Looking backward

10 years ago

Feb. 1, 2013: Treating the Jefferson County Historical Society as a small business has proven successful for board members and staff. Executive Director William G. Wood said the nonprofit museum at 228 Washington St. focused on decreasing expenses and increase in revenue. That, combined with community engagement and volunteerism, let the agency go from ending 2011 with a 422,000 loss to making an approximately $14,000 profit in 2012.

25 years ago

Feb. 1, 1998: Visits to the American Red Cross disaster center in Watertown have slowed to a trickle, but a river of money will flow from the organization to local groups that helped feed and shelter ice storm victims, an official said. Donations and pledges have been received by the Red Cross since the Jan. 7-8 storm.

50 years ago

Feb. 1, 1973: The Jefferson-Lewis County Music Association will present its annual bi-county concert Saturday at 8 p.m. in South Lewis Central School auditorium, Turin.

75 years ago

Feb. 1, 1948: The Carthage Women’s Bowling association will sponsor a tournament for teams and doubles on Sunday, Miss Velma Parker, association secretary, announced today.

100 years ago

Feb. 1, 1923: Ogdensburg: It was reported yesterday that Prescott parties contemplate establishing a new ferry boat between that place and Ogdensburg next season.

125 years ago

Feb. 1, 1898: Watertown market: The weather thus far this week has been quite unfavorable to local trade and business in the produce market has been light.

150 years ago

Feb. 1, 1873: Tomorrow is Candlemas Day. The bear will come out of his den and look around a little while before breakfast. If he sees his shadow he will return to his den--if he has a notion that way.

The world

1942 – Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the United States government, begins broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers.

1960 – Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C..

1964 – The Beatles have their first No. 1 hit in the United States with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

1968 – The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation.

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

1974 – A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in São Paulo, Brazil, kills 189 and injures 293.

1979 – Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile.

1991 – A runway collision between USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport results in the deaths of 34 people, and injuries to 30 others.

1992 – The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal disaster case.

1996 – The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.

1998 – Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.

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

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

2004 – Hajj pilgrimage stampede: In a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured.

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

2009 – The first cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was formed in Iceland, making her the country’s first female prime minister and the world’s first openly gay head of government.

2012 – Seventy-four people are killed and over 500 injured as a result of clashes between fans of Egyptian football teams Al Masry and Al Ahly in the city of Port Said.

2013 – The Shard, the sixth-tallest building in Europe, opens its viewing gallery to the public.

2021 – A coup d’état in Myanmar removes Aung San Suu Kyi from power and restores military rule.

2022 – Five-year-old Moroccan boy Rayan Aourram falls into a 32-meter (105 feet) deep well in Ighran village in Tamorot commune, Chefchaouen Province, Morocco, but dies four days later, before rescue workers reached him.