February 4
Today in America's Present Past
1787 | Shays Rebellion ends
1789 | POTUS: The first Electoral College concludes with the unanimous election of George Washington as President and John Adams, Vice-President.
1802 | Educator Mark Hopkins was born.
1819 | “Emperor” Norton was born.
1826 | General Halbert Paine was born.
1849 | The University of Wisconsin was founded.
1861 | Civil War: The Peace Conference of 1861 (often called the “Old Gentlemen’s Convention” chaired by ex-President Tyler) at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. the last ditch attempt to prevent conflict.
1861 | Civil War: Jefferson Davis was selected as the President of the Confederate States of America.
1864 | Civil War: Skirmish at Big Black River Bridget, Mississippi.
1865 | Civil War: Robert E. Lee is named General-in-Chief of Confederate forces.
1885 | Painter Sarah Miriam Peale died.
1887 | Congress: Passed the Interstate Commerce Act authorizing the federal regulation of railroads.
1899 | Philippine-American war started.
1902 | Aviator Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1903 | General Frank L. Howley was born.
1904 | Author MacKinlay Kantor was born.
1913 | Louis Perlman patented demountable auto wheel rim.
1913 | Rosa Parks was born.
1913 | Congress: Established the National Institute of Arts & Letters.
1914 | Congress: Adopted the Burnett Anti-Immigration law.
1915 | Actor William Talman was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1915 | Mississippi State Penitentiary starts experiments to discover the causes of pellagra.
1921 | Activist Betty Friedan was born.
1924 | Musician Louis Armstrong weds Lillian Hardin.
1932 | The III Winter Olympic Games opened in Lake Placid, New York, marking the first time the Winter Games were held in the U.S.
1939 | Anthropologist Edward Sapir died.
1939 | Frank Sinatra wed Nancy Barbato.
1941 | WWII: The United Service Organization (USO) was formed.
1942 | WWII: General Clinton Pierce becomes the first general wounded in action during the war.
1944 | WWII: U.S. forces liberate Kwajalein in the Pacific theatre.
1945 | WWII: Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin meet in Yalta to discuss the final war phase.
1948 | Musician Alice Cooper was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1962 | Musician Clint Black was born.
1971 | National Guard deployed to quell rioting in Wilmington, North Carolina.
1971 | The NASDAQ is founded in New York City, New York.
1973 | Boxer Oscar De La Hoya was born.
1974 | War on Terror: Student Patty Hearst was kidnapped by domestic terrorists.
1980 | Famed Studio 54 closes in New York City, New York.
1987 | Congress: Republican President Reagan’s veto of the Clean Water Act was overridden.
1987 | Entertainer Liberace died.
1988 | A U.S. Grand Jury indicted Panamanian General Manuel Noriega.
1997 | A jury found O.J. Simpson liable for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman on this day, ordering him to pay $\$33.5$ million in damages.
2004 | Mark Zuckerberg launched the social media platform Facebook.
2006 | Activist Betty Friedan died.
2017 | Musician Lyle Lovett weds April Kimble.