On This Day - February 1st

On this day in the year 1587 of the common era (CE), queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant for her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots; two hundred and one years later the first steamboat patent is issued in the United States, by the state of Georgia to Briggs & Longstreet.

On this day in the year 1790 CE the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for first time in New York, New York

On this day in 1865 CE, United States president Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery; it is celebrated as National Freedom Day thereafter; on this day John S. Rock becomes the first African American lawyer to be admitted to the bar of practice before the United States Supreme Court. Sixty-eight years later, German Parliament is dissolved by President Paul von Hindenburg by the request of new chancellor Adolf Hitler.

In 1896 CE Giacomo Puccini's opera, La Boheme premieres in Turin, Italy; ninety years later the television mini-series, Rich Man, Poor Man, premieres on ABC.

In 1902 CE China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet; fifty-one years later flooding in the Netherlands kills 1,835 people. Six years after that, the men of Switzerland vote against the enfranchisement of women by denying them the right to vote.

In 1906 CE the first federal penitentiary building is completed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; fourteen years later the first commercial armored car is introduced to the market in St Paul, Minnesota.

In 1962 CE, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey’s debut Novel, is published by Viking Press; forty-two years later two hundred and fifty-one people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Fifteen years after that, United States president Donald Trump confirms that the U.S. has withdrawn from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

In 1964 CE, The Beatles' first #1 hit: I Want to Hold Your Hand, tops the Hot 100 and stays #1 for seven weeks before being replaced by She Loves You, also by The Beatles; sixteen years later Blondie releases the single Call Me and goes on to become the Billboard song of the year for 1980.

On this day in 2003 CE, the United States Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard; one year later a wardrobe malfunction: during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, results in the exposure of Janet Jackson’s breast on live television.