February 4

February 4 in recent years

2024 (Sunday)

2023 (Saturday)

2022 (Friday)

2021 (Thursday)

2020 (Tuesday)

2019 (Monday)

2018 (Sunday)

2017 (Saturday)

2016 (Thursday)

2015 (Wednesday)

February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 330 days remain until the end of the year (331 in leap years).

This day marks the approximate midpoint of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and of summer in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the December solstice).

Events

• 211 – Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians. He leaves the empire in the control of his two quarrelling sons.
• 634 – Battle of Dathin: Rashidun forces under Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan defeat an outnumbered Byzantine force near Gaza in Palestine.
• 960 – The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries.
• 1169 – A strong earthquake struck the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.
• 1454 – In the Thirteen Years' War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.
• 1555 – John Rogers is burned at the stake, becoming the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England.
• 1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), 46 of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master's death.
• 1758 – Macapá, Brazil is founded.
• 1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
• 1794 – The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French First Republic. It will be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802.
• 1797 – The Riobamba earthquake strikes Ecuador, causing up to 40,000 casualties.
• 1801 – John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
• 1810 – The Royal Navy seizes Guadeloupe.
• 1820 – The Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the 2-day long Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and 2 ships.
• 1825 – The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.
• 1846 – The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Salt Lake Valley.
• 1859 – The Codex Sinaiticus is discovered in Egypt.
• 1861 – American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America.
• 1899 – The Philippine–American War begins with the Battle of Manila.
• 1932 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Harbin, Manchuria, falls to Japan.
• 1936 – Radium becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
• 1941 – The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
• 1945 – World War II: Santo Tomas Internment Camp is liberated from Japanese authority.
• 1945 – World War II: The Yalta Conference between the "Big Three" (Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) opens at the Livadia Palace in the Crimea.
• 1945 – World War II: The British Indian Army and Imperial Japanese Army begin a series of battles known as the Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations.
• 1948 – Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.
• 1961 – Angolan War of Independence begins.
• 1966 – All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay, killing 133.
• 1967 – Lunar Orbiter program: Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft.
• 1969 – Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
• 1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.
• 1974 – M62 coach bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) explodes a bomb on a bus carrying off-duty British Armed Forces personnel in Yorkshire, England. Nine soldiers and three civilians are killed.
• 1975 – Haicheng earthquake (magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale) occurs in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
• 1976 – In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
• 1977 – A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency's history.
• 1992 – A coup d'état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
• 1996 – Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and ties all-time record low temperature at −26 °F (−32.2 °C)
• 1997 – En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
• 1998 – The 5.9 Mw Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). With 2,323 killed, and 818 injured, damage is considered extreme.
• 1999 – Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city.
• 2003 – The Bengali Hindus declare the independence of the Republic of Bangabhumi from Bangladesh.
• 2003 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.
• 2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.
• 2006 – A stampede occurs in the PhilSports Arena near Manila, killing 71 people.
• 2015 – A TransAsia Airways aircraft with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital Taipei to Kinmen, crashes into the Keelung River just after take-off, killing at least 31 people.

