1. On February 1, 1960, the Greensboro Sit-ins began in North Carolina, but the movement quickly spread to other cities, including Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, and helped spark the Civil Rights Movement in the state.

2. In 1861, on February 1, Alabama seceded from the United States and joined the Confederacy, becoming one of the first seven states to do so.

3. In 1933, on February 1, the infamous Scottsboro Boys trial began in Scottsboro, Alabama. Nine young African American men were falsely accused of raping two white women and were ultimately convicted, highlighting the racial tensions of the time.

4. On February 1, 1865, the last major battle of the Civil War in Alabama took place in Selma, ending with a Union victory that helped lead to the eventual surrender of the Confederate Army.

5. On February 1, 1920, Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi began a tour of Alabama and other southern U.S. states to build support for India's independence from Britain, which he ultimately achieved in 1947.