February 4 in History

Historical Events on February 4

211

Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians. He leaves the empire in the control of his two quarrelling sons.
634

Battle of Dathin: Rashidun forces under Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan defeat an outnumbered Byzantine force near Gaza in Palestine.
960

The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries.
1169

A strong earthquake struck the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.
1454

In the Thirteen Years' War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.
1555

John Rogers is burned at the stake, becoming the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England.
1703

In Edo (now Tokyo), 46 of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master's death.
1758

Macapá, Brazil is founded.
1789

George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
1794

The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French First Republic. It will be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802.
1797

The Riobamba earthquake strikes Ecuador, causing up to 40,000 casualties.
1801

John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
1810

The Royal Navy seizes Guadeloupe.
1820

The Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the 2-day long Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and 2 ships.
1825

The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.
1846

The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Salt Lake Valley.
1859

The Codex Sinaiticus is discovered in Egypt.
1861

American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America.
1899

The Philippine-American War begins with the Battle of Manila.
1932

Second Sino-Japanese War: Harbin, Manchuria, falls to Japan.
1941

The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
1945

World War II: Santo Tomas Internment Camp is liberated from Japanese authority.
1945

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

World War II: The British Indian Army and Imperial Japanese Army begin a series of battles known as the Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations.
1948

Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.
1961

The Angolan War of Independence and the greater Portuguese Colonial War begin.
1966

All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay, killing 133.
1967

Lunar Orbiter program: Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft.
1969

Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
1974

The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.
1974

M62 coach bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) explodes a bomb on a bus carrying off-duty British Armed Forces personnel in Yorkshire, England. Nine soldiers and three civilians are killed.
1975

Haicheng earthquake (magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale) occurs in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
1976

In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
1977

A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency's history.
1992

A coup d'état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
1996

Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and ties all-time record low temperature at −26 °F (−32.2 °C)
1997

En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
1998

The 5.9 Mw Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). With 2,323 killed, and 818 injured, damage is considered extreme.
1999

Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot 41 times by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city.
2003

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.
2004

Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.
2015

A TransAsia Airways aircraft with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital Taipei to Kinmen, crashes into the Keelung River just after take-off, killing at least 31 people.

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