February 4
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:


Events


Pre–1600

* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrelling sons,
Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...
and
Geta Geta may refer to: Places *Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region *Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland *Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal *Get ...
, whom he had instructed to make peace. *
960 Year 960 ( CMLX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Siege of Chandax: A Byzantine fleet with an expeditionary force (co ...
– The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as
Emperor Taizu of Song Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founder and first emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguish ...
, initiating the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
period of China that would last more than three centuries. *
1169 Year 1169 ( MCLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Late Summer – Emperor Manuel I (Komnenos) sends an embassy to Egypt to ...
– A strong earthquake strikes the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in
Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
. * 1454Thirteen Years' War: The Secret Council of the
Prussian Confederation The Prussian Confederation (german: Preußischer Bund, pl, Związek Pruski) was an organization formed on 21 February 1440 at Kwidzyn (then officially ''Marienwerder'') by a group of 53 nobles and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia (region), Prussi ...
sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master of the
Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
, sparking the Thirteen Years' War. * 1555John Rogers is
burned at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...
, becoming the first English
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
under
Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
.


1601–1900

* 1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one of the
Forty-seven Ronin 47 (forty-seven) is the natural number following 46 and preceding 48. It is a prime number. In mathematics Forty-seven is the fifteenth prime number, a safe prime, the thirteenth supersingular prime, the fourth isolated prime, and the sixth L ...
commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master's death. * 1758 – The city of
Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimation). It is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region. It is located on the northern channel of the Amazon River near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. The c ...
in Brazil is founded by Sebastião Veiga Cabral. * 1789
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
is unanimously elected as the first
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
by the
U.S. Electoral College The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...
. * 1794 – The French legislature abolishes
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
throughout all territories of the
French First Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...
. It would be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802. * 1797 – The Riobamba earthquake strikes
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, causing up to 40,000 casualties. * 1801
John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...
is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States. * 1810 – Napoleonic Wars: Britain seizes Guadeloupe. * 1820 – The
Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the War ...
under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the two-day long
Capture of Valdivia The Capture of Valdivia ( es, Toma de Valdivia) was a battle in the Chilean War of Independence between Royalist forces commanded by Colonel Manuel Montoya and Fausto del Hoyo and the Patriot forces under the command of Thomas Cochrane and J ...
with just 300 men and two ships. * 1825 – The
Ohio Legislature The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...
authorizes the construction of the
Ohio and Erie Canal The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. It also ...
and the Miami and Erie Canal. * 1846 – The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from
Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...
, westward towards Salt Lake Valley. * 1859 – The
Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...
is discovered in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. *
1861 Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry. Events January–March * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City. ** The first steam-p ...
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
: In
Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
, delegates from six breakaway
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
s meet and initiate the process that would form the
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
on
February 8 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. *1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al ...
* 1899 – The
Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...
begins with the Battle of Manila.


