Today in History

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 2017. There are 330 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Feb. 4, 1789, electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.

On this date:

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

In 1861, delegates from six southern states that had recently seceded from the Union met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form the Confederate States of America.

In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid.

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

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.

In 1962, a rare conjunction of the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn occurred.

In 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, 19, was kidnapped in Berkeley, California, by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army.

In 1977, eleven people were killed when two Chicago Transit Authority trains collided on an elevated track.

In 1983, pop singer-musician Karen Carpenter died in Downey, California, at age 32.

In 1987, pianist Liberace died at his Palm Springs, California, home at age 67.

In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica, California, found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

In 2004, the Massachusetts high court declared that gay couples were entitled to nothing less than marriage, and that Vermont-style civil unions would not suffice. The social networking website Facebook had its beginnings as Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched "Thefacebook."

Ten years ago: The Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI, beating the Chicago Bears 29-17. Singer-actress Barbara McNair died in Los Angeles at age 72.

Five years ago: Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending Syria's bloodshed. Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney cruised to a decisive victory in the Nevada caucuses. Running back Curtis Martin, the fourth-leading rusher in NFL history, and linemen Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf and Dermontti Dawson were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, along with senior committee choice Jack Butler. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the 2011 Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award in a landslide. Florence Green, who had served with the Women's Royal Air Force and was recognized as the last veteran of World War I, died in King's Lynn, eastern England, at age 110.

One year ago: In their first one-on-one debate, Hillary Clinton accused Bernie Sanders of subjecting her to an "artful smear" by trying to cast her as beholden to Wall Street interests while Sanders suggested the former secretary of state was a captive of America's political establishment during the Democratic faceoff in Durham, New Hampshire. Infuriating members of Congress, a smirking Martin Shkreli took the Fifth at a Capitol Hill hearing on his practice of jacking up drug prices as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Six family members were found dead in their Chicago home. (Two suspects, one of them related to the victims by marriage, have been charged with first-degree murder.)

Today's Birthdays: Actor William Phipps is 95. Former Argentinian President Isabel Peron is 86. Actor Gary Conway is 81. Movie director George A. Romero is 77. Actor John Schuck is 77. Rock musician John Steel (The Animals) is 76. Singer Florence LaRue (The Fifth Dimension) is 75. Former Vice President Dan Quayle is 70. Rock singer Alice Cooper is 69. Actor Michael Beck is 68. Actress Lisa Eichhorn is 65. Football Hall-of-Famer Lawrence Taylor is 58. Actress Pamelyn Ferdin is 58. Rock singer Tim Booth is 57. Rock musician Henry Bogdan is 56. Country singer Clint Black is 55. Rock musician Noodles (The Offspring) is 54. Country musician Dave Buchanan (Yankee Grey) is 51. Actress Gabrielle Anwar is 47. Actor Rob Corddry is 46. Singer David Garza is 46. Actor Michael Goorjian is 46. TV personality Nicolle Wallace is 45. Olympic gold medal boxer Oscar De La Hoya is 44. Rock musician Rick Burch (Jimmy Eat World) is 42. Singer Natalie Imbruglia is 42. Rapper Cam'ron is 41. Rock singer Gavin DeGraw is 40. Actor Charlie Barnett is 29. Olympic gold medal gymnast-turned-singer Carly Patterson is 29.

Thought for Today: "Life is doubt, and faith without doubt is nothing but death." -- Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish philosopher (1864-1936).