WHAT HAPPENED ON 1. FEBRUARY
Want to find out what all happened on 1. February

The United Kingdom recognizes the USSR. (1. February 1924)

World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government. (1. February 1942)

World War II: U.S. Navy conducts Marshalls-Gilberts raids, the first offensive action by the United States against Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater. (1. February 1942)

Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the United States government, begins broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers. (1. February 1942)

Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary General. (1. February 1946)

The Parliament of Hungary abolishes the monarchy after nine centuries, and proclaims the Hungarian Republic. (1. February 1946)

North Sea flood of 1953 (Dutch, Watersnoodramp, literally "flood disaster") was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday, 31 January 1953 and morning of Sunday, 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland. (1. February 1953)

Felix Wankel's first working prototype (DKM 54) of the Wankel engine runs at the NSU research and development department Versuchsabteilung TX in Germany (1. February 1957)

Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. (1. February 1960)

The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with I Want to Hold Your Hand (1. February 1964)

The Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada is renamed the Churchill River in honour of Winston Churchill. (1. February 1965)

Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan is videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams. This image helped build opposition to the Vietnam War. (1. February 1968)

Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces. (1. February 1968)

The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation. (1. February 1968)

Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. (1. February 1972)

A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in Sao Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293. (1. February 1974)

Kuala Lumpur is declared a Federal Territory. (1. February 1974)

Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl. (1. February 1978)

Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence is commuted by President Jimmy Carter. (1. February 1979)

The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile. (1. February 1979)