Today is Friday, February 1st, the 32nd day of the year.There are 333 days until the end of the year.
On this day:
In 1788, the steamboat was patented.
In 1851, "Frankenstein" creator Mary Shelley died at the age of 53.
In 1862, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was first published in "Atlantic Monthly."
In 1898, Travelers Insurance Company issued the first automobile insurance policy.
In 1966, silent film legend Buster Keaton died at the age of 70.
In 1968, Vince Lombardi resigned as coach of the Green Bay Packers.
In 1982, "Late Night with David Letterman" debuted on NBC.
In 1988, "Poltergeist" actress Heather O'Rourke died at the age of 12.
In 1994, Jeff Gillooly pled guilty to racketeering and struck a deal to testify that his ex-wife Tonya Harding approved the assault on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.
In 2003, upon its return to Earth after a 16-day mission in space, Space Shuttle Columbia dismantled over Texas, killing all seven crew members on board.The astronauts who perished in the tragedy included Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Blair Salton Clark, and the first ever Israeli citizen in space, Ilan Roman.
In 2012, "Soul Train" creator and host Don Cornelius was found dead at his home.It was later determined that Cornelius took his own life. He was 75.
In 2013, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch died.He was 88.
In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control announced that an E. coli outbreak that left Chipotle customers sick across several states is over.