February 4

## Events
### Up to 1900 
* 211 &ndash; Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta.
* 960 &ndash; Song Taizu, founder of the Song Dynasty in China, comes to power in a coup.
* 1169 &ndash; Mount Etna on Sicily erupts. It is known exactly how many people were killed.
* 1454 &ndash; In the Thirteen Years' War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederacy sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.
* 1546 &ndash; The Siege of Pskov in the Livland War ends with the last Polish–Lithuanian forces leaving the city.
* 1703 &ndash; The day that forty–six of the forty-seven ronin committed sepuku.
* 1783 &ndash; American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom formally declares that it will cease hostilities with the United States of America.
* 1789 &ndash; George Washington is unanimously elected to be the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
* 1792 &ndash; George Washington is unanimously elected to a second term as President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
* 1794 &ndash; The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic.
* 1797 &ndash; An earthquake in Riobamba, Ecuador, kills up to 40,000 people.
* 1801 &ndash; John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
* 1810 &ndash; The British Navy seizes Guadeloupe.
* 1820 &ndash; The Chilean Navy completes the 2–day long capture of Valdivia, with just 300 men and 2 ships.
* 1825 &ndash; A flood along North Sea coasts kills around 800 people.
* 1846 &ndash; The first Mormon pioneers leave Nauvoo, Illinois, westward to what later became Salt Lake City.
* 1859 &ndash; Codex Sinaiticus discovered in Egypt.
* 1861 &ndash; American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama the Confederate States of America is formed by delegates from six break–away United States.
* 1862 &ndash; Bacardi, one of the world's largest spirits company, was founded as a small distillery in Santiago de Cuba in eastern Cuba.
* 1897 &ndash; Germany's first–known ice hockey game takes place in Berlin.
* 1899 &ndash; The Philippine-American War begins.
* 1899 &ndash; The German football club Werder Bremen is founded.

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1915 &ndash; Germany establishes a submarine blockade around the UK and declares any vessel in it a legitimate target.
* 1927 &ndash; The first talkie is released – The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson.
* 1932 &ndash; World War II: Japan occupies Harbin, China.
* 1932 &ndash; 1932 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York.
* 1932 &ndash; Asteroid 1239 Queteleta discovered by Eugène Joseph Delporte.
* 1934 &ndash; Asteroid 2824 Franke discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth.
* 1936 &ndash; Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
* 1938 &ndash; Thornton Wilder's play *Our Town* opens (New York City).
* 1938 &ndash; 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 movie in 1938.
* 1941 &ndash; World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
* 1943 &ndash; Battle of Stalingrad ends.
* 1945 &ndash; World War II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin begin the Yalta Conference.
* 1948 &ndash; Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.

### 1951 &ndash; 2000 
* 1957 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Lorraine, Quebec is founded.
* 1962 &ndash; Ian Fleming's The Living Daylights first published.
* 1966 &ndash; All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 jet plunges into Tokyo Bay killing 133.
* 1967 &ndash; Lunar Orbiter 3 launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
* 1968 &ndash; Bowie Kuhn becomes the fifth commissioner of Major League Baseball, replacing William Eckert.
* 1969 &ndash; Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
* 1974 &ndash; The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.
* 1975 &ndash; A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
* 1976 &ndash; In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
* 1976 &ndash; 1976 Winter Olympics open in Innsbruck, Austria.
* 1977 &ndash; Fleetwood Mac releases one of the biggest–selling albums of all time, *Rumours*.
* 1980 &ndash; Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran.
* 1991 &ndash; The Baseball Hall of Fame votes to ban Pete Rose.
* 1992 &ndash; Future–President Hugo Chávez leads a failed coup in Venezuela against Carlos Andres Perez.
* 1996 &ndash; A major snowstorm paralyzes the Midwestern United States. Milwaukee, Wisconsin ties its all–time record low temperature at −26&nbsp;°F. (−32&nbsp;°C)
* 1997 &ndash; O. J. Simpson is found to be civilly liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
* 1997 &ndash; En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop–transport helicopters collide in mid–air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
* 1997 &ndash; After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections.
* 1998 &ndash; An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale in northeast Afghanistan kills more than 5,000.
* 1999 &ndash; 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.
* 2000 &ndash; USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) launched.
* 2000 &ndash; German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with sabotage of German railway lines.

