On this day: Skerryvore lighthouse | Highland Railway | Soviet Union

Events from this day in history.

1 February

1587: England’s Queen Elizabeth I signed warrant for execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.

1708: Alexander Selkirk, a sailor born in Lower Largo, Fife, was discovered on the island of Juan Fernandez, near Chile, where he had survived for four years after being abandoned by his ship. His story inspired Daniel Defoe to write Robinson Crusoe.

1811: The Bell Rock lighthouse began operating.

1844: The lamp at Skerryvore Lighthouse off the west coast of Scotland went into operation.

1865: The Highland Railway was formed from an amalgamation of the Inverness and Perth Junction and the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railways.

1884: First edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.

1896: Arturo Toscanini conducted the premiere of Puccini’s opera, La Bohème, in Turin.

1908: Portugal’s King Carlos I and Crown Prince were assassinated in Lisbon, and Manuel II became King.

1910: First British labour exchanges opened.

1911: HMS Thunderer, the last battleship built on the Thames, launched from the old Thames Ironworks in Silvertown.

1915: Passport photographs were first required in Britain.

1924: Britain recognised Communist Soviet Union.

1935: British-German conference was held in London to discuss Germany’s rearmament.

1941: Air Training Corps formed.

1946: Hungarian Republic was proclaimed.

1949: Name of Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) was changed to Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC).

1956: South Africa asked Soviet Union to withdraw all consulates.

1958: The United Arab Republic was formed by the union of Egypt and Syria.

1959: Swiss referendum rejected female suffrage.

1965: Prescriptions on the National Health Service were made free of charge – until 10 June, 1968, when charges were reintroduced.

1972: British embassy in Dublin was bombed as anti-British demonstrations swept Ireland.

1973: Women were allowed on the Stock Exchange for first time.

1990: Labour introduced roof tax alternative to community charge.

2003: Seven astronauts died when the Shuttle Columbia broke up as it entered the atmosphere minutes before it was due to land.

2012: Seventy-four people were killed and hundreds injured after a riot at the Al-Masry v Al-Ahly football match in Port Said, Egypt, allegedly linked to security force complicity with pro-Mubarak fans.