February 1: Imbolc and St. Brigid's Day in Ireland
- 1796 - The capital of Upper Canada was moved from Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) to York (now Toronto), which was judged to be less vulnerable to attack by the United States.
- 1884 - The first fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.
- 1946 - Norwegian politician Trygve Lie was elected the first UN Secretary-General.
- 1958 - Egypt and Syria merged to form the United Arab Republic.
- 2003 - The NASA Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere on its 28th and final mission. This was the second total loss of a Space Shuttle.
Recent days: January 31 – January 30 – January 29