March 10

  • March 10 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
    • 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage.
    • 947 – The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor.
    • 1607 – Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, making him Emperor of Ethiopia.
    • 1629 – Charles I dissolves the Parliament of England, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.
    • 1735 – An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.
    • 1762 – French Huguenot Jean Calas, who had been wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform.
    • 1814 – Emperor Napoleon I is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
    • 1830 – The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.
    • 1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.
    • 1861 – El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.
    • 1873 – The first Azerbaijani play “The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran” prepared by Akhundov was performed by Hassan-bey Zardabi and dramatist and Najaf-bey Vezirov.
    • 1876 – The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.
    • 1891 – Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
    • 1906 – The Courrières mine disaster, Europe’s worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.
    • 1909 – By signing the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquishes its sovereignty over the Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which become British protectorates.
    • 1922 – Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.
    • 1933 – The Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area leaving around 108 people dead.
    • 1944 – Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front.
    • 1945 – World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
    • 1949 – Mildred Gillars (“Axis Sally”) is convicted of treason.
    • 1952 – Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba.
    • 1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama’s palace to prevent his removal.
    • 1966 – Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacked rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation.
    • 1969 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.
    • 1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.
    • 1975 – Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in the South on their way to capturing Saigon in the final push for victory over South Vietnam.
    • 1977 – Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.
    • 1990 – In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup.
    • 2006 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
    • 2017 – The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal is unanimously upheld by the country’s Constitutional Court, ending her presidency.
    • 2019 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes, leading to all 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.