Births

• 1505 – Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and author (d. 1580)
• 1575 – Pierre de Bérulle, French cardinal and theologian, founded the French school of spirituality (d. 1629)
• 1646 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet and politician (d. 1699)
• 1676 – Giacomo Facco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1753)
• 1677 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (d. 1731)
• 1688 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (d. 1763)
• 1725 – Dru Drury, English entomologist and author (d. 1804)
• 1740 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (d. 1795)
• 1778 – Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Swiss botanist, mycologist, and academic (d. 1841)
• 1799 – Almeida Garrett, Portuguese journalist and author (d. 1854)
• 1808 – Josef Kajetán Tyl, Czech actor and playwright (d. 1856)
• 1831 – Oliver Ames, American financier and politician, 35th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895)
• 1848 – Jean Aicard, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1921)
• 1849 – Jean Richepin, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1926)
• 1862 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (d. 1942)
• 1865 – Abe Isoo, Japanese minister and politician (d. 1949)
• 1871 – Friedrich Ebert, German lawyer and politician, 1st President of Germany (d. 1925)
• 1872 – Gotse Delchev, Greek activist and educator (d. 1903)
• 1873 – Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1905)
• 1875 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist and engineer (d. 1953)
• 1877 – Eddie Cochems, American football player and coach (d. 1953)
• 1881 – Eulalio Gutiérrez, Mexican general and politician, President of Mexico (d. 1939)
• 1881 – Fernand Léger, French painter and sculptor (d. 1955)
• 1891 – M. A. Ayyangar, Indian lawyer and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 1978)
• 1892 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and academic (d. 1964)
• 1895 – Nigel Bruce, English actor (d. 1953)
• 1896 – Friedrich Glauser, Austrian-Swiss author (d. 1938)
• 1896 – Friedrich Hund, German physicist and academic (d. 1997)
• 1897 – Ludwig Erhard, German soldier and politician, 2nd Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1977)
• 1900 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (d. 1977)
• 1902 – Charles Lindbergh, American pilot and explorer (d. 1974)
• 1902 – Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, German-English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 2003)
• 1903 – Alexander Imich, Polish-American chemist, parapsychologist, and academic (d. 2014)
• 1904 – MacKinlay Kantor, American author and screenwriter (d. 1977)
• 1906 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (d. 1945)
• 1906 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer and academic, discovered Pluto (d. 1997)
• 1908 – Julian Bell, English poet and academic (d. 1937)
• 1912 – Ola Skjåk Bræk, Norwegian banker and politician, Norwegian Minister of Industry (d. 1999)
• 1912 – Erich Leinsdorf, Austrian-American conductor (d. 1993)
• 1912 – Byron Nelson, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2006)
• 1913 – Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Richard Seaman, English race car driver (d. 1939)
• 1914 – Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author and publisher (d. 1980)
• 1915 – William Talman, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
• 1915 – Norman Wisdom, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2010)
• 1917 – Yahya Khan, Pakistan general and politician, 3rd President of Pakistan (d. 1980)
• 1918 – Ida Lupino, English-American actress and director (d. 1995)
• 1918 – Luigi Pareyson, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1991)
• 1920 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (d. 2016)
• 1921 – Betty Friedan, American author and activist (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Lotfi A. Zadeh, Azerbaijani-American mathematician and computer scientist
• 1923 – Conrad Bain, Canadian-American actor (d. 2013)
• 1923 – James Dibble, Australian journalist (d. 2010)
• 1925 – Russell Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
• 1925 – Stanley Karnow, American journalist and historian (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Christopher Zeeman, English mathematician and academic (d. 2016)
• 1926 – Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Dave Sands, Australian boxer (d. 1952)
• 1927 – Rolf Landauer, German-American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
• 1928 – Oscar Cabalén, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1967)
• 1928 – Osmo Antero Wiio, Finnish journalist, academic, and politician (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Julien Chouinard, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 1987)
• 1929 – Eduard Zimmermann, German journalist (d. 2009)