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; The charity Cancer Research UK is founded.
* 2003 &ndash; The Hindu minority of Bangladesh declares the independence of Bangabhumi.
* 2003 &ndash; The *Federal Republic of Yugoslavia* is officially renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.
* 2004 &ndash; The social networking site Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.
* 2006 &ndash; A stampede at the ULTRA Stadium in Manila kills 71 people.
* 2007 &ndash; Super Bowl XLI takes place from Dolphins Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA.
* 2013 &ndash; It is announced that the remains dug up in a car park in Leicester are those of King Richard III of England.
* 2014 &ndash; The Scottish Parliament approves the legalization of same-sex marriage in Scotland, after England and Wales had also legalized it, in 2013.
* 2015 &ndash; TransAsia Airways Flight 235 crashes shortly after take–off from Taipei, Taiwan, killing 31 people.
* 2018 &ndash; American football: The Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl for the first time, defeating the New England Patriots.

## Births
### Up to 1900 
* 1483 &ndash; Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (d. 1561)
* 1505 &ndash; Nicolaus Rey, Polish poet (d. 1580)
* 1620 &ndash; Gustaf Bonde, Swedish statesman (d. 1667)
* 1639 &ndash; Alessandro Melani, Italian composer (d. 1703)
* 1646 &ndash; Hans Erasmus Assmann, Freiherr von Abschatz, German statesman and poet (d. 1699)
* 1676 &ndash; Giacomo Focco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1753)
* 1677 &ndash; Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (d. 1731)
* 1740 &ndash; Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (d. 1795)
* 1746 &ndash; Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Polish general and national hero of Poland and Lithuania (d. 1817)
* 1808 &ndash; Josef Kajetan Tyl, Czech playwright (d. 1856)
* 1811 &ndash; Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, French organist (d. 1899)
* 1831 &ndash; Oliver Ames, 35th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895)
* 1840 &ndash; Hiram Stevens Maxim, American inventor (d. 1916)
* 1846 &ndash; Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist (d. 1915)
* 1848 &ndash; Jean Aicard, French poet, writer and playwright (d. 1921)
* 1849 &ndash; Jean Richepin, French poet (d. 1926)
* 1860 &ndash; Jackson Showalter, American chess player (d. 1935)
*1862 &ndash; Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, Swedish politician (d. 1953)
* 1868 &ndash; Constance Georgine, Countess Markiewicz, Irish political activist (d. 1927)
* 1871 &ndash; Friedrich Ebert, President of Germany (d. 1925)
* 1872 &ndash; Goce Delčev, Macedonian revolutionary from Aegean Macedonia (d. 1903)
* 1873 &ndash; Mikhail Prishkin, Soviet–Russian writer (d. 1954)
* 1875 &ndash; Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (d. 1953)
* 1881 &ndash; Yakov Protazanov, Soviet–Russian movie director (d. 1945)
* 1881 &ndash; Kliment Voroshilov, Soviet–Russian politician (d. 1969)
* 1881 &ndash; Fernand Léger, French artist (d. 1955)
* 1881 &ndash; Eulalio Gutiérrez, Interim President of Mexico (d. 1939)
* 1882 &ndash; Princess Louise of Orléans (d. 1958)
* 1883 &ndash; Jakob Sildnik, Estonian photographer and movie maker (d. 1973)
* 1891 &ndash; M. A. Ayyangar, Indian politician, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 1978)
* 1892 &ndash; Andreu Nin, Catalan politician (d. 1937)
* 1893 &ndash; Raymond Dart, Australian scientist (d. 1988)
* 1895 &ndash; Nigel Bruce, English actor (d. 1953)
* 1896 &ndash; Friedrich Hund, German physicist (d. 1997)
* 1897 &ndash; Ludwig Erhard, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1977)
* 1897 &ndash; Emperor Iyasu V of Ethiopia (d. 1935)
* 1900 &ndash; Jacques Prévert, French poet (d. 1977)

