This Day in History on 1st February

The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including that of the IAS Exam. 

Important Days

Abolition of Slavery Day (Mauritius)
Air Force Day (Nicaragua)
Memorial Day of the Republic (Hungary)
National Freedom Day (United States)

Important Events

1797: Lord Cornwallis was sworn in as Governor-General of Bengal.

1835: End of slavery in Mauritius.

1835: East India Company leased the Darjeeling region from Sikkim.

1884: Publication of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

1893: Thomas Edison completed his first film.

1946: Hungary’s parliament approved the abolition of a nine-century monarchy and the establishment of a republic.

1956: Sudhi Ranjan Das became the 5th Chief Justice of India.

1964: P. B. Gajendragadkar becomes the 7th Chief Justice of India.

1972: Formation of International Airport Authority of India.

1977: Indian Navy Coast Guard formed.

1979: Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after 15 years in exile.

1981: In a One-Day cricket match between Australia and New Zealand, when New Zealand needed six runs off the last ball, Greg Chappell asked his brother Trevor Chappell to throw an underarm ball. Trevor bowled the ball to Chappell and Australia won the match but then underarm bowling was declared illegal after that match.

1992: Bhopal Chief Justice declared Warren Anderson, chief executive officer of Union Carbide, a fugitive.

2002: Terrorists beheaded American journalist Daniel Pearl.

2003: Columbia space shuttle exploded while returning from space, killing six astronauts, including Kalpana Chawla of Indian descent.

2013: World Hijab Day is an annual event founded by Nazma Khan.

Birth/Birth Anniversary

1914: A. K. Hangal, an Indian freedom fighter, and actor.

Hussain Muhammad Ershad

1956: Brahmanandam, an Indian film actor and comedian, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema.

1957: Jackie Shroff, an Indian actor.

1971: Manoj Tiwari, an Indian politician, singer, and actor.

1971: Ajay Jadeja, an Indian former professional cricketer.

1982: Shoaib Malik, a Pakistani cricketer.

1930: Hussain Muhammad Ershad, Indian-Bangladeshi general and politician, 10th President of Bangladesh (d. 2019)

1961: Kaduvetti Guru, Indian politician (d. 2018)

Kalpana Chawla

Death/ Death Anniversary

1976: Werner Karl Heisenberg, a German theoretical physicist and one of the key pioneers of quantum mechanics.

1982: Pandit Raghunath Murmu, an Indian Santali writer and educator.

Shanu Lahiri

2003: Kalpana Chawla, an American astronaut, engineer, and the first woman of Indian origin to go to space.

2013: Shanu Lahiri, a Bengali painter, and art educator.

Futher Reading

Month-wise This Day in History