    Births on March 10

    • 1452 – Ferdinand II, king of Castile and León (d. 1516)
    • 1503 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1564)
    • 1536 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (d. 1572)
    • 1604 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch alchemist and chemist (d. 1670)
    • 1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
    • 1628 – Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist (d. 1694)
    • 1656 – Giacomo Serpotta, Italian Rococo sculptor (d. 1732)
    • 1653 – John Benbow, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1702)
    • 1709 – Georg Wilhelm Steller, German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer (d. 1746)
    • 1749 – Lorenzo Da Ponte, Italian-American priest and poet (d. 1838)
    • 1769 – Joseph Williamson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1840)
    • 1772 – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1829)
    • 1777 – Louis Hersent, French painter (d. 1860)
    • 1787 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1862)
    • 1787 – William Etty, English painter and academic (d. 1849)
    • 1788 – Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1857)
    • 1788 – Edward Hodges Baily, English sculptor (d. 1867)
    • 1789 – Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (d. 1850)
    • 1795 – Joseph Légaré, Canadian painter and glazier, artist, seigneur and political figure (d. 1855)
    • 1810 – Samuel Ferguson, Irish poet and lawyer (d. 1886)
    • 1844 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (d. 1908)
    • 1844 – Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, British Pre-Raphaelite painter (d. 1927)
    • 1845 – Alexander III of Russia (d. 1894)
    • 1846 – Edward Baker Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1850)
    • 1849 – Hallie Quinn Brown, African-American educator, writer and activist (d. 1949)
    • 1850 – Spencer Gore, English tennis player and cricketer (d. 1906)
    • 1853 – Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
    • 1867 – Hector Guimard, French-American architect (d. 1942)
    • 1867 – Lillian Wald, American nurse, humanitarian, and author, founded the Henry Street Settlement (d. 1940)
    • 1870 – David Riazanov, Russian theorist and politician (d. 1938)
    • 1873 – Jakob Wassermann, German-Austrian soldier and author (d. 1934)
    • 1876 – Anna Hyatt Huntington, American sculptor (d. 1973)
    • 1877 – Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Mexican diplomat and president (1930-1932) (d. 1963)
    • 1881 – Jessie Boswell, English painter (d. 1956)
    • 1888 – Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (d. 1961)
    • 1890 – Albert Ogilvie, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1939)
    • 1892 – Arthur Honegger, French composer and educator (d. 1955)
    • 1892 – Gregory La Cava, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1952)
    • 1896 – Frederick Coulton Waugh, British cartoonist, painter, teacher and author (d. 1973)
    • 1900 – Violet Brown, Jamaican supercentenarian, oldest Jamaican ever (d. 2017)
    • 1900 – Pandelis Pouliopoulos, Greek lawyer and politician (d. 1943)
    • 1901 – Michel Seuphor, Belgian painter (d. 1999)
    • 1903 – Bix Beiderbecke, American cornet player, pianist, and composer (d. 1931)
    • 1903 – Clare Boothe Luce, American playwright, journalist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (d. 1987)
    • 1903 – Edward Bawden, British artist and illustrator (d. 1989)
    • 1914 – Chandler Harper, American golfer (d. 2004)
    • 1914 – K. P. Ratnam, Sri Lankan academic and politician (d. 2010)
    • 1915 – Harry Bertoia, Italian-American sculptor and furniture designer (d. 1978)
    • 1915 – Joža Horvat, Croatian writer (d. 2012)
    • 1916 – Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 2000)
    • 1917 – David Hare, American Surrealist artist, sculptor, photographer and painter (d. 1992)
    • 1918 – Günther Rall, German general and pilot (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Marion Hutton, American singer and actress (d. 1987)
    • 1920 – Alfred Peet, Dutch-American businessman, founded Peet’s Coffee & Tea (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – Boris Vian, French author and playwright (d. 1959)
    • 1922 – Kiyoshi Yamashita, Japanese painter (d. 1971)
    • 1923 – Val Logsdon Fitch, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Judith Jones, American literary and cookbook editor (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – Bob Lanier, American lawyer, banker, and politician, 58th Mayor of Houston (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Marques Haynes, American basketball player (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Claude Laydu, Belgian-French actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
    • 1927 – Paul Wunderlich, German painter, sculptor and graphic artist (d. 2010)
    • 1928 – Sara Montiel, Spanish actress (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – James Earl Ray, American criminal; assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. (d. 1998)
    • 1929 – Sam Steiger, American journalist and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Sándor Iharos, Hungarian runner (d. 1996)
    • 1931 – Georges Dor, Canadian author, playwright, and composer (d. 2001)
    • 1932 – Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender, English politician (d. 2019)
