The Supreme Court Of The United States met for the very first time on February 1st, 1790, in the Royal Exchange Building in New York.

229 years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court began its first session. Six justices were on the court:
?️ John Jay (Chief Justice)
?️ John Rutledge
?️ William Cushing
?️ John Blair
?️ James Wilson
?️ Robert Harrison
More on the history of SCOTUS: https://t.co/9MtVowMwad pic.twitter.com/pMH7tPz5Wc

— Ballotpedia (@ballotpedia) February 1, 2019

-On February 1st, 2003, tragedy struck in the skies over Texas. As the space shuttle Columbia re-entered Earth’s atmosphere early in the morning of February 1, the craft broke apart, killing all seven of the crew members on board.

16 years ago this morning, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry. Astronauts Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David M. Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon lost their lives in the accident. #AvGeek #SpaceGeek pic.twitter.com/CiRJJffKvy

— NYCAviation (@NYCAviation) February 1, 2019

-American journalist Danny Pearl was executed by Muslim extremists in Pakistan on this day in 2002. A reporter for The Wall Street Journal working out of the Mumbai bureau, Pearl was kidnapped in Karachi while he was investigating the links between Al Qaida and Richard Reid, the shoe bomber. The perpetrators were part of a militant group that had links to Al Qaida leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and other terrorists.

It was 17 years ago this week that our friend and WSJ collegue Daniel Pearl was killed by terrorists in Pakistan. That is what real journalism means. Let us not forget him. pic.twitter.com/mHoEaMt0Fs

— Gerald F Seib (@GeraldFSeib) February 1, 2019

After his death, Pearl’s body was dismembered and buried in a shallow grave. His parents have since founded the Daniel Pearl Foundation, a nonprofit aimed to carry on Pearl’s journalistic work.