Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

February 1

1993
The Simpsons comic book hits the stands, Ay caramba!

1988
Ernie comic strip debuts.

1979
Patty Hearst is released from prison after receiving clemency from Pres. Carter. She had served 22 months of her seven-year prison sentence for bank robbery.

1976
Rich Man, Poor Man - Book I begins on ABC.

1964
I Want to Hold Your Hand by the Beatles reaches #1 in the U.S.

1960
Greensboro sit-in: Four black college students refuse to move from a Woolworth's lunch counter in North Carolina after being denied service. The peaceful protest quickly spread; 70,000 people participated, resulting in 1,600 arrests.

1950
The United Nations formally accuses Communist China of aggressions against Korea.

1941
World War II: The U.S. Navy is reorganized into three fleets: the Asiatic, Atlantic, and the Pacific.

1898
First U.S. automobile insurance is sold, by the Traveler's Insurance Co. of New York.

1893
First motion picture studio in the U.S. is opened, by Thomas Edison in New Jersey.

1865
Illinois becomes the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in the U.S.

1865
Civil War: Union troops, commanded by Gen. Sherman, begin their march through South Carolina. They destroyed large amounts of civilian property as well as military targets in punishment for South Carolina leading the rebellion. (Source: The Civil War Day by Day)

1845
Baylor University: Texas Baptist Educational Society is founded. In 1866 it merged with Waco University becoming Baylor University. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1968
Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis, wife of Michael Jackson.

1965     d. 1993
Brandon Lee, American actor, son of Bruce Lee. He was killed, while filming the movie The Crow (1994) when the gun being used accidentally fired a real bullet.

1954
Billy Mumy, American actor. TV: Lost in Space (Will Robinson) and Babylon 5 (Lennier).

1952
Rick James (James Johnson), American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Come Get It (1978), Give It to Me Baby (1981, #1), and Super Freak (1981). In 1994 he was sentenced to 5½ years in prison for violent drug-induced attacks on women.

1946
Bart Braverman, actor. TV: Vega$ (Bobby "Binzer" Borso).

1938
Sherman Hemsley, American actor. TV: The Jeffersons (George) and Amen (Rev. Frye).

1937
Garrett Morris, American comedian. TV: Saturday Night Live.

1937
Don Everly, American singer, with brother Phil. Music: Bye Bye Love (1957, #1), Wake Up Little Susie (1957), and Gone, Gone, Gone (1965).

1926
Stuart Whitman, American actor. TV: Cimarron Strip (Marshall Jim Crown).

1909
George Beverly Shea, song evangelist, featured performer for the Billy Graham ministry.

1908     d. 1980
George Pal, Hungarian-born American Oscar-winning director. Film: When Worlds Collide (1951, Oscar), War of the Worlds (1953, Oscar), and The Time Machine (1960, Oscar).

1901     d. 1960
Clark Gable, American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Gone With the Wind (1939, Rhett Butler). Warner Bros. Studios had turned him down, claiming his ears were too big.

1895     d. 1973
John Ford (Sean Aloysius O'Feeney), American Oscar-winning film director of over 130 films including: The Grapes of Wrath (1940), My Darling Clementine (1946), and The Quiet Man (1952).

1887     d. 1969
Harry Scherman, Canadian-born American author, founder of the Book-of-the-Month Club (1926).

1878     d. 1950
Hattie Wyatt Caraway, American politician. She was the first woman: elected to the U.S. Senate (1932, Arkansas); to preside over Senate Sessions (1932); president pro tem of the Senate (1943).

1844     d. 1924
Granville Stanley Hall, American psychologist, founder of child psychology. He was the first president of the American Psychological Association, the first president of Clark University, and founder of the American Journal of Psychology (1887).

1831     d. 1915
Henry McNeal Turner, American Methodist clergyman. He was the first black chaplain commissioned in the U.S. Army (1863). (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1791     d. 1865
Charles Joseph Sax, Belgian instrument maker. He invented the "omnitonic horn" (1824), which used a piston to provide different keys. He was the father of saxophone inventer Adolphe Sax.

1763     d. 1854
Thomas Campbell, Irish religious leader. He and his son founded the Church of the Disciples of Christ in America.

1997     b. 1917
Marjorie Reynolds (Marjorie Goodspeed), American actress. Film: Holiday Inn (1942) and Ministry of Fear (1944). TV: The Life of Riley (Peg Riley).

1991     b. 1903
Dean Jagger, American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Twelve O'Clock High (1949, Oscar).

1988     b. 1975
Heather O'Rourke, American child actress. Film: Poltergeist (1982, Carol Anne) and Poltergeist II (1986).

1980     b. 1907
Jack Bailey, American game-show host. TV: Truth or Consequences, and Queen for a Day.

1966     b. 1895
Buster Keaton (Joseph Keaton), American silent film actor. Film: The Navigator (1924) and The General (1927).

1878     b. 1792
George Cruikshank, English political cartoonist, illustrator of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist (1838).

1691     b. 1610
Alexander VIII, Italian religious leader, 241st Pope (1689-91).

525     b. circa 451
Saint Brigid (also Brigit or Bride), Irish religious leader. She is the patron saint of Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Irish nuns and dairy workers.

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