    • 1932 – Udupi Ramachandra Rao, Indian physicist and engineer (d. 2017)
    • 1933 – Perunchithiranar, Tamil poet (d. 1995)
    • 1933 – Elizabeth Azcona Cranwell, Argentinian poet and translator (d. 2004)
    • 1934 – Gergely Kulcsár, Hungarian javelin thrower and coach
    • 1935 – Graham Farmer, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2019)
    • 1936 – Sepp Blatter, Swiss businessman
    • 1936 – Alfredo Zitarrosa, Uruguayan singer-songwriter and journalist (d. 1989)
    • 1938 – Norman Blake, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1938 – Ieronymos II of Athens, Greek archbishop
    • 1939 – Asghar Ali Engineer, Indian activist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Hugh Johnson, English author and critic
    • 1939 – Irina Press, Ukrainian-Russian hurdler and pentathlete (d. 2004)
    • 1940 – Chuck Norris, American actor, producer, and martial artist
    • 1940 – David Rabe, American playwright and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Peter Berresford Ellis, English historian and author
    • 1944 – Gail North-Saunders, Bahamian historian, archivist, and author who established the Bahamian National Archives
    • 1945 – Katharine Houghton, American actress and playwright
    • 1945 – Madhavrao Scindia, Indian politician, Indian Minister of Railways (d. 2001)
    • 1946 – Gérard Garouste, French contemporary artist
    • 1946 – Mike Hollands, Australian animator and director, founded Act3animation
    • 1946 – Jim Valvano, American basketball player and coach (d. 1993)
    • 1947 – Kim Campbell, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Canada
    • 1947 – Tom Scholz, American rock musician (Boston), songwriter, inventor, and engineer
    • 1948 – Austin Carr, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1949 – Bill Buxton, Canadian computer scientist and academic
    • 1949 – Barbara Corcoran, American businesswoman and television personality
    • 1950 – Catherine Pugh, American politician, 50th mayor of Baltimore
    • 1952 – Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (d. 2018)
    • 1953 – Paul Haggis, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Didier Barbelivien, French singer-songwriter
    • 1955 – Toshio Suzuki, Japanese race car driver
    • 1956 – Robert Llewellyn, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Larry Myricks, American long jumper and sprinter
    • 1957 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (d. 2011)
    • 1958 – Garth Crooks, English footballer forward and sportscaster
    • 1958 – Steve Howe, American baseball player (d. 2006)
    • 1958 – Sharon Stone, American actress and producer
    • 1961 – Laurel Clark, American captain, physician, and astronaut (d. 2003)
    • 1961 – Bobby Petrino, American football player and coach
    • 1962 – Jasmine Guy, American actress, singer, and director
    • 1962 – Seiko Matsuda, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1963 – Jeff Ament, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1963 – Felipe Ramos, Mexican footballer and referee
    • 1963 – Rick Rubin, American record producer, founded Def Jam Recordings
    • 1964 – Neneh Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1964 – Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
    • 1964 – Jojo Lastimosa, Filipino basketball player and coach
    • 1964 – Nikola Mladenov, Macedonian journalist (d. 2013)
    • 1964 – Toni Polster, Austrian footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Jillian Richardson, Canadian sprinter
    • 1965 – Rod Woodson, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1966 – Edie Brickell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1966 – Mike Timlin, American baseball player
    • 1968 – Thio Li-ann, Singaporean lawyer and academic
    • 1968 – Pavel Srníček, Czech footballer and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1971 – Jon Hamm, American actor and director
    • 1972 – Timbaland, American rapper and producer
    • 1973 – Jason Croker, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1973 – Chris Sutton, English footballer
    • 1973 – Mauricio Taricco, Argentinian footballer, full back and assistant manager
    • 1976 – Barbara Schett, Austrian tennis player
    • 1978 – Camille, French singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1978 – Benjamin Burnley, American musician
    • 1981 – Samuel Eto’o, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1981 – Steven Reid, English-Irish footballer
    • 1982 – Kwame Brown, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Étienne Boulay, Canadian football player
    • 1983 – Rafe Spall, English actor
    • 1983 – Janet Mock, American journalist, author, and activist
    • 1983 – Carrie Underwood, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1984 – Ben May, English footballer
    • 1987 – Martellus Bennett, American football player
    • 1987 – Greg Eastwood, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1987 – Māris Štrombergs, Latvian BMX racer
    • 1988 – Josh Hoffman, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1988 – Ivan Rakitić, Croatian football player
    • 1992 – Neeskens Kebano, French-born Congolese international footballer
    • 1993 – Jack Butland, English footballer
    • 1995 – DaeSean Hamilton, American football player
    • 1995 – Zach LaVine, American basketball player
    • 1995 – Sergey Mozgov, Russian ice dancer
    • 1997 – Belinda Bencic, Swiss tennis player

