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This Day in History - February 4

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Today is the 35th day of 2012. There are 331 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight

1962: A rare conjunction of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn occurred.

Other Events

1783: Britain's King George III proclaimed a formal cessation of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.

1789: Electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.

1861: Delegates from six southern states that had recently seceded from the Union met in Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.

1932: New York Governor Franklin D Roosevelt opened the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid.

1941: the United Service Organizations (USO) came into existence.

1962: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was founded in Memphis, Tennesee, by entertainer Danny Thomas.

1972: Mariner 9, orbiting Mars, transmitted images of the red planet.

1974: Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, California, 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 US Geological Survey.

1982: President Ronald Reagan announced a plan to eliminate all medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe.

1983: Pop singer-musician Karen Carpenter died in Downey, California, at age 32.

1987: Pianist Liberace died at his Palm Springs, California, home at age 67.

2002: Former Enron chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lay resigned from the board, cutting his last tie to the company beyond stock ownership.

2007: Singer-actress Barbara McNair died in Los Angeles at age 72.

2011: Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said he would return half of his annual salary to the public treasury in a symbolic gesture that appeared calculated to insulate him against anti-government unrest spreading across the Middle East.

Today's Birthdays

Actor William Phipps is 90. Actor Conrad Bain is 89. Former Argentinian President Isabel Peron is 81. Comedian David Brenner is 76. Actor Gary Conway is 76. Movie director George A. Romero is 72. Rock musician John Steel (The Animals) is 71. Singer Florence LaRue (The Fifth Dimension) is 68. Former Vice President Dan Quayle is 65. Rock singer Alice Cooper is 64. Boxer Oscar De La Hoya is 39. Singer Natalie Imbruglia is 37. Rapper Cam'ron is 36. Rock singer Gavin DeGraw is 35. Olympic gold medal gymnast-turned-singer Carly Patterson is 24.