February 4
February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 330 days remaining, (331 in
leap years).
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Events
\n*1454 - In the Thirteen Years' War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederacy sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.\n*1783 - American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom formally declares that it will cease hostilities with the United States of America. \n*1787 - Shays' Rebellion fails.\n*1789 - George Washington is unanimously elected to be the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.\n*1792 - George Washington is unanimously elected to a second term as President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.\n*1794 - French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic.\n*1801 - John Marshall sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.\n*1810 - British Navy seizes Guadeloupe.\n*1859 - Codex Sinaiticus discovered in Egypt.\n*1861 - American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama the Confederate States of America is formed by delegates from six break-away United States. \n*1862 - Bacardi founded.\n*1899 - The Philippine-American War begins.\n*1915 - Germany establishes a submarine blockade around the UK and declares any vessel in it a legitimate target. \n*1927 - The first talkie is released - The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson.\n*1932 - World War II: Japan occupies Harbin, China.\n* 1932 - 1932 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York.\n* 1932 - Asteroid 1239 Queteleta discovered by Eugčne Joseph Delporte.\n*1934 - Asteroid 2824 Franke discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth.\n*1936 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically. \n*1938 - Thornton Wilder's play Our Town opens (New York City). \n*1941 - World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops. \n*1943 - Battle of Stalingrad ends.\n*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. \n*1948 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth. \n*1962 - Ian Fleming's The Living Daylights first published\n*1966 - All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 jet plunges into Tokyo Bay killing 133\n*1968 - Bowie Kuhn becomes the fifth commissioner of Major League Baseball, replacing William Eckert\n*1969 - Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.\n*1974 - The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California. \n*1976 - In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.\n* 1976 - 1976 Winter Olympics open in Innsbruck, Austria.\n*1977 - Fleetwood Mac releases one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, Rumours.\n*1980 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran.\n*1991 - The Baseball Hall of Fame votes to ban Pete Rose.\n*1993 - First public alpha version, 0.2 of DOOM released.\n*1997 - O. J. Simpson is found to be civilly liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. \n* 1997 - Enroute to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73. \n* 1997 - After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections. \n*1998 - An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale in northeast Afghanistan kills more than 5,000. \n*1999 - Hugo Chávez Frías, Venezuelan military and politician, is elected President of Venezuela.\n* 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.\n*2000 - USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) launched.\n*2002 - Mozilla version 0.9.8 released.\n*2003 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.
Births
\n*1842 - Arrigo Boito, poet and composer (d. 1918)\n*1871 - Friedrich Ebert, president of the Weimar Republic (d. 1925)\n*1881 - Fernand Leger, painter (d. 1955)\n*1897 - Ludwig Erhard, German Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor) (d. 1977)\n*1892 - Prince George I, Duke of Westrogothia (d. 1971)\n*1900 - Jacques Prevert, lyricist and author (d. 1977)\n*1902 - Charles Lindbergh, aviator (d. 1974)\n*1904 - MacKinlay Kantor, historian (d. 1977)\n*1906 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian (d. 1945)\n* 1906 - Clyde Tombaugh, astronomer (d. 1997)\n*1913 - Rosa Parks, civil rights activist\n*1914 - Alfred Andersch, narrator and author of radio drama (d. 1980)\n* 1914 - Ida Lupino, actress, director, writer (d. 1995)\n*1915 - Norman Wisdom, actor, comedian\n*1917 - Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1980)\n*1921 - Betty Friedan, feminist\n*1925 - Russell Hoban, writer\n*1931 - Isabel Martínez de Perón, third wife of Juan Perón\n*1940 - George Romero, horror movie writer, producer, director\n*1947 - Dan Quayle, Vice President of the United States\n*1948 - Alice Cooper, musician\n*1959 - Lawrence Taylor, American football star\n*1962 - Clint Black, country musician\n*1964 - Noodles, guitarist of The Offspring\n*1970 - Gabrielle Anwar, actress\n*1973 - Oscar De La Hoya, boxing champion\n*1975 - Natalie Imbruglia, musician
Deaths
\n*211 - Septimius Severus, Emperor of Rome (b. 146)\n*708 - Pope Sisinnius\n*869 - Saint Cyril, after whom the Cyrillic alphabet is named\n*1713 - Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, (b. 1671)\n*1781 - Josef Myslivecek, composer (b. 1737)\n*1894 - Adolphe Sax, instrument maker, inventor of the saxophone (b. 1814)\n*1928- Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate (b. 1853)\n*1933 - Archibald Sayce, educator (b. 1846)\n*1936 - Wilhelm Gustloff, German leader of the Swiss Nazi party (b. 1895)\n*1958 - Henry Kuttner, science fiction author (b. 1915)\n*1968 - Neal Cassady, writer (b. 1926)\n*1969 - Thelma Ritter, actress (b. 1905)\n*1975 - Louis Jordan, musician (b. 1908)\n*1978 - Bergen Evans, television host\n*1983 - Karen Carpenter, singer, musician (Carpenters) (b. 1950)\n*1987 - Liberace, musician (b. 1919)\n* 1987 - Carl Rogers, psychologist (b. 1902)\n*1995 - Patricia Highsmith, author (b. 1921)\n*2001 - Iannis Xenakis, Greek/French composer (b. 1922)
Holidays and observances
\n*Ancient Latvia - Biezputras Diena observed\n*Saint Paul of Tarsus
February 3 -
February 5 -
January 4 -
March 4 --
listing of all days
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