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What happened in history on this day: February 4?
On February 4 in ...
- 1787 - First Anglican bishops of New York and Pennsylvania are consecrated in London, England.
- 1787 - Shays' Rebellion (of debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers) fails.
- 1789 - First US electoral college chooses George Washington and John Adams as President and Vice President.
- 1822 - Free American blacks settle Liberia, West Africa.
- 1846 - Mormons leave Nauvoo, Missouri, for settlement in the west.
- 1847 - First US telegraph company established in Maryland.
- 1849 - University of Wisconsin begins in one room with 20 students.
- 1854 - Alvan Bovay proposes the name "Republican Party", Ripon Wisconsin.
- 1854 - US Senate confirms J. Ross Snowden as Mint Director.
- 1861 - Confederate constitutional convention meets for first time, in Montgomery, Alabama. Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina elect Jefferson Davis President of Confederacy.
- 1864 - Skirmish at Big Black River Bridge, Mississippi.
- 1887 - Interstate Commerce Act authorizes federal regulation of railroads.
- 1895 - First rolling lift bridge opens, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- 1899 - Revolt against US occupation of Philippines begins.
- 1913 - US National Institute of Arts and Letters founded.
- 1914 - US Congress approves Burnett-anti-immigration law.
- 1915 - Experiments to find cause of pellagra begin at Mississippi Penitentiary.
- 1919 - Congress enacts Public Law 65-253, establishing the Navy Cross.
- 1930 - First tieless, soundless, shockless streetcar tracks, New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 1938 - RKO Radio Pictures generally releases the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to theatres in the USA.
- 1941 - United Service Organization (USO) founded.
- 1942 - Clinton Pierce becomes first US General wounded in action in World War II.
- 1944 - US 7th Infantry Division captures Kwajalein.
- 1944 - Presidential executive order establishes the Bronze Star medal for heroic service against an opposing armed force.
- 1945 - The Yalta Conference takes place, over eight days, to discuss post-war policies. Russia asks for an Allied air bombing of Berlin and Leipzig.
- 1957 - First electric portable typewriter placed on sale (Syracuse, New York, USA).
- 1964 - US Federal Aviation Administration begins six month test of reactions to sonic booms over Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- 1965 - In Rat Islands, Alaska, a magnitude 8.7 earthquake occurs, one of the largest earthquakes in the USA and the world. The resulting tsunami is recorded widely across the Pacific.
- 1965 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1967 - US launches Lunar Orbiter 3.
- 1970 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1971 - National Guard mobilized to quell rioting in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA.
- 1972 - 6th round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks ends in Vienna, Austria.
- 1974 - Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California.
- 1976 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1977 - Elevated train jumps track, crashes onto Chicago street (11 die, 200 hurt).
- 1985 - Naval exercises canceled when US refuses to tell New Zealand of nuclear weapons.
- 1987 - US President Ronald Reagan's veto of Clean Water Act is overridden by US Congress.
- 1993 - Admiral Studeman, ends term as acting director of US Central Intelligence Agency.
- 1994 - The Federal Open Market Committee raises the US Federal Funds target rate for the first time since May 1989. The rate is raised by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent.
- 1997 - O.J. Simpson is found liable in civil court for the death of Ron Goldman and for the battery of Nicole Brown Simpson. Simpson is ordered to pay $35 million in damages to the families of the two victims.
- 1999 - Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city.
- 2007 - The Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears 29-17 in NFL's Super Bowl XLI, played at Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida.
- 2007 - Meteors and fireballs are reported in several states in the Midwestern USA.
- 2008 - U.S. President George W. Bush unveils a record US$3.1 trillion spending plan for fiscal 2009, including US$515 billion for military spending, and US$70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan for just part of 2009. Domestic programs would be deeply cut. The budget is the first to be presented electronically.
- 2021 - US President Joe Biden announces that the United States will cease providing weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for use in the Yemeni Civil War.
- 2023 - An American F-22 fighter jet shoots down a PRoChina balloon at 60,000 feet off the coast of South Carolina that floated across the country.
Births on February 4
- 1889 - Birth of Walter Catlett in San Francisco, California, USA; actor (Front Page, Tale of Two Cities).
- 1893 - Birth of Bernard Rogers in New York City, New York, USA; composer ("Warrior", "Marriage of Aude", "Passion").
- 1902 - Birth of Charles A Lindbergh in Detroit, Michigan, USA; pilot (first to fly solo across Atlantic Ocean).
- 1903 - Birth of Frank Howley in Hampton, New York, USA; Brigadier General (Answers for Americans).
- 1904 - Birth of MacKinlay Kantor in Webster City, Iowa, USA; novelist (Andersonville).
- 1908 - Birth of Gordon Fraser in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA; newscaster (All Star News).
- 1912 - Birth of Byron Nelson in Fort Worth, Texas, USA; PGA golfer (won 19 tournaments in 1945).