1901–present

* 1932
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
:
Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
,
Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
, falls to
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. * 1938 – Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Armed Forces High Command. *
1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
– The
United Service Organization The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
(USO) is created to entertain American troops. * 1945
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
:
Santo Tomas Internment Camp Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo ...
is liberated from Japanese authority. * 1945 – World War II: The
Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...
between the "Big Three" (
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
,
Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...
, and
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
) opens at the
Livadia Palace Livadia Palace (russian: Ливадийский дворец, uk, Лівадійський палац) is a former summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in Livadiya, Crimea. The Yalta Conference was held there i ...
in the
Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
. * 1945 – World War II: The British Indian Army and
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
begin a series of battles known as the
Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations The Battle of Pakokku and Irrawaddy River operations were a series of battles fought between the British Indian Army and the Imperial Japanese Army and allied forces over the successful Allied Burma campaign on the China Burma India Theater ...
. * 1948
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
(later renamed
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
) becomes independent within the
British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
. * 1961 – The
Angolan War of Independence The Angolan War of Independence (; 1961–1974), called in Angola the ("Armed Struggle of National Liberation"), began as an uprising against forced cultivation of cotton, and it became a multi-faction struggle for the control of Portugal ...
and the greater
Portuguese Colonial War The Portuguese Colonial War ( pt, Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican War of Independence, ...
begin. * 1966All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...
, killing 133. * 1967
Lunar Orbiter program The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five uncrewed lunar orbiter missions launched by the United States from 1966 through 1967. Intended to help select Apollo landing sites by mapping the Moon's surface, they provided the first photographs f ...
:
Lunar Orbiter 3 The Lunar Orbiter 3 was a spacecraft launched by NASA in 1967 as part of the Lunar Orbiter Program. It was designed primarily to photograph areas of the lunar surface for confirmation of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions. ...
lifts off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
spacecraft. * 1974 – The
Symbionese Liberation Army The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small, American far-left organization active between 1973 and 1975; it claimed to be a vanguard movement. The FBI and American law enforcement considered the SLA to be the ...
kidnaps Patty Hearst in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
. * 1974 –
M62 coach bombing The M62 coach bombing, sometimes referred to as the M62 Massacre, occurred on 4 February 1974 on the M62 motorway in northern England, when a 25-pound (11 kg) Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb hidden inside the luggage locker ...
: The
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
(IRA) explodes a bomb on a bus carrying off-duty
British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...
personnel in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, England. Nine soldiers and three civilians are killed. * 1975Haicheng earthquake (magnitude 7.3 on the
Richter scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...
) occurs in
Haicheng, Liaoning Haicheng () is a county-level city in central Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China, located about southwest of the provincial capital Shenyang. It is under the administration of Anshan City, the seat of which lies to the northeast. ...
, China. *
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
– In
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
and Honduras an
earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
kills more than 22,000. * 1977 – A
Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...
elevated train An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...
rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency's history. * 1992 – A
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
is led by
Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
against
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n President Carlos Andrés Pérez. * 1997 – En route to
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, two Israeli
Sikorsky CH-53 The CH-53 Sea Stallion (Sikorsky S-65) is an American family of heavy-lift transport helicopters designed and built by the American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It was originally developed in response to a request from the United States N ...
troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel, killing 73. *1997 – The Bojnurd earthquake measuring 6.5 strikes Iran. With a Mercalli intensity of VIII, it kills at least 88 and damages 173 villages.
National Geophysical Data Center The United States National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) provided scientific stewardship, products and services for geophysical data describing the solid earth, marine, and solar-terrestrial environment, as well as earth observations from spac ...
/ World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database.
NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
National Centers for Environmental Information. do
10.7289/V5TD9V7K
/ref> * 1998 – The 5.9 Afghanistan earthquake shakes the
Takhar Province Takhar (Dari , Farsi/Pashto: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeast of the country next to Tajikistan. It is surrounded by Badakhshan in the east, Panjshir in the south, and Baghlan and Kunduz in the w ...
with a maximum
Mercalli intensity The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
of VII (''Very strong''). With 2,323 killed, and 818 injured, damage is considered extreme. * 1999 – Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot 41 times by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city. * 2000 – The World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium, Charter of Paris is signed by the President of France,
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
and the Director General of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
,
Koichiro Matsuura Kōichirō, Koichiro, Kouichirou or Kohichiroh is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible Writings *晃一郎, "clear, one, son" *光一郎, "light, one, son" *弘一郎, "vast, one, son" *鴻一郎, "prosperous, one, son" *紘一郎, "large, on ...
, initiating
World Cancer Day World Cancer Day is an international day marked on :4 February to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. World Cancer Day is led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the ...
which is held on February 4 every year. * 2003 – The
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
adopts a new constitution, becoming a loose confederacy between Montenegro and Serbia. * 2004
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by
Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
and
Eduardo Saverin Eduardo Luiz Saverin (; ; born March 19, 1982) is a Brazilian billionaire entrepreneur and angel investor based in Singapore. Saverin is one of the co-founders of Facebook. In 2012, he owned 53 million Facebook shares (approximately 2% of all ou ...
. * 2015
TransAsia Airways Flight 235 TransAsia Airways Flight 235 was a TransAsia Airways domestic flight from Taipei to Kinmen (Quemoy). On , the aircraft serving the flight, a 10-month-old ATR 72-600, crashed into the Keelung River shortly after takeoff from Taipei Songshan Air ...
, with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
to
Kinmen Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separat ...
, crashes into the
Keelung River The Keelung River () is a river in northern Taiwan. The Keelung River originates in the mountains west-northwest of the town of Jingtong in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, flows down to a rift valley and then flows ENE to Sandiaoling. Then ...
just after takeoff, killing 43 people. *
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
– The
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
causes all casinos in
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
to be closed down for 15 days.


Births


Pre–1600

* 1447
Lodovico Lazzarelli Ludovico Lazzarelli (4 February 1447 – 23 June 1500) was an Italian poet, philosopher, courtier, hermeticist and (likely) magician and diviner of the early Renaissance. Born at San Severino Marche, he had contact with many important thinkers ...
, Italian poet (d. 1500) * 1495Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1535) * 1495 –
Jean Parisot de Valette Fra' Jean "Parisot" de la Valette (4 February 1495 – 21 August 1568) was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the ''Langue de Pr ...
, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (d. 1568) * 1505
Mikołaj Rej Mikołaj Rej or Mikołaj Rey of Nagłowice (4 February 1505 – between 8 September/5 October 1569) was a Polish poet and prose writer of the emerging Renaissance in Poland as it succeeded the Middle Ages, as well as a politician and musician. ...
, Polish poet and author (d. 1580) * 1575Pierre de Bérulle, French cardinal and theologian, founded the
French school of spirituality The French School of spirituality was the principal devotional influence within the Catholic Church from the mid-17th century through the mid-20th century, not only in France but throughout the church in most of the world. A development of the Cat ...
(d. 1629)


