February 4

Events

• 1783 - American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom formally declares that it will cease hostilities with the United States of America.
• 1787 - Shays' Rebellion fails.
• 1789 - George Washington is unanimously elected to be the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
• 1794 - French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic.
• 1861 - American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama the Confederate States of America is formed by delegates from six break-away United States.
• 1899 - The Philippine-American War begins.
• 1927 - The first talkie is released - The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson.
• 1932 - World War II: Japan occupies Harbin, China.
• 1932 - 1932 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York.
• 1936 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
• 1938 - Thornton Wilder's play Our Town opens (New York City).
• 1941 - World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
• 1945 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin begin the Yalta Conference.
• 1948 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.
• 1966 - All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 jet plunges into Tokyo Bay killing 133
• 1968 - Bowie Kuhn becomes the fifth commissioner of Major League Baseball, replacing William Eckert
• 1969 - Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
• 1974 - The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.
• 1976 - In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
• 1976 - 1976 Winter Olympics open in Innsbruck, Austria.
• 1977 - Fleetwood Mac releases one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, Rumours.
• 1980 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran.
• 1991 - The Baseball Hall of Fame votes to ban Pete Rose.
• 1997 - O. J. Simpson is found to be civilly liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
• 1997 - Enroute to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
• 1997 - After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.
• 1998 - An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale in northeast Afghanistan kills more than 5,000.
• 1999 - Hugo Chávez Frías, Venezuelan military and politician, is elected President of Venezuela.
• 1999 - Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, enflaming race-relations in the city.
• 2003 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia officially renames to Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.

Births

• 1842 - Arrigo Boito, poet and composer, (d. 1918)
• 1871 - Friedrich Ebert, president of the Weimar Republic, (d. 1925)
• 1881 - Fernand Leger, painter, (d. 1955)
• 1897 - Ludwig Erhard, German Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor), (d. 1977)
• 1900 - Jacques Prevert, lyricist and author, (d. 1977)
• 1902 - Charles Lindbergh, aviator, (d. 1974)
• 1904 - MacKinlay Kantor, historian, (d. 1977)
• 1906 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian, (d. 1945)
• 1906 - Clyde Tombaugh, astronomer, (d. 1997)
• 1913 - Rosa Parks, civil rights activist
• 1914 - Alfred Andersch, narrator and author of radio drama, (d. 1980)
• 1914 - Ida Lupino, actress, director, writer, (d. 1995)
• 1915 - Norman Wisdom, actor, comedian
• 1917 - Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan, (d. 1980)
• 1921 - Betty Friedan, feminist
• 1925 - Russell Hoban, writer
• 1940 - George Romero, horror movie writer, producer, director
• 1947 - Dan Quayle, Vice President of the United States
• 1948 - Alice Cooper, musician
• 1959 - Lawrence Taylor, American football star
• 1962 - Clint Black, country musician
• 1964 - Noodles, guitarist of The Offspring
• 1970 - Gabrielle Anwar, actress
• 1973 - Oscar De La Hoya, boxing champion
• 1975 - Natalie Imbruglia, musician

Deaths

• 211 - Septimius Severus, Emperor of Rome, (b. 146)
• 708 - Pope Sisinnius
• 869 - Saint Cyril, who invented the Cyrillic alphabet
• 1894 - Adolphe Sax, instrument maker, inventor of the saxophone, (b. 1814)
• 1928- Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate, (b. 1853)
• 1958 - Henry Kuttner, science fiction author, (b. 1915)
• 1968 - Neal Cassady, writer, (b. 1926)
• 1969 - Thelma Ritter, actress, (b. 1905)
• 1975 - Louis Jordan, musician, (b. 1908)
• 1978 - Bergen Evans, television host
• 1983 - Karen Carpenter, singer, musician (The Carpenters), (b. 1950)
• 1987 - Liberace, musician, (b. 1919)
• 1995 - Patricia Highsmith, author, (b. 1921)
• 2001 - Iannis Xenakis, Greek/French composer, (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• Ancient Latvia - Biezputras Diena observed
• Saint Paul of Tarsus

February 3 - February 5 - January 4 - March 4 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By