1 FEBRUARY

1901 - Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo asks Isabela province' military commander for reinforcements as the imperialist American forces advance towards Palanan in big numbers.

1942 - The Japanese change the code utilized in their U-boats--from Enigma to Shark, giving British intelligence a serious setback during World War II.

1979 - Iran's religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, returns to Iran following 14 years of exile; the Shia Muslim leader was imprisoned in 1963 and later expelled for his opposition to reforms then being instituted by the American-backed Shah.

2003 - Seven American astronauts are killed when the Columbia space shuttle breaks up and disintegrates upon reentering the Earth's atmosphere over Texas; an investigation committee would pin the blame on breach of the heat shield that occurred as the shuttle took off two weeks earlier.

31 JANUARY

1945 - Josefa Llanes Escoda, founder of the Girl Scout of the Philippines, is executed together with other Filipinos who have resisted Japanese Occupation during World War II.

1924 - The separatist Rhineland Government collapses weeks after the Bavarian government ordered the assassination of Franz Josef Heinz, the head of the autonomous Palatinate government.

1961 - "Ham," the chimp sent by the United States in an aborted mission to space, is recovered alive 676 km. from the Cape Canaveral launching site; the astronaut-chimp will later be sent to the National Zoo in Washington DC.

1968 - A Viet Cong squadron attacks and seizes the American Embassy in Saigon; the attack is part of the Tet offensive of simultaneous attacks that will later prove psychologically critical to the guerrilla cause.

30 JANUARY

1894 - Andres Bonifacio, leader of the secret Philippine revolutionary society Katipunan (KKK), declares that the organization's administrative judges should strictly adhere to and implement regulations in the bid to enlarge KKK membership.

1667 - The Treaty of Andrusovo is signed between Poland and Russia, ending the war between the two countries; Right-Bank Ukraine is returned to Poland, which, in turn, cedes most of the Left-Bank occupied by the Cossacks, to Russia.

1902 - Japan and Great Britain sign an important accord, marking an era of improved cooperation in naval commitments and other matters; the Japanese sees the alliance as a way of asserting regional status and modernizing their country while the treaty allows the powerful British navy to concentrate in Europe and its naval arms race with Germany.

1948 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, pacifist leader of India's independence movement, is assassinated by a Hindu fanatic; honored with the appellation Mahatma, meaning "the great soul," his civil disobedience methods will influence Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders around the globe.

29 JANUARY

1899 - Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo promulgates the country's first constitution, referred to as the Malolos Constitution; it is Asia's very first democratic constitution but which, sadly, will soon be overrun by American colonization of the archipelago.

1942 - The South American nation of Ecuador cuts off diplomatic relations with the Axis powers, Germany, Japan, and Italy, during World War II.

1979 - China and the United States mark new relations as US President Jimmy Carter and his Chinese counterpart, Premiere Deng Xiaoping meet in Washington; the two countries sign historic cultural and scientific agreements.

1996 - French President Jacques Chirac announces the end of nuclear weapons testings in the Pacific following local and international condemnation of his nuclear policy;  soon after assumption into office, Chirac had lifted the three-year French moratorium on nuclear testing

28 JANUARY

1948 - Philippine  President Manuel Roxas grants amnesty to everyone accused of collaboration with the Japanese during World War II; the beneficiaries include President Jose P. Laurel and his entire cabinet that served during the Japanese Occupation period.

1918 - Civil war breaks out in Finland following the country's proclamation of independence from Russia; the Russian Bolshevik-supported Reds will triumph over the anti-Bolshevik Whites.

1986 - The American space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after take-off, killing everyone on board; an investigative commission to be appointed by US President Ronald Reagan will later determine that the disaster is caused by the failure of the elastic "O-ring" seal in a solid-fuel rocket to properly function owing to the cold temperature at launch.

2005 - Jedudo (Jeju Island), the biggest island south of the Korean peninsula, is designated the "Island of World Peace" in the bid to promote peace in the northeastern part of Asia; the volcanic island has historically been marked by a tradition of peace.

JANUARY 27

1872 - Gov.-Gen. Rafael de Izquierdo bestows praise to the Catholic religious orders after the Spanish colonial forces quelled the Cavite mutiny staged by Filipino rebels in the province.

1944 - Leningrad is recaptured by the Soviet forces from the Germans soldiers who blocked the land link to the city some 2 1/2 years earlier; it is thought that hundreds of thousands of Soviets died from starvation, disease, exposure, or military action during the blockade.
 
1967 - Three American astronauts die when the Apollo 1 spacecraft caught fire; it is believed fire began from an electrical spark that  rapidly spread in the oxygen-filled capsule's atmosphere.

1973 - the Agreement on Ending the War and  Restoring Peace in Vietnam is signed by North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the United States, ending direct American involvement in the Vietnam Conflict; four years later on the same day in 1977, US  President Jimmy Carter will pardon Vietnam War draft dodgers in fulfillment of his campaign promise.

JANUARY 26

1821 - The first of the royal decrees allowing Filipino deputies to be elected to the Spanish Cortes are made; this was later stopped in 1837 when the Cortes held a secret session ending representation by deputies from the Philippine colony.

1788 - Capt. Arthur Phillip discovers Australia for the British empire as he guides a fleet of ships carrying convicts to be brought to New South Wales; this day will later be celebrated as Australia Day.

1950 - India becomes an independent republic as newly elected President Dr Rajendra Prasad, takes over from the King as the head of state and, simultaneously, a new constitution is adopted; Prasad figured in Mahatma Gandhi's nationalist campaign.