### 1901 &ndash; 1925 
* 1902 &ndash; Charles Lindbergh, American pilot (d. 1974)
* 1902 &ndash; Hartley Shawcross, British lawyer and politician (d. 2003)
* 1904 &ndash; Deng Yingchao, wife of Chinese leader Zhou Enlai (d. 1992)
* 1904 &ndash; MacKinlay Kantor, American writer (d. 1977)
* 1906 &ndash; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian (d. 1945)
* 1906 &ndash; Sabine Bonhoeffer, twin sister of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (d. 1999)
* 1906 &ndash; Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (d. 1997)
* 1906 &ndash; Colette Darfeuil, French actress (d. 1998)
* 1907 &ndash; Otto Ohlendorf, German SS group leader and war criminal (d. 1951)
* 1912 &ndash; Byron Nelson, American golfer (d. 2006)
* 1912 &ndash; Louis-Albert Vachon, Canadian archbishop (d. 2006)
* 1913 &ndash; Rosa Parks, American Civil Rights activist (d. 2005)
* 1915 &ndash; Norman Wisdom, British actor and comedian (d. 2010)
* 1917 &ndash; Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, Last President of United Pakistan (d. 1980)
* 1918 &ndash; Ida Lupino, English actress and movie director (d. 1996)
* 1920 &ndash; Morton Deutsch, American social psychologist (d. 2017)
* 1920 &ndash; Janet Waldo, American actress (d. 2016)
* 1921 &ndash; Lotfi A. Zadeh, Soviet–born mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2017)
* 1921 &ndash; Betty Friedan, American feminist, activist and writer (d. 2006)
* 1922 &ndash; Bhimsen Joshi, Indian singer and musician (d. 2011)
* 1923 &ndash; Conrad Bain, Canadian–American actor (d. 2013)
* 1923 &ndash; Bonar Bain, Canadian actor (d. 2005)
* 1923 &ndash; Belisario Betancur, 53rd President of Colombia
* 1925 &ndash; Jutta Hipp, German–American jazz pianist, composer and painter (d. 2003)
* 1925 &ndash; Christopher Zeeman, British mathematician (d. 2016)

### 1926 &ndash; 1950 
* 1926 &ndash; Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer (d. 2014)
* 1927 &ndash; Horst Ehmke, German politician (d. 2017)
* 1927 &ndash; John Martinkovic, American football player (d. 2018)
* 1928 &ndash; Kim Yong-nam, North Korean politician
* 1929 &ndash; Jerry Adler, American actor
* 1929 &ndash; Eduard Zimmermann, German journalist and television presenter (d. 2009)
* 1930 &ndash; Arthur E. Chase, American businessman and politician (d. 2015)
* 1930 &ndash; Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player (d. 2015)
* 1931 &ndash; Isabel Perón, former President of Argentina
* 1932 &ndash; Gerhard Hund, German chess player, son of Friedrich Hund
* 1935 &ndash; Martti Talvela, Finnish bass (d. 1989)
* 1936 &ndash; David Brenner, American comedian, actor and writer (d. 2014)
* 1936 &ndash; Gary Conway, American actor
* 1938 &ndash; Donald W. Riegle, Jr., United States Senator
* 1940 &ndash; George A. Romero, American movie director (d. 2017)
* 1941 &ndash; Jiri Raska, Czech ski jumper (d. 2012)
* 1941 &ndash; John Steel, British musician
* 1943 &ndash; Wanda Rutkiewicz, Polish mountaineer (d. 1989)
* 1943 &ndash; Ken Thompson, American computer scientist
* 1945 &ndash; Tony Haygarth, English actor (d. 2017)
* 1947 &ndash; Dennis C. Blair, American admiral, 3rd Director of Central Intelligence
* 1947 &ndash; Dan Quayle, 44th Vice President of the United States
* 1948 &ndash; Alice Cooper, American musician
* 1948 &ndash; Marisol, Spanish actress & singer
* 1948 &ndash; Ram Baran Yadav, 1st President of Nepal