    Deaths on March 10

    • 483 – Pope Simplicius
    • 933 – Li Renfu, Chinese warlord and governor
    • 948 – Liu Zhiyuan, Shatuo founder of the Later Han dynasty (b. 895)
    • 1039 – Eudes, Duke of Gascony
    • 1222 – Johan Sverkersson, king of Sweden since 1216 (b. 1201)
    • 1289 – Maud de Lacy, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester, English noble (b. 1223)
    • 1291 – Arghun, Mongol ruler in Persia
    • 1315 – Agnes Blannbekin, Austrian mystic (b. c.1244)
    • 1391 – Tvrtko I of Bosnia (b. 1338)
    • 1476 – Richard West, 7th Baron De La Warr (b. 1430)
    • 1510 – Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss priest and theologian (b. 1445)
    • 1513 – John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, English commander and politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1443)
    • 1527 – Nam Gon, Korean writer and prime minister (b. 1471)
    • 1528 – Balthasar Hübmaier, influential German/Moravian Anabaptist leader (b. 1480)
    • 1572 – William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester (b. c. 1483)
    • 1585 – Rembert Dodoens, Flemish physician and botanist (b. 1517)
    • 1588 – Theodor Zwinger, Swiss physician and scholar (b. 1533)
    • 1670 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch chemist and engineer (b. 1604)
    • 1682 – Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch painter and etcher (b. 1628)
    • 1724 – Urban Hjärne, Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (b. 1641)
    • 1776 – Élie Catherine Fréron, French author and critic (b. 1719)
    • 1792 – John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1713)
    • 1823 – George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith, Scottish admiral and politician (b. 1746)
    • 1826 – John Pinkerton, Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist and historian (b. 1758)
    • 1832 – Muzio Clementi, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1752)
    • 1861 – Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet, playwright, and ethnographer (b. 1814)
    • 1872 – Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1805)
    • 1898 – Marie-Eugénie de Jésus, French nun and saint, founded the Religious of the Assumption (b. 1817)
    • 1895 – Charles Frederick Worth, English-French fashion designer, founded the House of Worth (b. 1826)
    • 1897 – Savitribai Phule, Indian poet and activist (b. 1831)
    • 1910 – Karl Lueger, Austrian lawyer and politician Mayor of Vienna (b. 1844)
    • 1910 – Carl Reinecke, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1824)
    • 1913 – Harriet Tubman, American nurse and activist (b. c.1820)
    • 1925 – Myer Prinstein, Polish-American jumper and lawyer (b. 1878)
    • 1930 – Misuzu Kaneko, Japanese poet and songwriter (b. 1903)
    • 1937 – Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian journalist and author (b. 1884)
    • 1940 – Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (b. 1891)
    • 1942 – Wilbur Scoville, American pharmacist and chemist (b. 1865)
    • 1948 – Zelda Fitzgerald, American author, poet, and dancer (b. 1900)
    • 1948 – Jan Masaryk, Czech soldier and politician (b. 1886)
    • 1951 – Kijūrō Shidehara, Japanese lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1872)
    • 1965 – Archibald Frazer-Nash, English engineer, founded Frazer Nash (b. 1889)
    • 1966 – Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
    • 1966 – Frank O’Connor, Irish short story writer, novelist, and poet (b. 1903)
    • 1977 – E. Power Biggs, English-American organist and composer (b. 1906)
    • 1982 – Minoru Shirota, Japanese physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult (b. 1899)
    • 1985 – Konstantin Chernenko, Russian soldier and politician, 8th Head of State of The Soviet Union (b. 1911)
    • 1985 – Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout (b. 1927)
    • 1986 – Ray Milland, Welsh-American actor and director (b. 1905)
    • 1988 – Andy Gibb, Manx-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1958)
    • 1989 – Kermit Beahan, American colonel and pilot (b. 1918)
    • 1990 – Pat McDonald, Australian actress (b. 1921)
    • 1992 – Giorgos Zampetas, Greek bouzouki player and composer (b. 1925)
    • 1995 – Agepê, Brazilian singer/composer (b. 1942)
    • 1996 – Ross Hunter, American film producer (b. 1926)
    • 1997 – LaVern Baker, American singer and actress (b. 1929)
    • 1998 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor and director (b. 1913)
    • 1999 – Oswaldo Guayasamín, Ecuadorian painter and sculptor (b. 1919)
    • 2001 – Massimo Morsello, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1958)
    • 2004 – Renos Apostolidis, Greek philologist, author, and critic (b. 1924)
    • 2005 – Dave Allen, Irish-English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
    • 2006 – Anna Moffo, American soprano (b. 1932)
    • 2007 – Ernie Ladd, American football player and wrestler (b. 1938)
    • 2010 – Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, Egyptian scholar and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2010 – Corey Haim, Canadian actor (b. 1971)
    • 2011 – Bill Blackbeard, American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Bert R. Bulkin, American engineer (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Jean Giraud, French author and illustrator (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – Mykola Plaviuk, Ukrainian politician, President Ukrainian People’s Republic in Exile (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Frank Sherwood Rowland, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Tan Boon Teik, Malaysian-Singaporean lawyer and politician, Attorney-General of Singapore (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1952)
    • 2016 – Ken Adam, German-English production designer and art director (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Roberto Perfumo, Argentinian footballer and sportscaster (b. 1942)
    • 2016 – Jovito Salonga, Filipino lawyer and politician, 14th President of the Senate of the Philippines (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances  on March 10

