On This Day February 4

2005
President Bush: Speaking to a single mother of three with a mentally challenged child, "You work three jobs? ¼Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that."

1988
General Manuel Noriega: The Panamanian leader is indicted by a Federal grand jury, charging that he assisted the Medellin drug cartel.

1985
Your Tax Dollars at work: It's revealed that the Navy is paying $640 for $25 toilet seats.

1932
First Winter Olympics held in the U.S.: Pres. Roosevelt inaugurates the games in Lake Placid, New York.

1901
Carrie Nation: The prohibitionist is arrested for her destruction of restaurants and saloons serving illicit liquor.

1887
Interstate Commerce Commission: The government agency is established to regulate interstate surface transportation.

1861
Civil War: The six states that had seceded from the Union meet to form the Confederate States of America. Five days later they elected Jefferson Davis as their president.

1789
George Washington is elected president with 100% of the electoral vote. He was the first and only president to do so.

1948 d. 2000
Frank Wills, security guard. He uncovered the Watergate break in when he noticed tape on a door at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. He played himself in the movie All the President's Men.

1948
Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier), American singer. Music: I'm 18 (1971) and Schools Out (1972, #1).

1945
David Brenner, American comedian. TV: Hollywood Squares (panelist) and The Tonight Show (guest host).

1940
John Schuck, American actor. Stage: Annie (1979, Daddy Warbucks). TV: McMillan and Wife (Sgt. Enright) and The Munsters Today (Herman).

1923
Conrad Bain, Canadian actor. TV: Maude (1972-78, Dr. Arthur Harmon) and Diff'rent Strokes (1978-86, the father Philip Drummond).

1917 d. 1968
William Talman, American actor. TV: Perry Mason (D.A. Hamilton Burger).

1913 d. 2005
Rosa Parks, American civil-rights leader. She helped start the civil rights movement when she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man (1955).

1912 d. 2006
Byron Nelson (John Byron Nelson, Jr.), American golfer. He won a record 11 consecutive tournaments tournaments in 1945. This feat is chronicled in the book Byron Nelson: The Most Remarkable Year in the History of Golf.

1906
Clyde William Tombaugh, American astronomer. He discovered the planet Pluto (1930).

1902 d. 1974
Charles Augustus Lindbergh, American aviator, "Lucky Lindy." He was the first person to fly non-stop across the Atlantic (1927).

1841 d. 1926
Clément Ader, French inventor. He is said to have made the first manned, powered, heavier-than-air flight (a batwing monoplane that flew 160 feet (50 meters) during secret military tests). However, his craft was not well controlled, leaving controlled flights to later aviators. (source: Myth Information: More Than 590 Popular Misconceptions, Fallacies, and Misbeliefs Explained!)

1802 d. 1887
Mark Hopkins, American educator. Pres. Garfield once commented, "A pine bench, with Mark Hopkins at one end of it and me at the other, is a good enough college for me!"

2005 b. 1917
Ossie Davis (Raiford Chatman Davis), American actor, civil rights activist. TV: B.L. Stryker (Oz Jackson) and Evening Shade (Ponder Blue and narrator).

1987 b. 1919
Liberace (Wladziu Valentino Liberace), American flamboyant pianist. He captivated audiences with his extravagant costumes and elaborate candelabra. He died of AIDS.

1983 b. 1950
Karen Ann Carpenter, American singer with the Carpenters. She died of a heart attack induced by anorexia nervosa. Music: We've Only Just Begun (1970, #2) and Rainy Days and Mondays (1971, #2).

1894 b. 1814
Adolphe Sax, Belgian instrument maker. He patented the saxophone (1846).

999 b. circa 970
Gregory V, German-born religious leader, 138th Pope (996-999). He was the first German pope.

February 4

Events

Birthdays

Deaths