1601–1900

* 1646Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet and politician (d. 1699) * 1676
Giacomo Facco Giacomo Facco (4 February 167616 February 1753) was an Italian Baroque violinist, conductor and composer. One of the most famous Italian composers of his day, he was completely forgotten until 1962, when his work was discovered by composer, condu ...
, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1753) * 1677
Johann Ludwig Bach Johann Ludwig Bach ( – 1 May 1731) was a German composer and violinist. He was born in Thal near Eisenach. At the age of 22 he moved to Meiningen eventually being appointed cantor there, and later Kapellmeister. He wrote a large amount of musi ...
, German violinist and composer (d. 1731) * 1688
Pierre de Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist. He is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, writing nume ...
, French author and playwright (d. 1763) * 1725
Dru Drury Dru Drury (4 February 1724 – 15 December 1803) was a British collector of natural history specimens and an entomologist. He had specimens collected from across the world through a network of ship's officers and collectors including Henry Sme ...
, English entomologist and author (d. 1804) * 1740
Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...
, Swedish poet and composer (d. 1795) * 1778
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candoll ...
, Swiss botanist, mycologist, and academic (d. 1841) * 1799
Almeida Garrett João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, 1st Viscount of Almeida Garrett (; 4 February 1799 – 9 December 1854) was a Portuguese poet, orator, playwright, novelist, journalist, politician, and a peer of the realm. A major promoter of t ...
, Portuguese journalist and author (d. 1854) * 1818Emperor Norton, San Francisco eccentric and visionary (d. 1880) * 1831Oliver Ames, American financier and politician, 35th
Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachuset ...
(d. 1895) * 1848
Jean Aicard Jean François Victor Aicard (4 February 1848 – 13 May 1921) was a French poet, dramatist, and novelist. Biography He was born in Toulon. His father, Jean Aicard, was a journalist of some distinction, and the son began his career in 1867 wit ...
, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1921) * 1849
Jean Richepin Jean Richepin (; 4 February 1849 – 12 December 1926) was a French poet, novelist and dramatist. Biography Son of an army doctor, Jean Richepin was born 4 February 1849 at Médéa, French Algeria. At school and at the École Normale Supé ...
, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1926) * 1862
Édouard Estaunié Édouard Estaunié (4 February 1862 in Dijon – 2 April 1942 in Paris) was a French novelist. Estaunié trained as a scientist and engineer, working at the Post and Telepgraph service and training further in Holland, before turning to the novel i ...
, French novelist (d. 1942) * 1865
Abe Isoo was a Japanese Christian socialist, parliamentarian and pacifist. He largely contributed to development of baseball in Japan, and was called "Father of Japanese baseball." He created a baseball club of Waseda University. Early life and educ ...
, Japanese minister and politician (d. 1949) * 1868
Constance Markievicz Constance Georgine Markievicz ( pl, Markiewicz ; ' Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, socialist, and the firs ...
, Irish revolutionary and first woman elected to the UK
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
(d. 1927) * 1869
Bill Haywood William Dudley "Big Bill" Haywood (February 4, 1869 – May 18, 1928) was an American labor organizer and founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of A ...
, American labor organizer (d. 1928) * 1871
Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925. Ebert was elected leader of the SPD on t ...
, German lawyer and politician, first
President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...
(d. 1925) * 1872
Gotse Delchev Georgi Nikolov Delchev ( Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Георги/Ѓорѓи Николов Делчев; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев'', originally spelled in older Bulgar ...
, Bulgarian and Macedonian revolutionary activist (d. 1903) * 1873
Étienne Desmarteau Joseph-Étienne Desmarteau (4 February 1873 – 29 October 1905) was a Canadian athlete, winner of the weight throwing event at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Boucherville, Quebec, Desmarteau was member of the Montréal Athle ...
, Canadian shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1905) * 1875
Ludwig Prandtl Ludwig Prandtl (4 February 1875 – 15 August 1953) was a German fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlying the science of ...
, German physicist and engineer (d. 1953) * 1877
Eddie Cochems Edward Bulwer Cochems (; February 4, 1877 – April 9, 1953) was an American football player and coach. He played football for the University of Wisconsin from 1898 to 1901 and was the head football coach at North Dakota Agricultural College—no ...
, American football player and coach (d. 1953) * 1881
Eulalio Gutiérrez Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz (February 4, 1881 – August 12, 1939) was a general in the Mexican Revolution from state of Coahuila. He is most notable for his election as provisional president of Mexico during the Aguascalientes Convention and l ...
, Mexican general and politician,
President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...
(d. 1939) * 1881 – Fernand Léger, French painter and sculptor (d. 1955) *
1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...
Reinhold Rudenberg Reinhold Rudenberg (or Rüdenberg; February 4, 1883 – December 25, 1961) was a German-American electrical engineer and inventor, credited with many innovations in the electric power and related fields. Aside from improvements in electric power eq ...
, German-American inventor and a pioneer of electron microscopy (d. 1961) * 1891
M. A. Ayyangar Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar (4 February 1891 – 19 March 1978) was the first Deputy Speaker and then Speaker of the Lok Sabha in the Indian Parliament. He also served as the 5th Governor of Bihar. He was born in Thiruchanoor, Tirupa ...
, Indian lawyer and politician, second
Speaker of the Lok Sabha The speaker of the Lok Sabha ( IAST: ) is the presiding officer and the highest official of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general e ...
(d. 1978) * 1892
E. J. Pratt Edwin John Dove Pratt (February 4, 1882 – April 26, 1964), who published as E. J. Pratt, was "the leading Canadian poet of his time."
, Canadian poet and academic (d. 1964) * 1895
Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series ''The New Adventures of Sherlock ...
, English actor (d. 1953) * 1896
Friedrich Glauser Friedrich Glauser (4 February 1896 in Vienna – 8 December 1938 in Nervi) was a German-language Swiss writer. He was a morphine and opium addict for most of his life. In his first novel ''Gourrama'', written between 1928 and 1930, he treated his ...
, Austrian-Swiss author (d. 1938) * 1896 –
Friedrich Hund Friedrich Hermann Hund (4 February 1896 – 31 March 1997) was a German physicist from Karlsruhe known for his work on atoms and molecules. Scientific career Hund worked at the Universities of Rostock, Leipzig, Jena, Frankfurt am Main, and Göt ...
, German physicist and academic (d. 1997) * 1897Ludwig Erhard, German soldier and politician, second
Chancellor of West Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
(d. 1977) * 1899Virginia M. Alexander, American physician and founder of the Aspiranto Health Home (d. 1949) * 1900
Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...
, French poet and screenwriter (d. 1977)