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Patrick Bergin, Irish actor
* 1952 &ndash; Jenny Shipley, 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand
* 1953 &ndash; Kitaro, Japanese composer
* 1954 &ndash; Andrei Karlov, Russian diplomat (d. 2016)
* 1955 &ndash; Mikulas Dzurinda, former Prime Minister of Slovakia
* 1960 &ndash; Mark Dawson, English–American talent manager and producer
* 1962 &ndash; Clint Black, American musician
* 1962 &ndash; John Gordon Sinclair, Scottish actor
* 1962 &ndash; Stephen Hammond, English politician
* 1963 &ndash; Pirmin Zurbriggen, Swiss skier
* 1964 &ndash; Noodles, American guitarist
* 1966 &ndash; Viatcheslav Ekimov, Russian cyclist
* 1967 &ndash; Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (d. 1995)
* 1969 &ndash; Dallas Drake, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1970 &ndash; Gabrielle Anwar, English actress
* 1971 &ndash; Eric Garcetti, 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles, California
* 1971 &ndash; Rob Corddry, American actor, director and producer
* 1972 &ndash; Giovanni Silva de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
* 1972 &ndash; Dara Ó Briain, Irish comedian
* 1973 &ndash; Oscar de la Hoya, Mexican–American boxer
* 1974 &ndash; Mijntje Denners, Dutch field hockey player
* 1974 &ndash; Lee Pearson, English para-equestrian
* 1975 &ndash; Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer and actress
* 1975 &ndash; Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian activist (d. 2011)

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Cam'ron, American rapper and actor
* 1977 &ndash; Gavin DeGraw, American singer
* 1979 &ndash; Andrei Arlovski, Belarussian mixed martial artist and actor
* 1980 &ndash; Raimonds Vaikulis, Latvian basketball player
* 1981 &ndash; Jason Kapono, American basketball player
* 1982 &ndash; Ivars Timermanis, Latvian basketball player
* 1982 &ndash; Kimberly Wyatt, American singer (Pussycat Dolls)
* 1982 &ndash; Chris Sabin, American professional wrestler
* 1983 &ndash; Miguel Garcia, Portuguese footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Lee Stempniak, American ice hockey player
* 1984 &ndash; Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
* 1985 &ndash; Bug Hall, American actor
* 1986 &ndash; Asif Ali, Indian actor
* 1987 &ndash; Darren O'Dea, Irish footballer
* 1987 &ndash; Lucie Safarova, Czech tennis player
* 1988 &ndash; Jeff Horn, Australian professional boxer
* 1988 &ndash; Carly Patterson, American gymnast
* 1989 &ndash; Shogo Suzuki, Japanese actor and musician
* 1990 &ndash; Haruka Tomatsu, Japanese voice actress and singer
* 1991 &ndash; Mathew Leckie, Australian footballer

## Deaths
### Up to 1900 
* 211 &ndash; Septimius Severus, Emperor of Rome (born 146)
* 708 &ndash; Pope Sisinnius
* 784 &ndash; Hrabanus Maurus, German poet
* 856 &ndash; Rabanus Maurus, Bishop of Mainz
* 869 &ndash; Saint Cyril, after whom the Cyrillic alphabet is named (born 827)
* 1161 &ndash; King Inge I of Norway (b. 1135)
* 1615 &ndash; Giovanni Battista della Porta, Italian polymath (born 1535)
* 1694 &ndash; Natalya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of Russia (born 1651)
* 1713 &ndash; Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (born 1671)
* 1774 &ndash; Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (born 1701)
* 1781 &ndash; Josef Myslivecek, composer (born 1737)
* 1843 &ndash; Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (born 1770)
* 1894 &ndash; Adolphe Sax, Belgian instrument maker, inventor of the saxophone (born 1814)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1905 &ndash; Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (born 1841)
* 1928 &ndash; Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate (born 1853)
* 1928 &ndash; Manche Masemola, South African girl and Christian martyr (born 1913)
* 1933 &ndash; Archibald Sayce, educator (born 1846)
* 1935 &ndash; J. Henry Birtles, English rugby player (born 1874)
* 1936 &ndash; Wilhelm Gustloff, German leader of the Swiss Nazi party (born 1895)
* 1941 &ndash; Louis Lincoln Emmerson, 27th Governor of Illinois (born 1863)
* 1943 &ndash; Frank Calder, first NHL President (born 1877)
* 1944 &ndash; Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (born 1867)
* 1953 &ndash; Antonio Conte, Italian fencer (born 1867)
* 1956 &ndash; Savielly Tartakower, Polish chess player (born 1887)
* 1958 &ndash; Henry Kuttner, science fiction writer (born 1915)
* 1967 &ndash; Albert Orsborn, 6th General of the Salvation Army (born 1886)
* 1968 &ndash; Neal Cassady, writer (born 1926)
* 1968 &ndash; Gilbert H. Grosvenor, President of the National Geographic Society (born 1875)
* 1969 &ndash; Thelma Ritter, actress (born 1905)
* 1974 &ndash; Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist (born 1894)
* 1975 &ndash; Louis Jordan, musician (born 1908)
* 1983 &ndash; Karen Carpenter, U.S. singer, musician (Carpenters) (born 1950)
* 1984 &ndash; Anna Anderson, claimant to the throne of Russia (born 1896)
* 1987 &ndash; Liberace, American musician (born 1919)
* 1987 &ndash; Carl Rogers, psychologist (born 1902)
* 1992 &ndash; Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish model (born 1911)
* 1995 &ndash; Godfrey Brown, athlete and teacher (born 1915)
* 1995 &ndash; Patricia Highsmith, American writer (born 1921)
* 1999 &ndash; Amadou Bailo Diallo, shot by New York City police (born 1975)
* 2000 &ndash; Doris Coley, singer, member of the Shirelles (born 1941)
* 2000 &ndash; Carl Albert, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1908)

