February 3, 1870 – The 15th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution is ratified guaranteeing the right of citizens to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
February 3, 1913 – The 16th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution is ratified granting Congress the authority to collect income taxes.
February 1, 1960 – In Greensboro, North Carolina, four African American students sat down and ordered coffee at a segregated lunch counter inside a Woolworth’s store. They were refused service but did not leave, instead they waited all day. The scene was repeated over the next few days with protests spreading to other southern states.
February 1, 2003 – Sixteen minutes before it was scheduled to land, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart over west Texas, killing all seven crew members.