February 4
1783 - England proclaimed the formal end to the hostilities with the United States in the Revolutionary War.
1787 - Shays's Rebellion, an uprising of Massachusetts farmers, was defeated.
1789 - Electors unanimously chose George Washington as the first president of the United States and John Adams as the country's first vice president.
1861 - Delegates from six southern states met at Montgomery, Alabama to form the Confederate States of America.
1941 - The United Service Organizations (USO) was formed.
1944 - The Bronze Star Medal, honoring “heroic or meritorious achievement or service,” was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met at the Yalta Conference during World War II.
1948 - Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) gained independence from Britain.
1962 - St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was founded in Memphis, Tennessee, by entertainer Danny Thomas.
1974 - Patricia Hearst, granddaughter of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1976 - More than 23,000 people died when a severe earthquake struck Guatemala with a magnitude of 7.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
1983 - Singer Karen Carpenter died at age 32.
1997 - A civil jury in Santa Monica, California, found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Goldman's parents were awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages.
1999 - Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, was shot and killed in front of his Bronx home by four plainclothes New York City police officers. (The officers were acquitted at trial.)
2000 - A coalition government that included Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party came to power in Austria, triggering European Union sanctions.
2003 - Yugoslavia was dissolved and replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.
2004 - The Massachusetts high court declared that gay couples were entitled to nothing less than marriage, and that Vermont-style civil unions would not suffice.
2004 - The social networking website Facebook was launched.
2016 - In their first one-on-one debate, Hillary Clinton accused Bernie Sanders of subjecting her to an “artful smear” by trying to cast her as beholden to Wall Street interests while Sanders suggested the former secretary of state was a captive of America’s political establishment during the Democratic faceoff in Durham, New Hampshire.
2016 - Infuriating members of Congress, a smirking Martin Shkreli took pleaded Fifth Amendment protection at a Capitol Hill hearing on his practice of jacking up drug prices as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals.
2020 - Thousands of medical workers in Hong Kong were on strike for a second day to demand that the country’s border with China be completely closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus; the territory reported its first death from the virus and the second known fatality outside China.
2020 - Addressing a nation and a Congress sharply divided over his impeachment, President Donald Trump delivered a State of the Union address in which he hailed a “Great American Comeback” on his watch; Republican legislators chanted “Four More Years,” while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up her copy of Trump’s speech as he ended the address.
Birthdays
26 - Hannah Godwin (reality star)
29 - Hannah Stocking (model)
33 - Carly Patterson (gymnast/singer)
33 - Charlie Barnett (actor)
33 - Dallas Lovato (actress)
36 - Ashley Thomas (actress)
38 - Natalie Krill (actress)
39 - Kimberly Wyatt (singer)
44 - Gavin DeGraw (singer)
46 - Natalie Imbruglia (singer)
48 - Oscar De La Hoya (boxer)
49 - Nicolle Wallace (TV personality)
50 - Michael Goorjian (actor)
50 - David Garza (singer)
50 - Rob Corddry (actor)
51 - Gabrielle Anwar (actress)
59 - Clint Black (country singer)
62 - Pamelyn Ferdin (actress)
62 - Lawrence Taylor (football player)
69 - Lisa Eichhorn (actress)
72 - Michael Beck (actor)
73 - Alice Cooper (singer)
74 - Dan Quayle (former Vice President of the United States)
79 - Florence LaRue (singer)
81 - John Schuck (actor)
85 - Gary Conway (actor)
92 - Jerry Adler (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - February 4
1932 - The first Winter Olympics in the United States opened at Lake Placid, New York.
1968 - Bowie Kuhn is named the fifth commissioner of Major League Baseball.
1969 - John Madden was named the head coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.
1973 - The New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres played an entire game with no penalties called.
1991 - Baseball's Hall of Fame Board of Directors votes 12-0 to bar Pete Rose from the hall of fame, due to his betting on games while a player and manager.
1993 - The Boston Celtics retired Larry Bird's #33.
1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) scored his 600th National Hockey League (NHL) goal during his 719th game. Lemieux reached the milestone second fastest in history. Gretzky had reached the plateau during his 718th game. Lemieux became the seventh player in NHL history to score 600 goals.
2003 - Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) scored his 500th career goal. He also got his 11th career hat trick in the game.
2007 - The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Miami to win Super Bowl XLI. Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning was named MVP.
2018 - The Philadelphia Eagles defeat the New England Patriots 41-33 in Minneapolis to win Super Bowl LII. Philadelphia quarterback Nick Foles is named MVP.