- 1912 - Birth of James Craig in Nashville, Tennessee, USA; actor (Devil and Daniel Webster, Cyclops).
- 1915 - Birth of William Talman in Detroit, Michigan, USA; actor (Crashout, Hamilton - Perry Mason).
- 1921 - Birth of Betty Friedan in Peoria, Illinois, USA; feminist writer (Feminine Mystique).
- 1928 - Birth of Dave Ketchum in Quincy, Illinois, USA; actor (Agent 13 - Get Smart).
- 1932 - Birth of Ivan Davis in Electra, Texas, USA; pianist/writer ("Hunger", "Corn is Green").
- 1934 - Birth of Gil Rogers in Lexington, Kentucky, USA; actor (Hawk - Guiding Light, Doctors).
- 1936 - Birth of Gary Conway in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; actor (Burke's Law, Land of the Giants).
- 1937 - Birth of Collin Wilcox in Highlands, North Carolina, USA; actor (To Kill a Mocking Bird).
- 1939 - Birth of John Schuck in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; actor/comedian (McMillan and Wife, Holmes and Yo-Yo).
- 1941 - Birth of Marie Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; actress (Susan - As the World Turns).
- 1943 - Birth of Cheryl Miller in Sherman Oaks, California, USA; actress (Paula - Daktari, Born Free).
- 1944 - Birth of Daniel A Mica; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Florida, 1979-).
- 1944 - Birth of Florence LaRue in Gordon, Pennsylvania, USA; rocker (The 5th Dimension - "One Less Bell").
- 1945 - Birth of David Brenner in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; comedian/TV talk show host (Nightlife).
- 1946 - Birth of Roy Yeager in Doraville, Georgia, USA; rocker (Atlanta Rhythm Section).
- 1947 - Birth of Jeannie Wilson in Memphis, Tennessee, USA; actress (Simon and Simon, Stir Crazy).
- 1948 - Birth of Alice Cooper [Vincent Furnier] in Detroit, Michigan, USA; rocker ("School's Out").
- 1949 - Birth of Michael Beck in Memphis, Tennessee, USA; actor (Hans Helms - Holocaust).
- 1952 - Birth of Lisa Eichhorn in Reading, Pennsylvania, USA; actress (Cutter's Way, Yankees).
- 1961 - Birth of Denis Savard in Pointe Gatineau, California, USA; NHL center (Chicago Blackhawks).
- 1961 - Birth of Vern Fleming in Long Island City, New York, USA; basketball player (Olympics-gold-1984).
- 1962 - Birth of Clint Black in Long Branch, New Jersey, USA; country vocalist ("A Better Man").
- 1962 - Birth of Dan Plesac in Gary, Indiana, USA; pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates).
- 1963 - Birth of Tracie Ruiz-Conforto in Hawaii, USA; synchronized swimmer (Olympics-2 gold/silver-1984, 1988).
- 1966 - Birth of Barry Klein in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA; rower (Olympics-1996).
- 1966 - Birth of Marissa Laakso in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Miss Massachusetts-America (1990).
- 1969 - Birth of Brad Cornett; US baseball pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays).
- 1969 - Birth of Chastity Bono in Los Angeles, California, USA; daughter/actress (Sonny and Cher Show).
- 1969 - Birth of Joe Sacco in Medford, Massachusetts, USA; NHL right wing (Anaheim Mighty Ducks).
- 1970 - Birth of Alisa Marie Kimble; Miss California-USA (1997).
- 1970 - Birth of John Frascatore; US baseball pitcher (Saint Louis Cardinals).
- 1973 - Birth of Oscar De La Hoya in Los Angeles, California, USA; boxer (Olympics-gold-1992).
- 1975 - Birth of Elana Eve Chomiszak in Providence, Rhode Island, USA; Miss Rhode Island-America (1996).
- 1980 - Birth of Kelly Marie Sodan; Miss Kentucky Teen-USA (1996).
- 1982 - Birth of Mandisa Stevenson; American basketball player.
Deaths on February 4
- 1966 - Gilbert H Grosvenor, president of National Geographic Society, dies at age 90.
- 1983 - Death of Karen Carpenter of chronic aneorexia at age 32; singer/drummer (The Carpenters - Close to You, We've Only Just Begun, Top of the World, Please Mr. Postman).
- 1987 - Death of Liberace AKA Wladziu Valentino Liberace at age 67 of AIDS-related conditions; pianist (Liberace Show), actor (Evil Chandell - Batman).
- 1994 - Harold Schneider, US producer (Five Easy Pieces, War Games), dies at age 55.
- 1995 - Patricia Highsmith [Mary Patricia Plangman], US/Swiss author, dies at age 74 (born 1921).
- 2008 - Death of Harry Richard Landis, at age 108 in Sun City Center, Florida, the second-last American soldier survivor of World War I.
- 2016 - Death of Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut (born 1930).
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