Latest post of the previous page:
February 1st1709 Scotsman Alexander Selkirk was rescued from an uninhabited desert island (Mas à Tierra, off the coast of Chile), inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
1915 Sir Stanley Matthews, often regarded as one of the greatest English football players, was born. He is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards. He kept fit enough to play at the top level until he was 50 years old, was also the oldest player ever to play in England's top football division and the oldest player ever to represent his country. He played his final competitive game in 1985, at the age of 70.
1940 Frank Sinatra sings the hits "Too Romantic" and "The Sky Fell Down" during his debut recording session with the popular Tommy Dorsey Band. This was his first recording with the band since replacing its previous singer - Jack Leonard.
1952 The first TV detector van was demonstrated. It enabled the BBC to track down users of unlicensed television sets in Britain.
1965 P.J. Proby, the US rock singer, was banned by ABC Theatres and the BBC after he had deliberately split his trousers during his act. The mainly female audience and the tabloids, who claimed Proby’s act was obscene, went wild. It was the beginning of the end for the flamboyant performer.
1968 Eddie Adams takes one of the Vietnam War's best-known pictures. The image of the execution of a Vietcong officer in Saigon helped build opposition to the war.
1984 Nigel Lawson announced that the half penny coin would cease to be legal tender. Many believed this would lead to inflationary pressure as even government sales like stamps would increase from 12 1/2p to 13p.
2003 The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. During the launch a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle's external tank and struck the left wing of the orbiter. When Columbia re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, the damage caused hot atmospheric gases to destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart.
2004 Janet Jackson's breast is briefly exposed by Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl half time show. Timberlake later referred to the incident as a "wardrobe malfunction."
And Finally.
1524 London astrologers predicted the world would end beginning with a massive flood in London on this day. 20,000 Londoners fled their homes in anticipation of the event.
[youtube]064hwk0BcRA[/youtube]
