Mexico) Wikipedia
• Federal Territory Day (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Malaysia) Wikipedia
• Foundation Day (of the Ryukyu Kingdom, celebrated in Okinawa Prefecture) Wikipedia
• Heroes Day (Rwanda) Wikipedia
• Saint Brigid's Day/Imbolc (Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, and some Neopagan groups in the Northern hemisphere) Wikipedia
• Memorial Day of the Republic (Hungary) Wikipedia
• National Freedom Day (United States) Wikipedia
• The start of Black History Month (United States and Canada) Wikipedia
• World Hijab Day Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “February 1” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.