1901–present

* 1902
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
, American pilot and explorer (d. 1974) * 1902 –
Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross Hartley William Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, (4 February 1902 – 10 July 2003), known from 1945 to 1959 as Sir Hartley Shawcross, was an English barrister and Labour politician who served as the lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Cr ...
, German-English lawyer and politician,
Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney G ...
(d. 2003) * 1903Alexander Imich, Polish-American chemist, parapsychologist, and academic (d. 2014) * 1904
MacKinlay Kantor MacKinlay Kantor (February 4, 1904 – October 11, 1977), born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded th ...
, American author and screenwriter (d. 1977) * 1905
Hylda Baker Hylda Baker (4 February 1905 – 1 May 1986) was an English comedian, actress and music hall performer. Born and brought up in Farnworth, Lancashire, she is perhaps best remembered for her role as Nellie Pledge in the Granada ITV sitcom ...
, English comedian, actress and music hall performer (d. 1986) * 1906
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...
, German pastor and theologian (d. 1945) * 1906 –
Letitia Dunbar-Harrison Letitia Dunbar-Harrison (4 February 1906 – 1994) was an Irish librarian who became the subject of a controversy over her appointment.Clyde Tombaugh Clyde William Tombaugh (February 4, 1906 January 17, 1997) was an American astronomer. He discovered Pluto in 1930, the first object to be discovered in what would later be identified as the Kuiper belt. At the time of discovery, Pluto was cons ...
, American astronomer and academic, discovered
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest ...
(d. 1997) * 1908
Julian Bell Julian Heward Bell (4 February 1908 – 18 July 1937) was an English poet, and the son of Clive and Vanessa Bell (who was the elder sister of Virginia Woolf). The writer Quentin Bell was his younger brother and the writer and painter Angelica ...
, English poet and academic (d. 1937) * 1912Ola Skjåk Bræk, Norwegian banker and politician,
Norwegian Minister of Industry The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry (Norwegian: Nærings- og handelsdepartementet) was a Norwegian ministry responsible for business, trade and industry. On 1 January 2014 it was merged into Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. ...
(d. 1999) * 1912 –
Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a ...
, Austrian-American conductor (d. 1993) * 1912 –
Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hoga ...
, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2006) * 1913
Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...
, American civil rights activist (d. 2005) * 1914
Alfred Andersch Alfred Hellmuth Andersch (; 4 February 1914 – 21 February 1980) was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Ma ...
, German-Swiss author and publisher (d. 1980) * 1915William Talman, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968) * 1915 –
Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...
, English comedian, actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2010) * 1917
Yahya Khan General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his p ...
, Pakistan general and politician, third President of Pakistan (d. 1980) * 1918
Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...
, English-American actress and director (d. 1995) * 1918 –
Luigi Pareyson Luigi Pareysón (4 February 1918 – 8 September 1991) was an Italian philosopher, best known for challenging the positivist and idealist aesthetics of Benedetto Croce in his 1954 monograph, ''Estetica. Teoria della formatività'' (Aestheti ...
, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1991) * 1920
Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from '' B ...
, American actress and voice artist (d. 2016) * 1921
Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
, American author and feminist (d. 2006) * 1921 –
Lotfi Zadeh Lotfi Aliasker Zadeh (; az, Lütfi Rəhim oğlu Ələsgərzadə; fa, لطفی علی‌عسکرزاده; 4 February 1921 – 6 September 2017) was a mathematician, computer scientist, electrical engineer, artificial intelligence researcher, an ...
, Iranian-American mathematician and computer scientist and founder of fuzzy logic (d. 2017) * 1922
Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the '' khay ...
, Indian vocalist of the Hindustani classical music tradition (d. 2011) * 1923
Conrad Bain Conrad Stafford Bain (February 4, 1923 – January 14, 2013) was a Canadian-American comedian and actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom ''Diff'rent Strokes'', as Dr. Arthur Harmon on '' Maude'', ...
, Canadian-American actor (d. 2013) * 1925
Russell Hoban Russell Conwell Hoban (February 4, 1925 – December 13, 2011) was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in ...
, American author and illustrator (d. 2011) * 1925 –
Stanley Karnow Stanley Abram Karnow (February 4, 1925 – January 27, 2013) was an American journalist and historian. He is best known for his writings on the Vietnam War. Education and career After serving with the United States Army Air Forces in the China B ...
, American journalist and historian (d. 2013) * 1925 –
Christopher Zeeman Sir Erik Christopher Zeeman FRS (4 February 1925 – 13 February 2016), was a British mathematician, known for his work in geometric topology and singularity theory. Overview Zeeman's main contributions to mathematics were in topology, partic ...
