Today in History - History - February 1st

1968Vince Lombardi resigns as coach of Green Bay Packers

1896Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme," premieres in Turin

1981Duke Ellington's musical "Sophisticated Ladies," premieres in NYC

1992Barry Bonds signs baseball's highest single year contract ($4.7 mil)

1865General Sherman's march through South Carolina begins

1669French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion

1923Fascists Voluntary Militia forms in Italy under Benito Mussolini

1893Thomas Edison complete's worlds 1st movie studio (West Orange NJ)

1932Bradman makes 299* vs South Africa, runs out partner going for 300th

2004Super Bowl XXXVIII: New England Patriots beat Carolina Panthers, 32-29 at the Reliant Stadium MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB

1948Rick James (James Ambrose Johnson Jr), Buffalo New York, American funk musician

1902Langston Hughes, Joplin, Missouri, American poet (Weary Blues) and playwright (Mulatto)

1882Louis St. Laurent, Compton Quebec, (L) 12th Canadian PM (1948-57)

1968Lisa Marie Presley Keough Jackson, Memphis Tenn, daughter of Elvis

1901Clark Gable, Cadiz Ohio, American actor (Gone With the Wind)

1931Boris Yeltsin, Ural Mts USSR, president of Russian SSR

1918Muriel Spark, Edinburgh Scotland, novelist (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)

1895John Ford, Maine, director (Stagecoach, Air Mail, Quiet Man)

1840Novelist Alexandre Dumas (37) weds actress Ida Ferrier

1997Retired MLB player Johnny Bench (49) weds stockbroker Elizabeth Benton

1944Piet Mondrian, abstract painter (Composition in Blue), dies at 71

1851Mary Shelley, novelist (Frankenstein), dies of a brain tumour at 53