    • Christian feast day
      • Attala
      • Harriet Tubman (Lutheran)
      • John Ogilvie
      • Macarius of Jerusalem
      • Marie-Eugénie de Jésus
      • Pope Simplicius
      • Sojourner Truth (Lutheran)
      • March 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Harriet Tubman Day (United States of America)
    • Holocaust Remembrance Day (Bulgaria)
    • National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
    • Tibetan Uprising Day (Tibetan independence movement)

  • February 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    This day marks the approximate midpoint of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and of summer in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the December solstice).

    February 4 in History 

    • 211 – Following the death of Rome’s 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 quarreling sons, Caracalla and Geta, whom he had instructed to make peace.
    • 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), all but one of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master’s death.
    • 1758 – The city of Macapá in Brazil is founded by Sebastião Veiga Cabral.
    • 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 would 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 – Napoleonic Wars: Britain seizes Guadeloupe.
    • 1820 – The Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the two-day long Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and two 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.
    • 1938 – Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Armed Forces High Command.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 2000 – The 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.
    • 2003 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopts a new constitution, becoming a loose confederacy between Montenegro and Serbia.
    • 2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.
    • 2015 – TransAsia Airways Flight 235 with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital Taipei to Kinmen, crashes into the Keelung River just after take-off, killing 43 people.
    • 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic causes all casinos in Macau to be closed down for 15 days.