, English mathematician and academic (d. 2016) * 1926
Gyula Grosics Gyula Grosics (; 4 February 1926 – 13 June 2014) was a Hungarian football goalkeeper who played 86 times for the Hungary national football team and was part of the "Golden Team" of the 1950s. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of al ...
, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2014) * 1927
Rolf Landauer Rolf William Landauer (February 4, 1927 – April 27, 1999) was a German-American physicist who made important contributions in diverse areas of the thermodynamics of information processing, condensed matter physics, and the conductivity of disor ...
, German-American physicist and academic (d. 1999) * 1928Oscar Cabalén, Argentinian racing driver (d. 1967) * 1928 – Osmo Antero Wiio, Finnish journalist, academic, and politician (d. 2013) * 1929
Paul Burlison Paul Burlison (February 4, 1929 – September 27, 2003) was an American pioneer rockabilly guitarist and a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. Burlison was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, where he was exposed to music at an early age ...
, American rockabilly guitarist (d. 2003) * 1929 – Neil Johnston, American basketball player (d. 1978) * 1930Tibor 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) * 1931Isabel Perón, Argentinian dancer and politician, 41st President of Argentina * 1935
Wallis Mathias Wallis Mathias (4 February 1935 – 1 September 1994) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in 21 Tests from 1955 to 1962. A Catholic, he was the first non-Muslim cricketer to play for Pakistan. He belonged to Karachi's Goan community. The son o ...
, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1994) * 1935 –
Martti Talvela Martti Olavi Talvela (4 February 1935 – 22 July 1989) was a Finnish operatic bass. Born in Hiitola, Finland (now in the Republic of Karelia), the eighth of ten children
, Finnish opera singer (d. 1989) * 1935 – Collin Wilcox, American actress (d. 2009) * 1936
David Brenner David Norris Brenner (February 4, 1936 – March 15, 2014) was an American stand-up comedian, actor and author. The most frequent guest on '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' in the 1970s and 1980s, Brenner "was a pioneer of obser ...
, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2014) * 1936 – Claude Nobs, Swiss businessman, founded the
Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...
(d. 2013) * 1937David Newman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2003) * 1937 –
Birju Maharaj Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 16 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, child molester and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant o ...
, Indian dancer, composer, singer and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of
Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...
dance (d. 2022) * 1938Frank J. Dodd, American businessman and politician, president of the
New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...
(d. 2010) * 1939Stan Lundine, American lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New York * 1940
George A. Romero George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...
, American director and producer (d. 2017) *
1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
Russell Cooper Theo Russell Cooper (born 4 February 1941) is a former Australian National Party politician. He was Premier of Queensland for a period of 73 days, from 25 September 1989 to 7 December 1989. His loss at the state election of 1989 ended 32 yea ...
, Australian politician, 33rd
Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...
* 1941 – Ron Rangi, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988) * 1941 –
Jiří Raška Jiří Raška (; 4 February 1941 – 20 January 2012) was a Czechoslovakian ski jumper. He is regarded as the most famous Czech ski jumper of the 20th century. Early life He was born in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm in 1941. His father died of l ...
, Czech skier and coach (d. 2012) * 1943
Alberto João Jardim Alberto João Cardoso Gonçalves Jardim, GCC, GCIH (, born 4 February 1943) is a Portuguese politician who was the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal, from 1978 to 2015. He is a controversial political figure in Portugal. ...
, Portuguese journalist and politician, second
President of the Regional Government of Madeira Presidents of the Regional Government of Madeira are the Head of government, heads of government for the autonomous local authority of Madeira, since the Carnation Revolution that installed the Democracy, democratic Third Portuguese Republic. The ...
* 1943 –
Wanda Rutkiewicz Wanda Rutkiewicz (née Błaszkiewicz) ( 4 February 1943 – 12–13 May 1992) was a Polish mountain climber and computer engineer. She was the first woman to reach the summit of K2 and the third woman (first European woman) to summit Mount Ev ...
, Lithuanian-Polish mountaineer (d. 1992) * 1943 –
Ken Thompson Kenneth Lane Thompson (born February 4, 1943) is an American pioneer of computer science. Thompson worked at Bell Labs for most of his career where he designed and implemented the original Unix operating system. He also invented the B programmi ...
, American computer scientist and programmer, co-developed the B programming language * 1944
Florence LaRue Florence LaRue (born February 4, 1942) is an American singer and actress, best known as an original member of the 5th Dimension. Early life LaRue was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, but moved to Glenside, Pennsylvania, when she was young. She ...
