Today in History: February 1, Black students begin sit-in protest at Woolworth’s whites-only counter
Today is Saturday, Feb. 1, the 32nd day of 2025. There are 333 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Feb. 1, 1960, four Black college students began a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they had been refused service.
Also on this date:
In 1865, abolitionist John S. Rock became the first Black lawyer admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1943, during World War II, one of America’s most highly decorated military units, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up almost exclusively of Japanese Americans, was activated.In 1959, men in Switzerland rejected giving women the right to vote by a more than 2-to-1 margin in a referendum. (Swiss women finally gained the right to vote in 1971.)
In 1979, Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (hoh-MAY’-nee) was welcomed home by millions in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.
In 1991, an arriving USAir jetliner crashed atop a commuter plane on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport, resulting in 35 deaths.
In 1994, Jeff Gillooly, Tonya Harding’s ex-husband, pleaded guilty in Portland, Oregon, to racketeering for his part in the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in exchange for a 24-month sentence and a $100,000 fine.
In 2002, Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl was killed by Islamist militants in Pakistan after being kidnapped nine days earlier.
In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart as it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members: commander Rick Husband; pilot William McCool; payload commander Michael Anderson; mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, David Brown and Laurel Clark; and payload specialist Ilan Ramon.
In 2016, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the explosive spread of the Zika virus, which was linked to birth defects in the Americas.
Today’s birthdays:
- Actor Garrett Morris is 88.
- Political commentator Fred Barnes is 82.
- Princess Stephanie of Monaco is 60.
- Actor Sherilyn Fenn is 60.
- U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Michelle Akers is 59.
- Comedian-actor Pauly Shore is 57.
- Actor Michael C. Hall is 54.
- Rapper Big Boi (Outkast) is 50.
- Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell is 46.
- TV personality Lauren Conrad is 39.
- Mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey is 38.
- Actor Julia Garner is 31.
- Singer-actor Harry Styles is 31.