Summary of the Day ✨ 4 February (04/02)
Tragedy struck as a mass shooting in Sweden claimed 10 lives while a TransAsia Airways flight crashed in Taiwan, killing 43 people. Meanwhile, anti-FARC protests mobilized in Colombia, Macau’s casinos closed due to COVID-19, and Facebook was founded by Zuckerberg and Saverin.
Historical Events 📜
- 2025: Ten people are killed in a mass shooting at an adult education centre in Örebro, Sweden.
- 2020: The COVID-19 pandemic causes all casinos in Macau to be closed down for 15 days.
- 2015: TransAsia Airways Flight 235, with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital Taipei to Kinmen, crashes into the Keelung River just after takeoff, killing 43 people.
- 2008: Civic mobilizations in Colombia against FARC, under the name A million voices against the FARC.
- 2004: Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.
- 2003: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopts a new constitution, becoming a loose confederacy between Montenegro and Serbia.
- 2000: The World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium, Charter of Paris is signed by the President of France, Jacques Chirac and the Director General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, initiating World Cancer Day which is held on February 4 every year.
- 1999: Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot 19 times by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city.
- 1998: The 5.9 Mw Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). With 2,323 killed, and 818 injured, damage is considered extreme.
- 1997: En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel, killing 73.
- 1997: The Bojnurd earthquake measuring Mw 6.5 strikes Iran. With a Mercalli intensity of VIII, it kills at least 88 and damages 173 villages.
- 1992: A coup d’état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
- 1977: A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency’s history.
- 1976: In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
- 1975: Haicheng earthquake (magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale) occurs in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
Famous Births 👶
- 2003: Kyla Kenedy, American actress
- 2003: Rasmus Højlund, Danish footballer
- 1999: MJ Lenderman, American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
- 1998: Malik Monk, American basketball player
- 1998: Maximilian Wöber, Austrian footballer
- 1996: Mohamed Sherif, Egyptian footballer
- 1989: Lavoy Allen, American basketball player
- 1988: Charlie Barnett, American actor
- 1988: Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer
- 1987: Darren O’Dea, Irish footballer
- 1987: Lucie Šafářová, Czech tennis player
- 1986: Maximilian Götz, German racing driver
- 1986: Mahmudullah Riyad, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1984: Doug Fister, American baseball player
- 1984: Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Aga Khan IV, 49th Imam of the Nizari Isma’ili community (born 1936)
- 2024: Barry John, Welsh rugby player (born 1945)
- 2023: Vani Jairam, Indian playback singer (born 1945)
- 2023: Sherif Ismail, 53rd Prime Minister of Egypt (born 1955)
- 2022: Kim In-hyeok, South Korean volleyball player (born 1995)
- 2021: Millie Hughes-Fulford, American astronaut, molecular biologist and NASA payload specialist (born 1945)
- 2020: Daniel arap Moi, Former President of Kenya (born 1924)
- 2019: Matti Nykänen, Finnish Olympic-winning ski jumper and singer (born 1963)
- 2018: John Mahoney, English-American actor, voice artist, and comedian (born 1940)
- 2017: Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (born 1949)
- 2017: Bano Qudsia, Pakistani writer (born 1928)
- 2016: Edgar Mitchell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (born 1930)
- 2015: Fitzhugh L. Fulton, American colonel and pilot (born 1925)
- 2014: Keith Allen, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (born 1923)
- 2014: Eugenio Corti, Italian soldier, author, and playwright (born 1921)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Andrew Corsini - Christian feast day:
Eduardo Francisco Pironio - Christian feast day:
Gilbert of Sempringham - Christian feast day:
John de Brito - Christian feast day:
Goldrofe of Arganil - Christian feast day:
Blessed Rabanus Maurus - Christian feast day:
Rimbert - Christian feast day:
February 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Day of the Armed Struggle (Angola)
- Earliest day on which Ash Wednesday can fall, while March 10 is the latest; celebrated on the first day of Lent (Western Christianity)
- Independence Day (Sri Lanka)
- Rosa Parks Day (California and Missouri, United States)
- World Cancer Day
- International Day of Human Fraternity