, American singer and actress * 1944Alan Shields, American artist and ship captain (d. 2005) * 1947Dennis C. Blair, American admiral and politician, third Director of National Intelligence * 1947 –
Dan Quayle James Danforth Quayle (; born February 4, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...
, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 44th
Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
* 1948
Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
, American singer-songwriter * 1948 –
Mienoumi Tsuyoshi is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Matsusaka, Mie. He was the 57th '' yokozuna'' of the sport. After retiring he founded the Musashigawa stable and was a chairman of the Japan Sumo Association. He was the first rikishi in hi ...
, Japanese sumo wrestler * 1949
Rasim Delić Rasim Delić (4 February 1949 – 16 April 2010) was the chief of staff of the Bosnian Army. He was a career officer in the Yugoslav Army but left it during the breakup of Yugoslavia and was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal T ...
, Bosnian general (d. 2010) * 1951
Patrick Bergin Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer perhaps best known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in '' Sleeping with the Enemy'' (1991), the title character in Robin Hood (1991 film), terrorist Kevin ...
, Irish actor * 1952
Jenny Shipley Dame Jennifer Mary Shipley (née Robson; born 4 February 1952) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 36th prime minister of New Zealand from 1997 to 1999. She was the first female prime minister of New Zealand, and the first woma ...
, New Zealand politician,
Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (inform ...
* 1952 –
Thomas Silverstein Thomas Edward Silverstein (February 4, 1952 – May 11, 2019) was an American criminal who spent the last 42 years of his life in prison after being convicted of four separate murders while imprisoned for armed robbery, one of which was overturne ...
, American criminal and prisoner (d. 2019) * 1955
Mikuláš Dzurinda Mikuláš Dzurinda (; born 4 February 1956) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. He is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democratic a ...
, Slovak politician,
Prime Minister of Slovakia The prime minister of Slovakia, officially the Chairman of the government of the Slovak Republic ( Slovak: ''Predseda vlády Slovenskej republiky''), commonly referred to in Slovakia as ''Predseda vlády'' or informally as ''Premiér'', is the ...
* 1957
Matthew Cobb Matthew Cobb (born 4 February 1957) is a British zoologist and professor of zoology at the University of Manchester. He is known for his popular science books ''The Egg & Sperm Race: The Seventeenth-Century Scientists Who Unravelled the Secrets o ...
, British zoologist and author * 1958
Tomasz Pacyński Tomasz Pacyński (4 February 1958 – 30 May 2005) was a Polish fantasy and science fiction writer, born in Warsaw. He was one of the creators and, from 2004, the chief editor of ''Fahrenheit'', the first Polish Internet science fiction fanzine. He ...
, Polish journalist and author (d. 2005) * 1959
Christian Schreier Christian Schreier (born 4 February 1959) is a German former professional footballer who is the general manager of SC Paderborn. He played as an midfielder, most notably with VfL Bochum and Bayer Leverkusen, and won one cap for West Germany, in ...
, German footballer and manager * 1960
Siobhan Dowd Siobhan Dowd (4 February 1960 – 21 August 2007) was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, '' Bog Child'', posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book fo ...
, English author and activist (d. 2007) * 1960 –
Jonathan Larson Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright most famous for writing the musicals ''Rent'' and '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'', which explored the social issues of multiculturalism, ...
, American composer and playwright (d. 1996) * 1961 – * 1961 –
Denis Savard Denis Joseph Savard (born February 4, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1997, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2017 Savard was named one of ...
, Canadian ice hockey player and coach * 1962
Clint Black Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Signed to RCA Nashville in 1989, Black's debut album '' Killin' Time'' produced four straight number one singles on the ...
, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer * 1963
Pirmin Zurbriggen Pirmin Zurbriggen (born 4 February 1963) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland. One of the most successful ski racers ever, he won the overall World Cup title four times, an Olympic gold medal in 1988 in Downhill, and nine W ...
, Swiss skier * 1964
Elke Philipp Elke Philipp (born 4 February, 1964) is a German Paralympic equestrian. Philipp has had cerebellar ataxia since 1984 when she suffered from a swelling of the brain due to Viral meningitis.  This resulted in her staying in hospital for 18 month ...
, German Paralympic equestrian * 1965
Jerome Brown Willie Jerome Brown III (February 4, 1965 – June 25, 1992) was an American football defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire five-year NFL career with the Eagles from 1987 to 199 ...
, American football player (d. 1992) * 1966
Viatcheslav Ekimov Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov ( Russian Вячеслав Владимирович Екимов; born 4 February 1966), nicknamed ''Eki'', is a Russian former professional racing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the tit ...