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; Iannis Xenakis, Greek–French composer (born 1922)
* 2001 &ndash; J. J. Johnson, jazz trombonist and jazz composer (born 1924)
* 2002 &ndash; Agatha Barbara, Maltese politician (born 1923)
* 2002 &ndash; George Nader, American actor (born 1921)
* 2005 &ndash; Ossie Davis, American actor (born 1917)
* 2006 &ndash; Betty Friedan, American feminist, activist and writer (born 1921)
* 2007 &ndash; Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (born 1934)
* 2008 &ndash; Stefan Meller, Polish politician (born 1942)
* 2009 &ndash; Lux Interior, American musician (born 1946)
* 2011 &ndash; Lena Nyman, Swedish actress (born 1944)
* 2011 &ndash; Martial Celestin, Haitian lawyer, diplomat and politician (born 1913)
* 2012 &ndash; Mike deGruy, American documentary movie maker (born 1951)
* 2012 &ndash; Andrew Wight, Australian screenwriter and producer (born 1960)
* 2012 &ndash; Florence Green, British supercentenarian and last–surviving World War I service veteran (born 1901)
* 2013 &ndash; Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (born 1941)
* 2013 &ndash; Essie Mae Washington-Williams, American educator (born 1925)
* 2014 &ndash; Wu Ma, Chinese–Hong Kong actor and director (born 1942)
* 2014 &ndash; Keith Allen, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1923)
* 2015 &ndash; Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, Iraqi terrorist (born 1970)
* 2015 &ndash; Eduardo Laborde, Argentine rugby player (born 1967)
* 2015 &ndash; Fitzhugh L. Fulton, American NASA research pilot (born 1925)
* 2015 &ndash; Wes Cooley, American politician (born 1932)
* 2016 &ndash; Maurice White, American singer (born 1941)
* 2016 &ndash; Marlow Cook, American politician (born 1926)
* 2016 &ndash; Edgar Whitcomb, American politician, 43rd Governor of Indiana (born 1917)
* 2016 &ndash; Axl Rotten, American professional wrestler (born 1971)
* 2016 &ndash; Dave Mirra, American BMX rider (born 1974)
* 2016 &ndash; Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut (born 1930)
* 2017 &ndash; Basil Hetzel, Australian medical researcher (born 1922)
* 2017 &ndash; Bano Qudsia, Pakistani writer (born 1928)
* 2017 &ndash; Georgi Taratorkin, Russian actor (born 1945)
* 2017 &ndash; Hans van der Hoek, Dutch footballer (born 1933)
* 2017 &ndash; John Howes, American professor of Asian Studies (born 1924)
* 2017 &ndash; Steve Lang, Canadian rock musician (born 1949)
* 2017 &ndash; Marc Spitz, American writer (born 1969)
* 2018 &ndash; Alan Baker, English mathematician (born 1939)
* 2018 &ndash; Martin Grüner, German politician (born 1929)
* 2018 &ndash; Edwin Jackson, American football player (born 1991)
* 2018 &ndash; John Mahoney, British–American actor (born 1940)
* 2018 &ndash; Séamus Pattison, Irish politician (born 1936)
* 2018 &ndash; Wojciech Pokora, Polish actor (born 1934)

## Observances
* Independence Day (Sri Lanka)
* Rosa Parks Day (United States)
* Day of the Armed Struggle (Angola)
* World Cancer Day