• 1930 – Tibor Antalpéter, Hungarian volleyball player and diplomat, Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Arthur E. Chase, American businessman and politician (d. 2015)
• 1930 – Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Isabel Martínez de Perón, Argentinian dancer and politician, 41st President of Argentina
• 1935 – Ali Nassirian, Iranian actor and screenwriter
• 1935 – Martti Talvela, Finnish opera singer (d. 1989)
• 1935 – Collin Wilcox, American actress (d. 2009)
• 1936 – David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2014)
• 1936 – Gary Conway, American actor and screenwriter
• 1936 – Claude Nobs, Swiss businessman, founded the Montreux Jazz Festival (d. 2013)
• 1937 – John Devitt, Australian swimmer
• 1937 – David Newman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1938 – Frank J. Dodd, American businessman and politician, president of the New Jersey Senate (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Birju Maharaj, Indian dancer and choreographer
• 1938 – Pieter Verhoeff, Dutch film director
• 1939 – Stan Lundine, American lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New York
• 1940 – George A. Romero, American director and producer
• 1941 – Jiří Raška, Czech skier and coach (d. 2012)
• 1941 – John Steel, English drummer
• 1943 – Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese journalist and politician, 2nd President of the Regional Government of Madeira
• 1943 – Wanda Rutkiewicz, Lithuanian-Polish mountaineer (d. 1992)
• 1943 – Ken Thompson, American computer scientist and programmer, co-developed the B programming language
• 1947 – Dennis C. Blair, American admiral and politician, 3rd Director of National Intelligence
• 1947 – Dan Quayle, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 44th Vice President of the United States
• 1948 – Alice Cooper, American singer-songwriter
• 1948 – Rod Grams, American journalist and politician (d. 2013)
• 1948 – Mienoumi Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler
• 1949 – Michael Beck, American actor
• 1949 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (d. 2010)
• 1951 – Patrick Bergin, Irish actor
• 1951 – Dariush Eghbali, Iranian singer-songwriter
• 1952 – Jenny Shipley, New Zealand educator and politician, 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1952 – Li Yinhe, Chinese sociologist and sexologist
• 1953 – Kitarō, Japanese keyboard player, composer, and producer
• 1955 – Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak politician, Prime Minister of Slovakia
• 1957 – Don Davis, American composer and conductor
• 1957 – Evan Wolfson, American lawyer and activist
• 1958 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish journalist and author (d. 2005)
• 1959 – Lawrence Taylor, American football player and sportscaster
• 1960 – Siobhan Dowd, English author and activist (d. 2007)
• 1960 – Adrienne King, American actress, dancer, and painter
• 1960 – Jonathan Larson, American composer and playwright (d. 1996)
• 1961 – Denis Savard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1962 – Clint Black, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1962 – Stephen Hammond, English banker and politician
• 1966 – Viatcheslav Ekimov, Russian cyclist
• 1966 – Kyōko Koizumi, Japanese actress and singer
• 1967 – Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (d. 1995)
• 1970 – Gabrielle Anwar, English actress
• 1971 – Rob Corddry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1971 – Eric Garcetti, American lieutenant and politician, 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles
• 1972 – Dara Ó Briain, Irish comedian and television host
• 1972 – Giovanni Silva de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer and manager
• 1973 – Oscar De La Hoya, American boxer
• 1973 – Manny Legace, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1975 – Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1977 – Gavin DeGraw, American singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Andrei Arlovski, Belarusian mixed martial artist and actor
• 1979 – Giorgio Pantano, Italian race car driver
• 1980 – Kenta Kiritani, Japanese actor and singer
• 1980 – Raimonds Vaikulis, Latvian basketball player
• 1981 – Jason Kapono, American basketball player
• 1981 – Johan Vansummeren, Belgian cyclist
• 1982 – Chris Sabin, American wrestler
• 1982 – Ivars Timermanis, Latvian basketball player
• 1982 – Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuanian cyclist
• 1983 – Hannibal Buress, American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter
• 1983 – Lee Stempniak, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Sandeep Acharya, Indian singer (d. 2013)
• 1984 – Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
• 1986 – Maximilian Götz, German race car driver
• 1986 – Mahmudullah Riyad, Bangladeshi cricketer
• 1987 – Darren O'Dea, Irish footballer
• 1987 – Lucie Šafářová, Czech tennis player
• 1988 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer
• 1990 – Haruka Tomatsu, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1993 – Bae Noo-ri, South Korean actress

