1st February
1960 Australian Championships Men’s Tennis: In a classic all-Australian final Rod Laver beats Neale Fraser 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6, 8-6; Laver’s first Grand Slam title
1972 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)
2nd February
1349 By this date at least 200 people a day were being buried in London as a result of the Black Death
1852 1st British public men’s toilet opens in Fleet St, London
3rd February
1966 1st soft landing on Moon (Soviet Luna 9)
1986 The Pope and Mother Teresa meet in Calcutta
4th February
1819 Emperor Norton [Joshua Abraham Norton], British born self-proclaimed “Norton I, Emperor of the United States,” born in London, England (d. 1880)
1971 British car maker Rolls Royce declared itself bankrupt
5th February
1870 1st motion picture shown to a theater audience, Philadelphia
1922 Reader’s Digest magazine 1st published
6th February
1508 Maximilian I proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor, 1st Emperor in centuries not to be crowned by the Pope
1952 King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland died.
1976 Ritwik Ghatak, Bengali filmmaker (Titash Ekti Nadir Naam), dies at 50
7th February
1613 Michail Romanov (aged 16) becomes Tsar of Russia
1959 Fidel Castro proclaims new Cuban constitution