, Russian cyclist * 1967
Sergei Grinkov Sergei Mikhailovich Grinkov (russian: Сергей Михайлович Гриньков; 4 February 1967 – 20 November 1995) was a Russian pair skater. Together with his wife Ekaterina Gordeeva, he was the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champion and a ...
, Russian figure skater (d. 1995) *
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...
Rob Corddry Robert William Corddry (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a correspondent on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' (2002–2006) and for his starring role in the film ''Hot Tub Time Machine''. He ...
, American actor, producer, and screenwriter * 1972
Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the W ...
, Irish comedian and television host * 1972 –
Giovanni Silva de Oliveira Giovanni Silva de Oliveira (born 4 February 1972), better known as Giovanni, is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He played as either an attacking midfielder or a forward. At club level, Giovanni most notably played for Spanish ...
, Brazilian footballer and manager * 1973
Oscar De La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championshi ...
, American boxer * 1973 –
James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but ...
, Australian footballer and coach * 1973 –
Manny Legace Emmanuel Legace (born February 4, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, who played most notably in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, and later the St. Louis Blues. Legace also enjoyed spells with the Lo ...
, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster * 1975
Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer and actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours''. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing car ...
, Australian singer-songwriter and actress * 1977Gavin DeGraw, American singer-songwriter * 1979
Giorgio Pantano Giorgio Pantano (born 4 February 1979) is an Italian professional racing driver who drove for the Jordan Formula One team for much of the 2004 season before being replaced by Timo Glock. He also raced in Formula 3000. He retired from racing at ...
, Italian racing driver * 1980
Raimonds Vaikulis Raimonds Vaikulis (born February 4, 1980 in Preili) is a Latvian former professional basketball player. Professional career In 2008, with the BK Barons, he won the EuroCup and the Latvian Basketball League championship. He is a member of the L ...
, Latvian basketball player * 1981
Jason Kapono Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...
, American basketball player * 1981 –
Johan Vansummeren Johan Vansummeren (born 4 February 1981) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2016 for the , , and teams. Biography Vansummeren was born, raised, and resides in Lommel, Flanders, Belgiu ...
, Belgian cyclist * 1982
Ivars Timermanis Ivars Timermanis (born February 4, 1982) is a retired Latvian professional basketball player who played the Small forward position. Pro career He was a member of the Latvian national basketball team. He has played in various teams in Latvia and ...
, Latvian basketball player * 1982 –
Tomas Vaitkus Tomas Vaitkus (born 4 February 1982) is a Lithuanian professional road racing cyclist riding for UCI Continental team . Vaitkus, nicknamed Tomas the Tank Engine, made his Tour de France debut in the 2007 edition but had to abandon after a serio ...
, Lithuanian cyclist * 1983
Lee Stempniak Lee Edward Stempniak (born February 4, 1983) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Pe ...
, American ice hockey player * 1983 –
Rebecca White Rebecca Peta White (born 4 February 1983) is an Australian politician. She has been the Leader of the Opposition in Tasmania and Leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party in Tasmania since July 2021, having previously served in that role from ...
, Australian politician * 1984
Sandeep Acharya Sandeep Acharya (4 February 1984 – 15 December 2013) was an Indian singer. He won the second season of the popular reality television show ''Indian Idol'' in 2006. Acharya was from to Bikaner, Rajasthan. He died on 15 December 2013 in Gurga ...
, Indian singer (d. 2013) * 1984 –
Mauricio Pinilla Mauricio Ricardo Pinilla Ferrera (born 4 February 1984) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. After beginning his career at Universidad de Chile, he signed for Inter Milan at the age of 19, but never appeared for ...
, Chilean footballer * 1986
Maximilian Götz Maximilian Götz (born 4 February 1986) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as International Formula Master and the Formula 3 Euro Series. He won the 2003 Formula BMW ADAC season, taking six victories. He also won the 202 ...
, German racing driver * 1986 –
Mahmudullah Riyad Mohammad Mahmudullah ( bn, মোহাম্মদ মাহমুদুল্লাহ; born 4 February 1986), also known as Riyad, is a Bangladeshi cricketer and former captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team in T20I. He has played ...
, Bangladeshi cricketer * 1987
Darren O'Dea Darren O'Dea (born 4 February 1987) is an Irish retired professional football player, who is currently the coach of Celtic B team. O'Dea has played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represented th ...
, Irish footballer * 1987 –
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 ...
, Czech tennis player *1988 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer * 1998 – Maximilian Wöber, Austrian footballer


