January 27, 1820: A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent, approaching the Antarctic coast.
January 29, 1863: The Bear River Massacre, considered the deadliest attack by U.S military forces on Native Americans, occurs in Idaho. Estimates of the number of dead Shoshone Indians range from 250 to almost 500.
January 29, 1980: The Rubik’s Cube makes its international debut at the Ideal Toy Corp. in Earl’s Court, London.
January 30, 1969: The Beatles’ last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
January 30, 1959: The Dutch luxury liner MS Hans Hedtoftstrikes an iceberg on its maiden voyage. The ship had been billed as unsinkable. Because of the rough weather conditions rescuers cannot reach the striken liner. All 95 aboard perish. The only trace of the ship ever found is a single lifebouy that washes up on the coast of Iceland several months later.
January 31, 1846: The city of Milwaukee is formed, officially ending the contentious and often outright violent Bridge War.
January 31, 1747: The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
February 1, 1814: Mayon Volcano in the Philippines erupts killing 1200.
February 1, 2002: Daniel Pearl, American journalist and South Asia Bureau Chief of the *Wall Street Journal, *kidnapped January 23, 2002, is beheaded and mutilated by his captors.
February 2, 1959: A group of 9 hikers in a remote area of the snowy Ural Mountains encounter something and all die. Known today as the Dyatlov Pass Incident, the theories attempting to explain the unnatural scene and the bizarre deaths include avalanche, soviet experimental weapons, space aliens, and unfriendly yetis. Sixty years have passed and the truth remains unknown.
February 3, 1959: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
February 4, 2004: Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.
February 7, 1812: The largest of the New Madrid earthquakes causes the Mississippi River to run backwards.
February 7, 2013: The U.S. state of Mississippi officially certifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was formally ratified by Mississippi in 1995.
February 8, 1952: Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom.
February 9, 1964: The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers across the USA.
February 10, 1940: Tom and Jerry make their debut with Puss Gets the Boot.
February 11, 1963: Sylvia Plath commits suicide.
February 13, 1961: An allegedly 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, that appears to anachronistically encase a “1920s-style spark plug”.
February 14, 1779: Captain James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.