1783 - England proclaimed the formal end to the hostilities with the United States in the Revolutionary War.
1787 - Shays's Rebellion, an uprising of Massachusetts farmers, was defeated.
1789 - Electors unanimously chose George Washington as the first president of the United States and John Adams as the country's first vice president.
1861 - Delegates from six southern states met at Montgomery, Alabama to form the Confederate States of America.
1941 - The United Service Organizations (USO) was formed.
1944 - The Bronze Star Medal, honoring “heroic or meritorious achievement or service,” was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met at the Yalta Conference during World War II.
1948 - Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) gained independence from Britain.
1962 - St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was founded in Memphis, Tennessee, by entertainer Danny Thomas.
1974 - Patricia Hearst, granddaughter of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1976 - More than 23,000 people died when a severe earthquake struck Guatemala with a magnitude of 7.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
1983 - Singer Karen Carpenter died at age 32.
1997 - A civil jury in Santa Monica, California, found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Goldman's parents were awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages.
1999 - Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, was shot and killed in front of his Bronx home by four plainclothes New York City police officers. (The officers were acquitted at trial.)
2000 - A coalition government that included Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party came to power in Austria, triggering European Union sanctions.
2003 - Yugoslavia was dissolved and replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.
2004 - The Massachusetts high court declared that gay couples were entitled to nothing less than marriage, and that Vermont-style civil unions would not suffice.
2004 - The social networking website Facebook was launched.
2016 - In their first one-on-one debate, Hillary Clinton accused Bernie Sanders of subjecting her to an “artful smear” by trying to cast her as beholden to Wall Street interests while Sanders suggested the former secretary of state was a captive of America’s political establishment during the Democratic faceoff in Durham, New Hampshire.
2016 - Infuriating members of Congress, a smirking Martin Shkreli took pleaded Fifth Amendment protection at a Capitol Hill hearing on his practice of jacking up drug prices as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals.
2020 - Thousands of medical workers in Hong Kong were on strike for a second day to demand that the country’s border with China be completely closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus; the territory reported its first death from the virus and the second known fatality outside China.
2020 - Addressing a nation and a Congress sharply divided over his impeachment, President Donald Trump delivered a State of the Union address in which he hailed a “Great American Comeback” on his watch; Republican legislators chanted “Four More Years,” while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up her copy of Trump’s speech as he ended the address.
Birthdays
26 - Hannah Godwin (reality star)
29 - Hannah Stocking (model)
33 - Carly Patterson (gymnast/singer)
33 - Charlie Barnett (actor)
33 - Dallas Lovato (actress)
36 - Ashley Thomas (actress)
38 - Natalie Krill (actress)
39 - Kimberly Wyatt (singer)
44 - Gavin DeGraw (singer)
46 - Natalie Imbruglia (singer)
48 - Oscar De La Hoya (boxer)
49 - Nicolle Wallace (TV personality)
50 - Michael Goorjian (actor)
50 - David Garza (singer)
50 - Rob Corddry (actor)
51 - Gabrielle Anwar (actress)
59 - Clint Black (country singer)
62 - Pamelyn Ferdin (actress)
62 - Lawrence Taylor (football player)
69 - Lisa Eichhorn (actress)
72 - Michael Beck (actor)
73 - Alice Cooper (singer)
74 - Dan Quayle (former Vice President of the United States)
79 - Florence LaRue (singer)
81 - John Schuck (actor)
85 - Gary Conway (actor)
92 - Jerry Adler (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - February 4
1932 - The first Winter Olympics in the United States opened at Lake Placid, New York.
1968 - Bowie Kuhn is named the fifth commissioner of Major League Baseball.
1969 - John Madden was named the head coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.
1973 - The New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres played an entire game with no penalties called.
1991 - Baseball's Hall of Fame Board of Directors votes 12-0 to bar Pete Rose from the hall of fame, due to his betting on games while a player and manager.
1993 - The Boston Celtics retired Larry Bird's #33.
1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) scored his 600th National Hockey League (NHL) goal during his 719th game. Lemieux reached the milestone second fastest in history. Gretzky had reached the plateau during his 718th game. Lemieux became the seventh player in NHL history to score 600 goals.
2003 - Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) scored his 500th career goal. He also got his 11th career hat trick in the game.
2007 - The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Miami to win Super Bowl XLI. Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning was named MVP.
2018 - The Philadelphia Eagles defeat the New England Patriots 41-33 in Minneapolis to win Super Bowl LII. Philadelphia quarterback Nick Foles is named MVP.