2006 - A French Polynesia Assembly report on how France subjected Tahiti to fallout from 40 years of repeated atmospheric nuclear tests is leaked to the local media some two weeks before it was officially released.

January 25

1898 - The Spanish colonial government promulgates a proclamation granting amnesty to Filipino revolutionary leaders as part of the Biak-na-Bato truce agreement during the Philippine Revolution.

1901- Peter I of Russia publishes a royal decree establishing the Moscow School of Mathematics and Navigation.

1905 - The largest diamond in the world is found in Pretoria South Africa; discovered 18 feet below the surface of the earth,  it weighs 1.33 pounds and is given the name "Cullinan."

1971 - Ugandan President Milton Obote is ousted during a coup by General Idi Amin while the latter was on a foreign visit.

24 January

1897 - "The Cry of Tarlac" signals the spread of the Philippine Revolution in the Central Luzon province; it follows the initial "Cry of Pugadlawin" that launched the Filipinos' fight for independence from Spanish colonial rule.

1966 - 117 passengers of Air India are killed when the Boeing-707 plane they were riding crashes into the summit of the Alps mountain of Mont Blanc.


1972 - Japanese World War II sergeant Shoichi Yokoi is found in the jungles of Guam after hiding for 28 years; unaware that the war has long ended, he has survived with the help of handcrafted tools while waiting for Japanese Army members to return and give him further orders.

1986 - American spacecraft Voyager 2 space probe gets within 51,000 miles of the cloudtops of the planet Uranus; the interstellar itinerary of the NASA spacecraft also includes Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.

23 January

1899 - The Malolos Republic, the Philippines' first independent government, is inaugurated by President Emilio Aguinaldo; it will not last long because imperialist America will soon start its colonization of the archipelago.

1368 - Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang begins his reign, ushering in the Ming Dynasty in China; considered one of the greatest eras of political and social order in human history, the Ming will last for over three centuries.

1945 - Adolf Hitler rather belatedly starts a new major German program of shipbuilding; within a few months, Nazi Germany and the rest of the Axis forces will be defeated in World War II>.

1973 - Mt. Helgafell in Iceland's Heimaey island erupts after 7,000 years of being dormant; luckily, a crack on the slope opens all the way until the ocean, letting the lava flow towards the water.

22 January

1878 - Britain leashes North Borneo from the Sultan of Sulu in the Philippines for $5,000 a year; the deal is part of the British government's bid to acquire greater control of the island and to protect and assist the North Borneo Chartered Company tasked to administer the internal affairs of the protectorate island.

1901 - The longest reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria dies; she has been referred to as the grandmother of Europe because many of her descendants intermarried with members of other monarchies in the continent.

1980 - Soviet nuclear physicist, Nobel Laureate and outspoken critic Dr. Andrei Sakharov is placed in internal exile; he has earlier called for  Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan during an interview with an American television.

2006 - "Dayang Yihao (Ocean No 1)," the first Chinese scientific ship  returns home after its 300-day circumnavigation of the world; the mission is the first ever for China.

21 January

1899 - The Malolos Constitution is declared in effect by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the first President of the fledgling Philippine Republic; in less than a month, the Philippine-American War will be started by the US forces.

1793 - King Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine for the supposed guilt of conspiring with leaders of foreign countries so as to invade France; moments after his blood dripped to the ground, many in the mob dipped their handkerchiefs in it.

1981 - Iran frees American hostages held at the US embassy in Tehran after 444 days following the promise of the US government to unfreeze Iranian assets in American banks, which were earlier frozen by former President Jimmy Carter.

2007 - As part of the International Polar Bear multinational efforts to study the threatened species, an underwater, computer-guided robot glider sails from the Antarctic coast.

20 January

1942 - During World War II, Japan's Congress grants the Philippines the "honor of independence" on the condition that the Filipinos collaborate in the promotion of the Co-Prosperity Sphere.

1841 - China cedes Hong Kong as part of the "Unequal Treaties" agreement following the Opium Wars.

1925 - Japan and the Soviet Union settle their disputes, restoring diplomatic relations during the Russia-Japanese Convention wherein the two Asian countries come to several agreements.

1961 - John F. Kennedy is sworn in as United States President, the first Roman Catholic and youngest ever elected president in American history.

19 January

1886 - Voluntary migration of natives to the Philippine island of Palawan is encouraged by a royal decree issued by the Spanish colonial king; incentives  include exemptions from payments of tax and dues to public treasury, free passage, land gratis (three hectares), etc.

1915 - Frenchman George Claude patents the first electric neon sign, a lighting tube, in the United States.

1942 - Japan is able to take British North Borneo during World War II; the British governor surrenders the island as the Japanese forces come to the Sandakan shore unopposed.

1996 - Indira Gandhi begins to lead India after winning the elections; the only daughter of  the country's very first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira will become the first Indian woman PM.

18 January

1899 - The first issue of the Philippine revolutionary newspaper "Kalayaan" (Freedom) issue comes out; authored by Katipunan founder Andres Bonifacio & Emilio Jacinto, et al., the second issue will never reach circulation because the printing press will be discovered by the Spanish colonial authorities.

1778 - The Hawaiian Islands first become known to the West when navigator Capt. James Cook 'discovers' it, naming it "Sandwich Islands."

1919 - The Paris Peace Conference begins in the French capital; it will officially signal the end of the First World War.

1975 - Former Southern Rhodesian Prime Minister Garfield Todd and daughter Judith--two leading white advocates of the rule of majority blacks--are arrested in response to increasing public unrest.