Today in History - History - February 1st

1896Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme," premieres in Turin

1893Thomas Edison complete's worlds 1st movie studio (West Orange NJ)

1978Harriet Tubman is 1st black woman honored on a US postage stamp

1968Former US VP Richard Nixon announces candidacy for president

1982"Late Night With David Letterman" debuts on NBC-TV, Bill Murray is first guest

1669French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion

1932Bradman makes 299* vs South Africa, runs out partner going for 300th

1992Denis Potvin's #5 becomes 1st number retired by NY Islanders

1992Barry Bonds signs baseball's highest single year contract ($4.7 mil)

1968Vince Lombardi resigns as coach of Green Bay Packers

1882Louis St. Laurent, Compton Quebec, (L) 12th Canadian PM (1948-57)

1948Rick James (James Ambrose Johnson Jr), Buffalo New York, American funk musician

1895John Ford, Maine, director (Stagecoach, Air Mail, Quiet Man)

1918Muriel Spark, Edinburgh Scotland, novelist (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)

1902Langston Hughes, Joplin, Missouri, American poet (Weary Blues) and playwright (Mulatto)

1968Lisa Marie Presley Keough Jackson, Memphis Tenn, daughter of Elvis

1931Boris Yeltsin, Ural Mts USSR, president of Russian SSR

1901Clark Gable, Cadiz Ohio, American actor (Gone With the Wind)

1997Retired MLB player Johnny Bench (49) weds stockbroker Elizabeth Benton

1840Novelist Alexandre Dumas (37) weds actress Ida Ferrier

1944Piet Mondrian, abstract painter (Composition in Blue), dies at 71

1851Mary Shelley, novelist (Frankenstein), dies of a brain tumour at 53