Deaths


Pre–1600

* 211
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
, Roman emperor (b. 145) * 708 – Pope Sisinnius (b. 650) * 856 – Rabanus Maurus, Frankish archbishop and theologian (b. 780) * 870 – Ceolnoth, archbishop of Diocese of Canterbury, Canterbury *
1169 Year 1169 ( MCLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Late Summer – Emperor Manuel I (Komnenos) sends an embassy to Egypt to ...
– John of Ajello, Bishop of Catania *1498 – Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Italian artist (b. 1429/1433) * 1505 – Joan of France, Duchess of Berry, Jeanne de Valois, daughter of Louis XI of France (b. 1464) *1508 – Conrad Celtes, German poet and scholar (b. 1459) * 1555John Rogers, English clergyman and translator (b. 1505) *1590 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1517)


1601–1900

*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) *1781 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer (b. 1737) * 1799 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect and educator (b. 1728) *1843 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (b. 1770) * 1891 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (b. 1816)


1901–present

* 1905 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (b. 1841) * 1926 – İskilipli Âtıf Hodja, Turkish author and scholar (b. 1875) * 1928 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize in Physics, 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 (actress), 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 (b. 1908) * 1982 – Alex Harvey (musician), Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935) * 1982 – Georg Konrad Morgen, German lawyer and judge (b. 1909) * 1983 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (b. 1950) * 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) *1995 – Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1921) * 2000 – Carl Albert, American lawyer and politician, 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1908) *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 Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
, 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) * 2007 – Alfred Worm, Austrian journalist, author, and academic (b. 1945) *2008 – Augusta Dabney, American actress (b. 1918) * 2008 – Stefan Meller, Polish academic and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (b. 1942) *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, first 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 (ice hockey), 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) * 2015 – Fitzhugh L. Fulton, American colonel and pilot (b. 1925) *2016 – Edgar Mitchell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930) *2017 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (b. 1949) * 2017 – Bano Qudsia, Pakistani writer (b. 1928) *2018 – John Mahoney, English-American actor, voice artist, and comedian (b. 1940) *2019 – Matti Nykänen, Finnish Olympic-winning ski jumper and singer (b. 1963) *
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
– Daniel arap Moi, Former President of Kenya (b. 1924)


Holidays and observances

*Christian feast day: **Andrew Corsini **Gilbert of Sempringham **John de Brito **Goldrofe of Arganil **Blessed Rabanus Maurus **Rimbert **February 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) *Day of the Armed Struggle (Angola) *Earliest day on which Ash Wednesday can fall, while March 10 is the latest; celebrated on the first day of Lent (Christianity) *Independence Day (Sri Lanka) *Rosa Parks Day (California and Missouri, United States) *
World Cancer Day World Cancer Day is an international day marked on :4 February to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. World Cancer Day is led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the ...
*International Day of Human Fraternity


References


External links


BBC: On This Day
*
Historical Events on February 4
{{months Days of the year February