February 4th in History

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.

1169 - A strong earthquake struck the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.


1789 - George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the US Electoral College.

1794 - The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic.

1859 - The Codex Sinaiticus is discovered in Egypt.


1899 - The Philippine-American War begins with the Battle of Manila.

1932 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Harbin, Manchuria, falls to Japan.


1941 - The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.

1945 - World War II: The Yalta Conference between the "Big Three" (Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) opens at the Livadia Palace in the Crimea.

1948 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.

1969 - Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

1976 - In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.

1992 -  A coup d'état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.

1997 - After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.


2003 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.

2004 - Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

Famous Birthdays

1646 - Hans Erasmus Aßmann, Freiherr von Abschatz, statesman

1849 - Jean Richepin, poet

1895 - Nigel Bruce, actor

1908 - Julian Bell, poet

1913 - Rosa Parks, civil rights activist

1915 - Sir Norman Wisdom, actor and comedian

1925 - Gerald Sim, actor

1936 - Gary Conway, actor

1947 - Dan Quayle, former President of the United States

1961 - Stewart O'Nan, author

1967 - Sergei Grinkov, figure skater

1975 - Natalie Imbruglia, musician and actress

1982 - Kimberly Wyatt, singer and dancer

1987 - Lucie Šafářová, tennis player