Deaths

• 211 – Septimius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 145)
• 708 – Pope Sisinnius (b. 650)
• 856 – Rabanus Maurus, Frankish archbishop and theologian (b. 780)
• 1498 – Antonio del Pollaiolo, Italian artist (b. 1429/1433)
• 1508 – Conrad Celtes, German poet and scholar (b. 1459)
• 1555 – John Rogers, English clergyman and translator (b. 1505)
• 1590 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1517)
• 1615 – Giambattista della Porta, Italian playwright and scholar (b. 1535)
• 1617 – Lodewijk Elzevir, Dutch publisher, co-founded the House of Elzevir (b. 1546)
• 1713 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (b. 1671)
• 1774 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (b. 1701)
• 1799 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect and educator (b. 1728)
• 1781 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer (b. 1737)
• 1843 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (b. 1770)
• 1894 – Adolphe Sax, Belgian instrument maker, invented the Saxophone (b. 1814)
• 1905 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (b. 1841)
• 1926 – İskilipli Mehmed Atıf Hoca, Turkish author and scholar (b. 1875)
• 1928 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
• 1933 – Archibald Sayce, English linguist and educator (b. 1846)
• 1940 – Nikolai Yezhov, Russian police officer and politician (b. 1895)
• 1943 – Frank Calder, English-Canadian ice hockey player and journalist (b. 1877)
• 1944 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian author and translator (b. 1872)
• 1956 – Savielly Tartakower, Russian-French chess player, journalist, and author (b. 1887)
• 1958 – Henry Kuttner, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
• 1959 – Una O'Connor, Irish-American actress (b. 1880)
• 1968 – Neal Cassady, American novelist and poet (b. 1926)
• 1970 – Louise Bogan, American poet and critic (b. 1897)
• 1974 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1894)
• 1975 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (Tympany Five) (b. 1908)
• 1982 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
• 1982 – Georg Konrad Morgen, German lawyer and judge (b. 1909)
• 1983 – Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (The Carpenters) (b. 1950)
• 1984 – Patrick Nagel, American painter and illustrator (b. 1945)
• 1987 – Liberace, American singer-songwriter and pianist, (b. 1919)
• 1987 – Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (b. 1956)
• 1987 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (b. 1902)
• 1990 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1915)
• 1992 – John Dehner, American actor (b. 1915)
• 1992 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish fashion model (b. 1911)
• 1994 – Fred De Bruyne, Belgian cyclist and manager (b. 1930)
• 1995 – Patricia Highsmith, American author (b. 1921)
• 2000 – Carl Albert, American lawyer and politician, 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1908)
• 2001 – J.J. Johnson, American trombonist and composer (b. 1924)
• 2001 – Iannis Xenakis, Greek-French composer and architect (b. 1922)
• 2002 – Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg (b. 1907)
• 2003 – Benyoucef Benkhedda, Algerian pharmacist and politician (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Ossie Davis, American actor, director, and playwright (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Betty Friedan, American author and activist (b. 1921)
• 2007 – José Carlos Bauer, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Ilya Kormiltsev, Russian-English poet and translator (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1922)
• 2008 – Augusta Dabney, American actress (b. 1918)
• 2008 – Stefan Meller, Polish academic and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (b. 1942)
• 2009 – Lux Interior, American singer-songwriter (The Cramps) (b. 1946)
• 2010 – Kostas Axelos, Greek-French philosopher and author (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Helen Tobias-Duesberg, Estonian-American composer (b. 1919)
• 2011 – Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti (b. 1913)
• 2012 – István Csurka, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Florence Green, English soldier (b. 1901)
• 2012 – Robert Daniel, American farmer, soldier, and politician (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Mike deGruy, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1951)
• 2013 – Donald Byrd, American trumpet player (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Keith Allen, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Eugenio Corti, Italian soldier, author, and playwright (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Dennis Lota, Zambian footballer (b. 1973)
• 2014 – Wu Ma, Chinese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
• 2015 – Wes Cooley, American soldier and politician (b. 1932)
• 2015 – Fitzhugh L. Fulton, American colonel and pilot (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Koos Van Den Akker, Dutch-American fashion designer (b. 1939)
• 2016 – Edgar Mitchell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
• 2016 – Maurice White, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Andrew Corsini
  • Gilbert of Sempringham
  • John de Brito
  • Rabanus Maurus
  • Rimbert
  • Veronica
  • February 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest day on which Ash Wednesday can fall, while March 10 is the latest; celebrated on the first day of Lent (Christianity)
• Day of the Armed Struggle (Angola)
• Independence Day (Sri Lanka)
• Rosa Parks Day (California and Missouri, United States)
• World Cancer Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History