February 4
February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar . There are 330 days remaining, (331 in leap years ).
Events
211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta .
1454 - In the Thirteen Years' War , the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederacy sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.
1703 - The day that forty-six of the forty-seven ronin committed sepuku .
1783 - American Revolutionary War : The United Kingdom formally declares that it will cease hostilities with the United States of America .
1789 - George Washington is unanimously elected to be the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College .
1792 - George Washington is unanimously elected to a second term as President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College .
1794 - The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic.
1801 - John Marshall sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States .
1810 - British Navy seizes Guadeloupe .
1859 - Codex Sinaiticus discovered in Egypt .
1861 - American Civil War : In Montgomery, Alabama the Confederate States of America is formed by delegates from six break-away United States .
1862 - Bacardi , one of the world's largest spirits company, was founded as a small distillery in Santiago de Cuba in eastern Cuba .
1899 - The Philippine-American War begins.
1915 - Germany establishes a submarine blockade around the UK and declares any vessel in it a legitimate target.
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 .
1932 - Asteroid 1239 Queteleta discovered by Eugène Joseph Delporte .
1934 - Asteroid 2824 Franke discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth .
1936 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
1938 - Thornton Wilder 's play Our Town New York City ).
1938 - Disney 's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs box-office success , making more money than any other motion picture in 1938.
1941 - World War II : The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
1943 - Battle of Stalingrad ends.
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 .
1957 - USS Nautilus , the first nuclear-powered submarine , logged her 60,000th nautical mile , matching the endurance of the fictional Nautilus Jules Verne 's novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" 1962 - Ian Fleming 's The Living Daylights first published
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 .
1993 - First public alpha version, 0.2 of Doom 1996 - Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States , Milwaukee, Wisconsin ties all-time record low temperature at -26°F. (-32°C)
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.
2000 - USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) launched.
2003 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.
2007 - Super Bowl XLI will take place from Dolphins Stadium in Miami, Florida .
Births
1840 - Hiram Stevens Maxim , American inventor of the Maxim Gun (d. 1916 )
1841 - Clément Ader , French aviation pioneer (d. 1926 )
1842 - Arrigo Boito , Italian poet and composer (d. 1918 )
1871 - Friedrich Ebert , president of the Weimar Republic (d. 1925 )
1873 - Étienne Desmarteau , Canadian athlete (d. 1905 )
1881 - Fernand Léger , French painter (d. 1955 )
1892 - Prince George I, Duke of Westrogothia (d. 1971 )
1897 - Ludwig Erhard , German Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor) (d. 1977 )
1902 - Charles Lindbergh , U.S. aviator (d. 1974 )
1902 - Hartley William Shawcross , British prosecutor (d. 2003 )
1904 - MacKinlay Kantor , U.S. writer (d. 1977 )
1906 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer , German theologian (d. 1945 )
1906 - Clyde Tombaugh , U.S. astronomer (d. 1997 )
1912 - Erich Leinsdorf , Austrian conductor (d. 1993 )
1912 - Byron Nelson , American golfer
1913 - Rosa Parks , U.S. civil rights activist
1914 - Alfred Andersch , German narrator and author of radio drama (d. 1980 )
1914 or 1918 - Ida Lupino , English actress, director, writer (d. 1995 )
1915 - Norman Wisdom , English actor, comedian
1915 - William Talman , American actor (1968 )
1917 - Yahya Khan , President of Pakistan (d. 1980 )
1918 - Janet Waldo , American actress
1921 - Betty Friedan , U.S. feminist
1922 - William Phipps , American actor
1923 - Conrad Bain , Canadian-American actor
1925 - Russell Hoban , U.S. writer
1931 - Isabel Martínez de Perón , third wife of Argentine dictator Juan Perón
1935 - Martti Talvela , Finnish bass (d. 1989 )
1936 - David Brenner , American comedian
1940 - George Romero , U.S. horror movie writer, producer, director
1940 - John Schuck , American actor
1943 -Alberto_João_Jardim , Portuguese dictator
1947 - Dan Quayle , Former Vice President of the United States
1948 - Alice Cooper , U.S. rock musician
1949 - Michael Beck , American actor
1953 - Kitaro , Japanese composer
1959 - Lawrence Taylor , American football star
1960 - Jonathan Larson , American composer (d. 1996 )
1961 - Stewart O'Nan , American author
1962 - Clint Black , U.S. country musician
1964 - Noodles , U.S. guitarist of The Offspring
1967 - Sergei Grinkov , Russian figure skater (d. 1995 )
1970 - Gabrielle Anwar , English actress
1973 - Oscar De La Hoya , Mexican-American boxing champion
1975 - Natalie Imbruglia , Australian musician
1988 - Carly Patterson , United States artistic gymnast
Deaths
211 - Septimius Severus , Emperor of Rome (b. 146 )
708 - Pope Sisinnius
784 - Hrabanus Maurus , German poet
856 - Rabanus Maurus , Bishop of Mainz
869 - Saint Cyril , after whom the Cyrillic alphabet is named (b. 827 )
1713 - Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury , (b. 1671 )
1781 - Josef Myslivecek , composer (b. 1737 )
1894 - Adolphe Sax , instrument maker, inventor of the saxophone (b. 1814 )
1928 - Hendrik Lorentz , Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate (b. 1853 )
1933 - Archibald Sayce , educator (b. 1846 )
1936 - Wilhelm Gustloff , German leader of the Swiss Nazi party (b. 1895 )
1958 - Henry Kuttner , science fiction author (b. 1915 )
1968 - Neal Cassady , writer (b. 1926 )
1968 - Gilbert H. Grosvenor , former President of the National Geographic Society
1969 - Thelma Ritter , actress (b. 1905 )
1975 - Louis Jordan , musician (b. 1908 )
1978 - Bergen Evans , television host
1983 - Karen Carpenter , U.S. singer, musician (Carpenters ) (b. 1950 )
1984 - Anna Anderson , claiminat to the throne of Russia
1987 - Liberace , U.S. musician (b. 1919 )
1987 - Carl Rogers , psychologist (b. 1902 )
1995 - Godfrey Brown , athlete and teacher (b. 1915 )
1995 - Patricia Highsmith , author (b. 1921 )
1999 - Amadou Bailo Diallo , shot by New York City police
2000 - Doris Coley , singer, member of the Shirelles (b. 1941 )
2000 - Carl Albert , former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
2001 - Iannis Xenakis , Greek /French composer (b. 1922 )
2005 - Ossie Davis , American actor (b. 1917 )
Holidays and observances
External links
February 3 - February 5 - January 4 - March 4 -- listing of all days
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