    Births on February 4

    • 1447 – Lodovico Lazzarelli, Italian poet (d. 1500)
    • 1495 – Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1535)
    • 1495 – Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (d. 1568)
    • 1505 – Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and author (d. 1580)
    • 1575 – Pierre de Bérulle, French cardinal and theologian, founded the French school of spirituality (d. 1629)
    • 1646 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet and politician (d. 1699)
    • 1676 – Giacomo Facco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1753)
    • 1677 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (d. 1731)
    • 1688 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (d. 1763)
    • 1725 – Dru Drury, English entomologist and author (d. 1804)
    • 1740 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (d. 1795)
    • 1778 – Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Swiss botanist, mycologist, and academic (d. 1841)
    • 1799 – Almeida Garrett, Portuguese journalist and author (d. 1854)
    • 1818 – Emperor Norton, San Francisco eccentric and visionary (d. 1880)citation needed
    • 1831 – Oliver Ames, American financier and politician, 35th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895)
    • 1848 – Jean Aicard, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1921)
    • 1849 – Jean Richepin, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1926)
    • 1862 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (d. 1942)
    • 1865 – Abe Isoo, Japanese minister and politician (d. 1949)
    • 1868 – Constance Markievicz, Irish revolutionary and first woman elected to the UK House of Commons (d. 1927)
    • 1871 – Friedrich Ebert, German lawyer and politician, 1st President of Germany (d. 1925)
    • 1872 – Gotse Delchev, Bulgarian and Macedonian revolutionary activist (d. 1903)
    • 1873 – Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1905)
    • 1875 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist and engineer (d. 1953)
    • 1877 – Eddie Cochems, American football player and coach (d. 1953)
    • 1881 – Eulalio Gutiérrez, Mexican general and politician, President of Mexico (d. 1939)
    • 1881 – Fernand Léger, French painter and sculptor (d. 1955)
    • 1883 – Reinhold Rudenberg, German-American inventor and a pioneer of electron microscopy (d. 1961)
    • 1891 – M. A. Ayyangar, Indian lawyer and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 1978)
    • 1892 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and academic (d. 1964)
    • 1895 – Nigel Bruce, English actor (d. 1953)
    • 1896 – Friedrich Glauser, Austrian-Swiss author (d. 1938)
    • 1896 – Friedrich Hund, German physicist and academic (d. 1997)
    • 1897 – Ludwig Erhard, German soldier and politician, 2nd Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1977)
    • 1899 – Virginia M. Alexander, American physician and founder of the Aspiranto Health Home (d. 1949)
    • 1900 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (d. 1977)
    • 1902 – Charles Lindbergh, American pilot and explorer (d. 1974)
    • 1902 – Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, German-English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 2003)
    • 1903 – Alexander Imich, Polish-American chemist, parapsychologist, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1904 – MacKinlay Kantor, American author and screenwriter (d. 1977)
    • 1905 – Hylda Baker, English comedian, actress and music hall performer (d. 1986)
    • 1906 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (d. 1945)
    • 1906 – Letitia Dunbar-Harrison, Irish librarian (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer and academic, discovered Pluto (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Julian Bell, English poet and academic (d. 1937)
    • 1912 – Ola Skjåk Bræk, Norwegian banker and politician, Norwegian Minister of Industry (d. 1999)
    • 1912 – Erich Leinsdorf, Austrian-American conductor (d. 1993)
    • 1912 – Byron Nelson, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2006)
    • 1913 – Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author and publisher (d. 1980)
    • 1915 – William Talman, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
    • 1915 – Norman Wisdom, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – Yahya Khan, Pakistan general and politician, 3rd President of Pakistan (d. 1980)
    • 1918 – Ida Lupino, English-American actress and director (d. 1995)
    • 1918 – Luigi Pareyson, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1991)
    • 1920 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (d. 2016)
    • 1921 – Betty Friedan, American author and feminist (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Lotfi Zadeh, Iranian-American mathematician and computer scientist and founder of fuzzy logic (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Conrad Bain, Canadian-American actor (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Russell Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
    • 1925 – Stanley Karnow, American journalist and historian (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Christopher Zeeman, English mathematician and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Dave Sands, Australian boxer (d. 1952)
    • 1927 – Rolf Landauer, German-American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1928 – Oscar Cabalén, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1967)
