Today in History for Feb. 4, 2015

George Washington

Feb. 4, 1783 - Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.

Feb. 4, 1789 – George Washington was unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.

Feb. 4, 1792 - George Washington repeated the feat of being the only president to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College.

Feb. 4, 1818 – Lawrence County, Ala. was created by the Alabama legislature and Melton’s Bluff was selected as the first county seat.

Feb. 4, 1847 - In Maryland, the first U.S. Telegraph Company was established.

Feb. 4, 1861 - Delegates from six states that had recently seceded from the Union meet in Montgomery to establish the Confederate States of America. Four days later this provisional Confederate Congress, comprising representatives of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, organized the Confederacy with the adoption of a provisional constitution.

Feb. 4, 1865 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred at Ladd's House, Ala.

Feb. 4, 1887 – Confederate veteran Joseph A. Adams, the founder of The Southern Star newspaper in Dale County, Ala., passed away at the age of 43 in Ozark, Ala.

Feb. 4, 1904 – Journalist, novelist and screenwriter MacKinlay Kantor was born in Webster City, Iowa. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1956 for his 1955 novel “Andersonville,” about the Confederate prisoner of war camp.

Feb. 4, 1913 – Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Ala.

Feb. 4, 1914 - Alabama journalist Hazel Brannon Smith was born in Alabama City, Ala.

Feb. 4, 1915 – Conecuh County convicts commenced working on public roads, and work was progressing “satisfactorily.” There were 10 convicts at work at that time, and “two portable steel cages were received and put into use.”

Feb. 4, 1919 – During World War I, Army soldier James O. Merrill of Andalusia “died from disease.”

Feb. 4, 1920 – The Evergreen Courant reported that H.S. Hagood had announced his candidacy for re-election to the office of county tax assessor.

Feb. 4, 1923 - A movie version of Alabama author Milford W. Howard's book “The Bishop of the Ozarks,” starring the author, was released.

Feb. 4, 1935 – Jack Robinson of Baltimore, Md. arrived in Evergreen to assume a position with the firm of I. Long & Sons. Robinson was the nephew of Evergreen businessmen, Robert Long and Haiman Long.

Feb. 4, 1938 - The play "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder opened in New York City.

Feb. 4, 1940 - The Coast Guard cutter Cartigan found the Gloria Colita “adrift, crippled and unmanned” about 150 miles south of Mobile in the Gulf of Mexico. On Jan. 21, 1940, the Gloria Colita, a 125-foot schooner, sailed from Mobile, loaded with a cargo of lumber bound for Guantanamo, Cuba.

Feb. 4, 1952 - Jackie Robinson was named Director of Communication for NBC.

Feb. 4, 1959 - Lawrence Taylor, one of the best defensive players in NFL history, was born in Williamsburg, Va. Taylor went on to play his entire 13-season professional career with the New York Giants and is credited with redefining the position of outside linebacker and terrorizing a generation of NFL quarterbacks.

Feb. 4, 1964 – A meeting was held at 7 p.m. in the Civic Room at the Conecuh County Courthouse in Evergreen, Ala. to organize a women’s auxiliary for the Conecuh County Hospital.

Feb. 4, 1964 - The Administrator of General Services announced that the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had been ratified. The amendment banned the poll tax.

Feb. 4, 1965 – The Evergreen Courant reported that construction would begin right away on the new addition to the educational building of the Evergreen Baptist Church. The new building joined the existing building, which was built in 1950, in the rear and was about the same size, i.e., 6,000 square feet and two stories tall. John Nielsen was the chairman of the building committee and the Rev. Sam Granade was the church’s pastor.

Feb. 4, 1969 - John Madden was named the head coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.

Feb. 4, 1971 - “I Walk the Line,” a movie version of Alabama author Madison Jones's book “The Exile,” was released.

Feb. 4, 1974 - Heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army from her Berkeley, Calif. apartment.

Feb. 4, 1994 – Episode No. 15 of “The X-Files” – entitled “Lazarus” – aired for the first time.

Feb. 4, 1997 - A civil jury in California found O.J. Simpson liable in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Goldman's parents were awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages.

Feb. 4, 1998 - Bill Gates got a pie in the face while entering the European Union Building in Brussels.

Feb. 4, 2000 – New Hope Baptist Church in Beatrice added to Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage by the Alabama Historical Commission.

Feb. 4, 2001 – “Bojangles,” a television version of Alabama author James Haskins' book “Mr. Bojangles: The Biography of Bill Robinson,” was broadcast.

Feb. 4, 2001 - Jimmy Buffet was ordered by NBA referee Joe Forte to give up his courtside seat due to the use of profanity. After a several-minute delay, the game between the Miami Heat and the visiting New York Knicks continued.

Feb. 4, 2002 - Minnesota's Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal by the Minnesota Twins of an injunction that would force the Twins to fulfill their lease at the Metrodome.

Feb. 4, 2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, was founded by Mark Zuckerberg.