1894 Norman Rockwell US, artist/illustrator (Sat Evening Post covers).
WAR!
1864 Sherman's march through Georgia.
1943 During World War II, the U.S. transport ship Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sank after being hit by a German torpedo. (Four Army chaplains gave their life belts to four other men, and went down with the ship.)
TERRORISM
1969 The Palestine National Congress appointed Yasser Arafat head of PLO.
2007 A suicide truck bomber struck a Baghdad market in a predominantly Shiite area, killing more than 130 people. President Bush designated four central Florida counties disaster areas in the wake of tornadoes that ripped through the region, leaving 21 dead.
DISASTERS
1959 a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, claimed the lives of rock-'n'-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.
1959 An American Airlines Lockheed Electra crashed into New York's East River while approaching LaGuardia Airport, killing 65 of the 73 people on board.
1998 A U.S. Marine plane sliced through the cable of a ski gondola in Italy, sending the car plunging hundreds of feet, killing all 20 people inside.
DISCO
1982 John Sharples of England finishes disco dancing 371 hours.
PESTHOUSE
1743 Philadelphia establishes a "pesthouse" to quarantine immigrants.
FORBIDDEN
1752 Dutch States-General forbid export of windmills.
CHEESE
1815 World's 1st commercial cheese factory established, in Switzerland.
ELEPHANTS
1882 Circus owner PT Barnum buys his world famous elephant Jumbo.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
1953 J Fred Muggs, a chimp, becomes a regular on NBC's Today Show.
MURDER
1889 Belle Starr US female gangster, murdered at 40.
1969 Eduardo C Mondlane President of Mozambique, murdered.
1982 Porn star John Holmes ordered to stand trial for murder.
NANNY STATE
1973 President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law.
CHEATING
1965 105 USAF cadets resigned for cheating on exams.
CLIMATE
1961 6th largest snowfall in NYC history (17.4" (44.2cm)).
LEVIATHAN
1690 1st paper money in America issued (colony of Massachusetts).
1913 The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.
1941 Supreme Court upheld Federal Wage & Hour law, sets minimum wages & maximum hours.
2003 President Bush sent lawmakers a $2.23 trillion budget for 2004.
SPORTS
1876 Albert Spalding with $800 starts sporting goods company, manufacturing 1st official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, & football.
EXECUTION
1377 Mass execution of population of Cesena Italy.
1998 The state of Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker for the pickax killings of two people in 1983; she was the first woman executed in the United States since 1984.
POLITICS
1809 Congress passed an act establishing the Illinois Territory.
SPIES
1950 Nuclear physicist Klaus Fuchs arrested on spy charges.
LABOR
1908 The U.S. Supreme Court, in Loewe v. Lawlor, ruled the United Hatters Union had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by organizing a nationwide boycott of Danbury Hatters of Connecticut.
2003 Abandoning a two-month-long general strike that failed to oust President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's workers returned to work in all sectors but the vital oil industry.
MUSIC
1967 "Purple Haze" recorded by Jimi Hendrix.
1979 "YMCA" by Village People peaks at #2 on pop singles chart.
SHOCK JOCK
1997 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Detroit MI on WKRK 97.1 FM.
FIRE
1916 Canada's original Parliament Buildings, in Ottawa, burned down.
SUPREME COURT
1930 the chief justice of the United States, William Howard Taft, resigned for health reasons. (He died just over a month later.)
CAUGHT
2003 Record producer Phil Spector was arrested in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion in Alhambra, Calif. (Spector's murder trial ended in a jury deadlock in September 2007.)
SCIENCE
1966 The Soviet probe Luna 9 became the first manmade object to make a soft landing on the moon.
1984 1st baby conceived by embryo transplant born in Long Beach CA.
1994 The space shuttle Discovery lifted off, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft.
1995 Discovery blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, in the pilot's seat for the first time in NASA history.
PEDOPHILES
1998 Mary Kay LeTourneau, 36, former teacher, violates probation with 14 year-old father of her baby
BORN
1811 Horace Greeley editor ("Go west, young man").
1879 Charles Follis 1st black US football player (Shelby OH).
1935 Johnny "Guitar" Watson rock guitarist.
1947 Melanie [Safka], Astoria, singer/songwriter (Candles in the Rain).
BIRTHDAY
Comedian Shelley Berman is 82. Football Hall-of-Famer Fran Tarkenton is 68. Actress Bridget Hanley is 67. Actress Blythe Danner is 65. Singer Dennis Edwards is 65. Football Hall-of-Famer Bob Griese is 63. Singer-guitarist Dave Davies (The Kinks) is 61. Singer Melanie is 61. Actress Morgan Fairchild is 58. Actor Nathan Lane is 52. Rock musician Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) is 52. Actor Thomas Calabro is 49. Actor-director Keith Gordon is 47. Actress Michele Greene is 46. Country singer Matraca Berg is 44. Actress Maura Tierney is 43. Actor Warwick Davis is 38. Reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee is 32. Musician Grant Barry is 31. Singer-songwriter Jessica Harp (The Wreckers) is 26. Rapper Sean Kingston is 18.
DEATH
1924 The 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington, D.C., at age 67.
Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2008. There are 332 days left in the year.
compiled by Mondoreb
image:
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