    • 1928 – Osmo Antero Wiio, Finnish journalist, academic, and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – Paul Burlison, American rockabilly guitarist (d. 2003)
    • 1929 – Neil Johnston, American basketball player (d. 1978)
    • 1930 – Tibor Antalpéter, Hungarian volleyball player and diplomat, Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Arthur E. Chase, American businessman and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Isabel Martínez de Perón, Argentinian dancer and politician, 41st President of Argentina
    • 1935 – Wallis Mathias, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1994)
    • 1935 – Martti Talvela, Finnish opera singer (d. 1989)
    • 1935 – Collin Wilcox, American actress (d. 2009)
    • 1936 – David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Claude Nobs, Swiss businessman, founded the Montreux Jazz Festival (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – David Newman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1938 – Frank J. Dodd, American businessman and politician, president of the New Jersey Senate (d. 2010)
    • 1939 – Stan Lundine, American lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New York
    • 1940 – George A. Romero, American director and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1941 – Russell Cooper, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of Queensland
    • 1941 – Ron Rangi, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
    • 1941 – Jiří Raška, Czech skier and coach (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese journalist and politician, 2nd President of the Regional Government of Madeira
    • 1943 – Wanda Rutkiewicz, Lithuanian-Polish mountaineer (d. 1992)
    • 1943 – Ken Thompson, American computer scientist and programmer, co-developed the B programming language
    • 1944 – Florence LaRue, American singer and actress
    • 1947 – Dennis C. Blair, American admiral and politician, 3rd Director of National Intelligence
    • 1947 – Dan Quayle, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 44th Vice President of the United States
    • 1948 – Alice Cooper, American singer-songwriter
    • 1948 – Rod Grams, American journalist and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1948 – Mienoumi Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1949 – Michael Beck, American actor
    • 1949 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (d. 2010)
    • 1951 – Patrick Bergin, Irish actor
    • 1951 – Phil Ehart, American rock drummer and songwriter
    • 1952 – Jenny Shipley, New Zealand educator and politician, 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1952 – Thomas Silverstein, American prisoner, founder and former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang (d. 2019)
    • 1955 – Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak politician, Prime Minister of Slovakia
    • 1957 – Don Davis, American composer and conductor
    • 1958 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish journalist and author (d. 2005)
    • 1959 – Christian Schreier, German footballer and manager
    • 1959 – Lawrence Taylor, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Siobhan Dowd, English author and activist (d. 2007)
    • 1960 – Adrienne King, American actress, dancer, and painter
    • 1960 – Jonathan Larson, American composer and playwright (d. 1996)
    • 1961 – Stewart O’Nan, American novelist
    • 1961 – Denis Savard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Clint Black, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1962 – Stephen Hammond, English banker and politician
    • 1963 – Pirmin Zurbriggen, Swiss skier
    • 1964 – Elke Philipp, German Paralympic equestrian
    • 1965 – Jerome Brown, American football player (d. 1992)
    • 1966 – Tony Butterfield, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Viatcheslav Ekimov, Russian cyclist
    • 1967 – Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (d. 1995)
    • 1970 – Gabrielle Anwar, English actress
    • 1971 – Rob Corddry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Eric Garcetti, American lieutenant and politician, 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles
    • 1972 – Dara Ó Briain, Irish comedian and television host
    • 1972 – Giovanni Silva de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Oscar De La Hoya, American boxer
    • 1973 – James Hird, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1973 – Manny Legace, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1975 – Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1977 – Gavin DeGraw, American singer-songwriter
    • 1979 – Giorgio Pantano, Italian race car driver
    • 1980 – Raimonds Vaikulis, Latvian basketball player
    • 1981 – Jason Kapono, American basketball player
    • 1981 – Johan Vansummeren, Belgian cyclist
    • 1982 – Chris Sabin, American wrestler
    • 1982 – Ivars Timermanis, Latvian basketball player
    • 1982 – Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuanian cyclist
    • 1983 – Lee Stempniak, American ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Rebecca White, Australian politician
    • 1984 – Sandeep Acharya, Indian singer (d. 2013)
    • 1984 – Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
    • 1986 – Maximilian Götz, German race car driver
    • 1986 – Mahmudullah Riyad, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1987 – Darren O’Dea, Irish footballer
    • 1987 – Lucie Šafářová, Czech tennis player
    • 1988 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer
    • 1993 – Bae Noo-ri, South Korean actress
    • 1998 – Maximilian Wöber, Austrian footballer

