4 February - Definition and Overview

February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 330 days remaining, (331 in leap years).

Events

Before 1900

• 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 fourty 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 - 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.

1900 to 1960

• 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 opens (New York City).
• 1938 - Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released, and it went on to become a major 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 described in Jules Verne's novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

1960 to 1999

• 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 released.
• 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 and Beyond

• 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

Before 1900

• 1840 - Hiram Stevens Maxim, U.S. inventor of the Maxim Gun (d. 1916)
• 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)

1900 to 1950

• 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
• 1947 - Dan Quayle, Former Vice President of the United States
• 1948 - Alice Cooper, U.S. rock musician
• 1949 - Michael Beck, American actor

1950 to Present

• 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
• 869 - Saint Cyril, after whom the Cyrillic alphabet is named
• 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 - 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

• Ancient Latvia - Biezputras Diena observed
• Saint Paul of Tarsus
• Independence Day in Sri Lanka (1948)

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