February 4

Today in History

1787: 1st Anglican bishops of NY & Pennsylvania consecrated in London

1789: First U.S. president elected: George Washington

1861: Seven southern states start drafting a new constitution for the Confederate States of America;

1938: Hitler seizes control of German army & puts Nazi in key posts

1941: United Service Organization (USO) founded

1974: Patty Hearst kidnapped

1975: Margaret Thatcher becomes PM of Great Britain.

1987: Stars & Stripes beats Australia's Kookaburra 3, sweeps America's Cup

1993: Marge Schott suspended from baseball for 1 year due to racism

Notable Births

1802: Mark Hopkins (educator: Williams College president: U.S. President Garfield said, "All that is needed for a superior education is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other.")

1902: Charles Lindbergh (Lucky Lindy) (aviator: First to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean: flew The Spirit of St. Louis from NY to Paris [May 1927]; a major name in politics and business)

1904: MacKinlay Kantor (Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist: Andersonville, [1956]; Long Remember, Gettysburg, Signal Thirty-Two)

1905: Eddie Foy Jr. (actor: Yankee Doodle Dandy, Bells Are Ringing, The Pajama Game, Gidget Goes Hawaiian, Four Jacks and a Jill)

1912: James Craig (Meador) (actor: The Devil's Brigade, The Human Comedy)

1912: Byron Nelson (golfer: Masters Champion [1937 & 1942], U.S. Open Champion [1939], PGA Champion [1940 & 1945]; PGA record for most wins in a season [18 tournaments in 1945])

1915: William Talman (actor: Armored Car Robbery, The Hitch-Hiker, One Minute to Zero)

1918: Ida Lupino (actress: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, On Dangerous Ground, My Boys Are Good Boys; director: The Bigamist, The Hitch-Hiker, The Trouble with Angels)

1918: Norman Wisdom (comedian, actor: The Night They Raided Minsky's)

1921: Betty Friedan (Goldstein) (feminist author: The Feminine Mystique; founder of the National Organization for Women [NOW])

1923: Conrad Bain (actor: Different Strokes, Postcards from the Edge, Bananas)

1929: Neil Johnston (Basketball Hall of Famer: Philadelphia Warriors center [1951-1959], coach [1960]; 4-time, NBA all-star)

1939: John Schuck, Boston Mass, actor/comedian (McMillan & Wife, Holmes & Yoyo)

1941: John Steel (singer, musician: drummer: group: Animals: Baby Let Me Take You Home, House of the Rising Sun)

1943: Cheryl Miller (actress: Mountain Man, Dr. Death Seeker of Souls)

1944: Florence LaRue (Gordon) (singer: group: The Fifth Dimension: Up, Up and Away, Stoned Soul Picnic, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, Wedding Bell Blues, One Less Bell to Answer)

1945: David Brenner (comedian, talk-show host: The David Brenner Show, Nightlife)

1948: Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier) (singer: I'm Eighteen, School's Out, You and Me, No More Mr. Nice Guy)

1950: Pamela Franklin (actress: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Flipper's New Adventure, David Copperfield, Eleanor and Franklin)

Notable Deaths

1966: Gilbert H Grosvenor, president Natl Geographic Society, dies at 90

1983: Karen Carpenter, rock drummer (Carpenters), dies of anorexia at 32

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Quotable Baseball

He [Pete Rose] is Cincinnati. He's the Reds.

Sparky Anderson

Quote of the Day

Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

George Washington