February 4Birthdays & History

On this day: February 4 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 211Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus 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 and Geta, whom he had instructed to make peace.Europe
2. 960Zhao Kuangyin declares himself Emperor Taizu of Song, ending the Later Zhou and beginning the Song dynasty.Asia
3. 1169A strong earthquake strikes the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.Europe
4. 1454Thirteen Years' War: The Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, sparking the Thirteen Years' War.Europe
5. 1555John Rogers is burned at the stake, becoming the first English Protestant martyr under Queen Mary I.Europe
6. 1703In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master's death.Asia
7. 1758The city of Macapá in Brazil is founded by Sebastião Veiga Cabral.Latin America
8. 1789George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.North America
9. 1794The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French First Republic. It would be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802.EuropeLatin America
10. 1797The Riobamba earthquake strikes Ecuador, causing up to 40,000 casualties.Latin America
11. 1801John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.North America
12. 1810Napoleonic Wars: Britain seizes Guadeloupe.Europe
13. 1820The Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the two-day long Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and two ships.Latin America
14. 1825The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.North America
15. 1846The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Salt Lake Valley.North America
16. 1859The Codex Sinaiticus is discovered in Egypt.Middle East
17. 1861American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six breakaway U.S. states meet and initiate the process that would form the Confederate States of America on February 8.North America
18. 1899The Philippine–American War begins when four Filipino soldiers enter the "American Zone" in Manila, igniting the Battle of Manila.AsiaNorth America
19. 1932Second Sino-Japanese War: Harbin, Manchuria, falls to Japan.AsiaAsia
20. 1938Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Armed Forces High Command.Europe
21. 1941The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.North America
22. 1945World 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.EuropeAsiaAsia
23. 1945World War II: The Yalta Conference between the "Big Three" (Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) opens at the Livadia Palace in the Crimea.Europe
24. 1945World War II: Santo Tomas Internment Camp is liberated from Japanese authority.Asia
25. 1948Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.AsiaEurope
26. 1961The Angolan War of Independence and the greater Portuguese Colonial War begin.AfricaEurope
27. 1966All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay, killing 133.Asia
28. 1967Lunar 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.North America
29. 1974M62 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.Europe
30. 1974The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.North America
31. 1975Haicheng earthquake (magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale) occurs in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.Asia
32. 1976In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.Latin America
33. 1977A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency's history.North America
34. 1992A coup d'état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.Latin America
35. 1997En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel, killing 73.Middle East
36. 1997The Bojnurd earthquake measuring Mw 6.5 strikes Iran. With a Mercalli intensity of VIII, it kills at least 88 and damages 173 villages.Middle East
37. 1998The 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.Asia
38. 1999Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot 19 times by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city.AfricaNorth America
39. 2000The World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium, Charter of Paris is signed by the President of France, Jacques Chirac and the Director General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, initiating World Cancer Day which is held on February 4 every year.Europe
40. 2003The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopts a new constitution, becoming a loose confederacy between Montenegro and Serbia.Europe
41. 2004Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.North America
42. 2008Civic mobilizations in Colombia against FARC, under the name A million voices against the FARC.Latin America
43. 2015TransAsia Airways Flight 235, with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital Taipei to Kinmen, crashes into the Keelung River just after takeoff, killing 43 people.Asia
44. 2020The COVID-19 pandemic causes all casinos in Macau to be closed down for 15 days.Asia
45. 2025Ten people are killed in a mass shooting at an adult education centre in Örebro, Sweden.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "February 4" / CC BY-SA 4.0