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On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. The accident, caused by damage to the thermal shield sustained during launch, was the second fatal catastrophe of the shuttle programme after Challenger in 1986, and grounded the programme for two years.

On February 1, 1960, four African American students sat down at a Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, reserved for white customers, and refused to leave when they were denied service. The Greensboro sit-ins inspired similar protests across the South and became one of the most iconic actions of the civil rights movement.

On February 1, 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran after fifteen years of exile, welcomed by millions of people in Tehran. His return marked the final phase of the Iranian Revolution that had just toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Khomeini established the Islamic Republic, transforming Iran into a theocratic state that remains the world's greatest Shia power.