1788 - First U.S. steamboat patent issued, by Georgia to Briggs & Longstreet
1789 - Chinese troops driven out of Vietnam capital Thang Long
1793 - France declares war on England & Netherlands
1893 - Thomas Edison completes world's first movie studio (West Orange, N.J.)
1896 - Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme" premieres in Turin
1902 - China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet
1940 - Russia begins new offensive against Finland
1946 - Trygve Lie, a Norwegian socialist, becomes first Secretary-General of U.N.
1946 - Republic of Hungary proclaimed, Zolt n Tildy as communist president
1948 - Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed
1948 - Federation Malaysia forms from 9 sultanates
1951 ― U.N. condemns People's Republic of China as aggressor in Korea
1952 - General strike against French colonial management in Tunisia
1969 - Jim Morrison arrested for exposing himself in concert
1984 - Ravindara Mhatrem, Indian diplomat, kidnapped in England (killed Feb. 03)
1984 - China & Netherlands regain diplomatic relations