This day in history

[February 01, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Monday, Feb. 1, the 32nd day of 2010. There are 333 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Feb. 1, 1960, four black college students began a sit-in protest at a whites-only Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., which refused to serve them; similar protests sprang up across the South.

On this date:

In 1861, Texas voted to secede from the Union.

In 1920, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police came into existence, merging the Royal North West Mounted Police and the Dominion Police.

In 1943, one of America's most highly decorated military units of World War II, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up almost exclusively of Japanese-Americans, was authorized.

In 1946, Norwegian statesman Trygve Lie (TRIG'-vuh lee) was chosen to be the first secretary-general of the United Nations.

In 1958, the United Arab Republic, a union of Egypt and Syria, was established. (Syria withdrew from the union in 1961.)

In 1959, men in Switzerland rejected giving women the right to vote by a more than 2-1 referendum margin. (Swiss women gained the right to vote in 1971.)

In 1968, during the Vietnam War, South Vietnam's police chief (Nguyen Ngoc Loan) executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. Richard M. Nixon announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

In 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (hoh-MAY'-nee) received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.

In 1991, 34 people were killed when a USAir jetliner crashed atop a commuter plane on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport.

In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven of its crew members.

Ten years ago: Sen. John McCain defeated Texas Gov. George W. Bush to win the Republican New Hampshire primary; Vice President Al Gore edged Bill Bradley to win the Democratic primary.

Five years ago: Pope John Paul II was hospitalized for breathing problems and the flu. Character actor John Vernon, who'd played nasty Dean Wormer in "National Lampoon's Animal House," died in Los Angeles at age 72.

One year ago: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 to win Super Bowl XLIII (43). Rafael Nadal held off Roger Federer in another momentum-swinging five-set final to win the Australian Open, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2. Olympic great Michael Phelps acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after a photo in a British newspaper showed him inhaling from a marijuana pipe. Dewey Martin, 68, the drummer and singer who'd helped found the country rock band Buffalo Springfield, was found dead in Van Nuys, Calif.

Today's birthdays: America's last surviving World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, is 109. Gospel singer George Beverly Shea is 101. Actor Stuart Whitman is 82. Singer Don Everly is 73. Actor Garrett Morris is 73. Singer Ray Sawyer (Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show) is 73. Actor Sherman Hemsley is 72. Bluegrass singer Del McCoury is 71. Jazz musician Joe Sample is 71. TV personality-singer Joy Philbin is 69. Comedian Terry Jones is 68. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) is 66. Opera singer Carol Neblett is 64. Rock musician Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 60. Blues singer-musician Sonny Landreth is 59. Actor-writer-producer Bill Mumy (MOO'-mee) is 56. Rock singer Exene Cervenka is 54. Actor Linus Roache is 46. Princess Stephanie of Monaco is 45. Country musician Dwayne Dupuy (Ricochet) is 45. Actress Sherilyn Fenn is 45. Lisa Marie Presley is 42. Comedian-actor Pauly Shore is 42. Actor Brian Krause is 41. Jazz musician Joshua Redman is 41. Rock musician Patrick Wilson (Weezer) is 41. Actor Michael C. Hall is 39. Rock musician Ron Welty is 39. Rapper Big Boi (Outkast) is 35. Country singer Julie Roberts is 31. Actor Jarrett Lennon is 28. TV personality Lauren Conrad is 24.

Thought for today: "Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." -- Eddie Rickenbacker, American war hero (1890-1973)

[Associated Press]

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