    Deaths on February 4

    • 211 – Septimius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 145)
    • 708 – Pope Sisinnius (b. 650)
    • 856 – Rabanus Maurus, Frankish archbishop and theologian (b. 780)
    • 870 – Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1169 – John of Ajello, Bishop of Catania
    • 1498 – Antonio del Pollaiolo, Italian artist (b. 1429/1433)
    • 1505 – Jeanne de Valois, daughter of Louis XI of France (b. 1464)
    • 1508 – Conrad Celtes, German poet and scholar (b. 1459)
    • 1555 – John Rogers, English clergyman and translator (b. 1505)
    • 1590 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1517)
    • 1615 – Giambattista della Porta, Italian playwright and scholar (b. 1535)
    • 1617 – Lodewijk Elzevir, Dutch publisher, co-founded the House of Elzevir (b. 1546)
    • 1713 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (b. 1671)
    • 1774 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (b. 1701)
    • 1781 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer (b. 1737)
    • 1799 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect and educator (b. 1728)
    • 1843 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (b. 1770)
    • 1891 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (b. 1816)
    • 1905 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (b. 1841)
    • 1926 – İskilipli Âtıf Hodja, Turkish author and scholar (b. 1875)
    • 1928 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
    • 1933 – Archibald Sayce, English linguist and educator (b. 1846)
    • 1940 – Nikolai Yezhov, Russian police officer and politician (b. 1895)
    • 1943 – Frank Calder, English-Canadian ice hockey player and journalist (b. 1877)
    • 1944 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian author and translator (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Savielly Tartakower, Russian-French chess player, journalist, and author (b. 1887)
    • 1958 – Henry Kuttner, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
    • 1959 – Una O’Connor, Irish-American actress (b. 1880)
    • 1968 – Neal Cassady, American novelist and poet (b. 1926)
    • 1970 – Louise Bogan, American poet and critic (b. 1897)
    • 1974 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1894)
    • 1975 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1908)
    • 1982 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
    • 1982 – Georg Konrad Morgen, German lawyer and judge (b. 1909)
    • 1983 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (b. 1950)
    • 1987 – Liberace, American singer-songwriter and pianist, (b. 1919)
    • 1987 – Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (b. 1956)
    • 1987 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (b. 1902)
    • 1990 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1915)
    • 1992 – John Dehner, American actor (b. 1915)
    • 1995 – Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1921)
    • 2000 – Carl Albert, American lawyer and politician, 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1908)
    • 2002 – Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg (b. 1907)
    • 2003 – Benyoucef Benkhedda, Algerian pharmacist and politician (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Ossie Davis, American actor, director, and playwright (b. 1917)
    • 2006 – Betty Friedan, American author and activist (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – José Carlos Bauer, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Ilya Kormiltsev, Russian-English poet and translator (b. 1959)
    • 2007 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (b. 1934)
    • 2007 – Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1922)
    • 2008 – Augusta Dabney, American actress (b. 1918)
    • 2008 – Stefan Meller, Polish academic and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (b. 1942)
    • 2010 – Kostas Axelos, Greek-French philosopher and author (b. 1924)
    • 2010 – Helen Tobias-Duesberg, Estonian-American composer (b. 1919)
    • 2011 – Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – István Csurka, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
    • 2012 – Florence Green, English soldier (b. 1901)
    • 2012 – Robert Daniel, American farmer, soldier, and politician (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Mike deGruy, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1951)
    • 2013 – Donald Byrd, American trumpet player (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Keith Allen, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Eugenio Corti, Italian soldier, author, and playwright (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Dennis Lota, Zambian footballer (b. 1973)
    • 2015 – Wes Cooley, American soldier and politician (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Fitzhugh L. Fulton, American colonel and pilot (b. 1925)
    • 2016 – Edgar Mitchell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (b. 1949)
    • 2017 – Bano Qudsia, Pakistani writer (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – John Mahoney, English-American actor, voice artist, and comedian (b. 1940)
    • 2019 – Matti Nykänen, Finnish Olympic-winning ski jumper and singer (b. 1963)

    Holidays and observances on February 4

    • Christian feast day:
      • Andrew Corsini
      • Gilbert of Sempringham
      • John de Brito
      • Blessed Rabanus Maurus
      • Rimbert
      • Veronica
      • February 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the Armed Struggle (Angola)
    • Earliest day on which Ash Wednesday can fall, while March 10 is the latest; celebrated on the first day of Lent (Christianity)
    • Independence Day (Sri Lanka)
    • Rosa Parks Day (California and Missouri, United States)
    • World Cancer Day