Feb. 1: Patty Hearst Released 1979; Columbia Shuttle Disaster 2003
1979 Patty Hearst Released
President Carter commuted Patty Hearst's three-year prison sentence. The heiress was convicted for her part in robberies after she was kidnapped by a radical group.
1979 Ayatollah Khomeini Returns to Iran
Iranian Revolution: After 15 years in exile, crowds in Iran greeted the Ayatollah Khomeini as a hero. The Shah had fled Iran prior to Khomenini's return.
The religious leader was exiled in 1964. Ayatollah Khomeini wanted an Islamic state in Iran, and had condemned the Shah's rule and ties to the west.
1991 Airline Crash at L.A. Airport
USAir Flight 1493 collided with a Skywest Fairchild Metroliner in California.
2003 Columbia Shuttle Disaster
The Columbia space shuttle broke apart while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The video takes a look at the seven astronauts aboard the Columbia shuttle. Four of the seven astronauts were on their first space flight.
Crew of Space Shuttle Columbia: Ilan Ramon, Willie McCool, Rick D. Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Michael P. Anderson
Famous Birthdays
1901 Clark Gable
1941 Jerry Spinelli
1948 Rick James
1965 Brandon Lee
1965 Princess Stephanie of Monaco
1967 Meg Cabot
1968 Lisa Marie Presley
1968 Pauly Shore
1971 Michael C. Hall
1979 Rachelle LeFevre
1983 Andrew VanWyngarden
1984 Lee Thompson Young
1986 Lauren Conrad
1987 Heather Morris
View more videos from This Month in History: February.