This day in history: February 1

1327 – Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.

1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

1790 – In New York City, the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.

1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

1835 – Slavery is abolished in Mauritius.

1865 – President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1924 – The United Kingdom recognizes the USSR.

1946 – The Parliament of Hungary abolishes the monarchy after nine centuries, and proclaims the Hungarian Republic.

1972 – Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

2002 – Daniel Pearl, American Journalist, South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, kidnapped January 23, 2002, is beheaded and mutilated by his captors.

2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107 disintegrates during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

2005 – King Gyanendra of Nepal carries out a coup d’état to capture the democracy, becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.