February 4th is

Homemade Soup Day

Stuffed Mushroom Day

Thank a Mail Carrier Day *

USO Day *

World Cancer Day *

Ice Cream for Breakfast Day *

Take Your Child to the Library Day *
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MORE! Emperor Taizu, Betty Friedan and Alice Cooper, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Angola – Liberation Day

Spain – Madrid:
Drone Film Festival

Sri Lanka – Independence Day

United States –
Los Angeles CA:
› Golden Dragon Parade
Greenacres FL:
› Forgotten Soldiers Outreach Poker Run
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On This Day in HISTORY

960 – Zhao Kuangyin becomes Emperor Taizu, the first emperor of the Song dynasty in China; he expanded the imperial examination system so most of the civil service were recruited through the exams, and encouraged education by building academies which were allowed a great deal of freedom of discussion, and curtailed the power of the military, ending an era of warlords; the Song dynasty lasted over three centuries

1555 – John Rogers is the first Protestant burned at the stake under Mary I of England after she revived the Heresy Acts, returning the English church to Roman jurisdiction

1676 – Giacomo Facco born, Italian Baroque composer and violinist

1677 – Johann Ludwig Bach born, second cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach, composer

1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), 46 of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master’s death

1758 – Macapá, Brazil is founded by Sebastião Veiga Cabral as São José de Macapá

1775 – Thank a Mail Carrier Day *: The Second Continental Congress establishes the Constitutional Post, the first organized mail service in America; First Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin instituted a standardized rate chart

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, but it will be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802

1820 – During the Chilean War of Independence, the Chilean Navy commanded by former British Naval officer Lord Cochrane captures Valdivia from the Spanish forces with 300 men and 2 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, the Sinai Bible, a handwritten copy of the Greek Bible from the 4^th century, is discovered in Egypt

1861 – In Montgomery AL, delegates from six Southern states form the Confederate States of America

1899 – The Philippine-American War begins with its largest battle at Manila

1902 – Charles Lindbergh born, American pilot and explorer

1906 – Clyde W. Tombaugh born, American astronomer, discoverer Pluto in 1930; he makes his first telescopes from old farm equipment parts

1913 – Rosa Parks born, American civil rights activist

1915 – Norman Wisdom born, English performer-songwriter

1918 – Ida Lupino born, actress and director

1921 – Betty Friedan born, American feminist and author; The Feminine Mystique; co-founder, first President of the National Organization for Women (NOW)

1930 – Mars Candy launches Snickers, named for Frank Mars’ prized racehorse

1936 – At UC Berkeley, Dr. John Jacob Livingood bombards elements with 5-MEV, and  discovers irradiated bismuth emits fast electrons with a 5-day half-life, which is the behavior of  Radium E, leading to making the first synthetic Radium

1938 – Our Town by Thornton Wilder opens in Broadway

1941 – The USO is formed by volunteers to entertain American troops

1941 – Roy J. Plunkett patents Teflon, which he discovered accidentally in 1938

1945 – The Yalta Conference of Churchill, FDR and Stalin begins in the Crimea

1948 – Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth

1948 – Alice Cooper is born as Vincent Damon Furnier, American singer-songwriter

1952 – Jenny Shipley born, New Zealand’s first woman Prime Minister (1997-1999)

1953 – Kitarō born, Japanese keyboard player, New Age composer

1957 – Smith-Corona Manufacturing Inc., of New York, begins selling a portable electric typewriter, which weighs 19 pounds

1957 – Don Davis born, composer-orchestrator, music for The Matrix movies

1961 – Angolan War of Independence begins

1966 (exact date uncertain) – Ice Cream for Breakfast Day * starts on a February morning after late January blizzard in Rochester NY with two kids complaining to their mom, Florence Rappaport that it was too cold to do anything, so she said “Let’s have ice cream for breakfast” and a tradition was born – now celebrated the first Saturday in February as a charitable fundraising event at U.S. ice cream shops

1966 – The Rolling Stones release “19th Nervous Breakdown” in the U.K.

1971 – USO Day * proclaimed  by President Nixon on the 30^th anniversary of the founding of the United Service Organizations: thousands of USO volunteers have boosted morale and brought entertainment to the U.S. Armed Forces in war and peace since before WWII

1976 – The Fleetwood Mac single “Rhiannon” is released

1985 – Ronald Reagan’s defense budget calls for a tripling of expenditure on the “Star Wars” research program

1993 – Russian scientists unfurl a giant mirror in orbit and flash a beam of sunlight across Europe during the night, which observers saw as a momentary flash

2000 – World Cancer Day * is established by the Paris Charter adopted at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millenium to highlight new developments in cancer research, and educate the public on prevention and treatment

2003 – The Bengali Hindus declare independence of the Republic of Bangabhumi from Bangladesh

2003 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed Serbia and Montenegro, adopting a new constitution

2004 – Mark Zuckerberg founds Facebook

2011 – Take Your Child to the Library Day * Librarians Nadine Lipman and Cailin August of the Connecticut Library Consortium, joined by artist Nancy E. Wallace, launch what has become an international initiative to encourage families to take advantage of the many services and programs available at their local libraries

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Visuals

• Homemade Soup Day
• USO Day
• International flags
• Thank a Mail Carrier Day
• Clyde W. Tombaugh with telescope
• Betty Friedan what women can be quote
• Take Your Child to the Library Day poster

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