History of 4 February
- 1985 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s defense budget called for a tripling of the expenditure on the “Star Wars” research program.
- 1993 – Russian scientists unfurled a giant mirror in orbit and flashed a beam of sunlight across Europe during the night. Observers saw it only as a momentary flash.
- 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.
- 1997 – Two Israeli troop-carrying helicopters collided on their way to Lebanon, all 73 soldiers and airmen aboard were killed.
- 1997 – President Milosevic of Serbia apparently surrendered to the will of his people, ordering his government to recognize opposition victories in local elections held in November 1996.
- 1997 – Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) scored his 600th National Hockey League (NHL) goal during his 719th game. Lemieux reached the milestone second fastest in history. Gretzky had reached the plateau during his 718th game.
- 1998 – In northeast Afghanistan, at least 5,000 people were killed in an earthquake that measured 6.1 on the Richter Scale.
- 1999 – Warplanes from Israel attacked south Lebanon just after rockets were fired toward Israel. No casualties were claimed on either side.
- 1999 – Gary Coleman was sentenced to a $400 fine, a suspended 90-day jail sentence, and ordered to attend 52 anger-management classes. The sentence stemmed from Coleman assaulting an autograph seeker on July 30, 1998.
- 1999 – Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, was shot and killed in front of his Bronx home by four plainclothes New York City police officers. The officers had been conducting a nighttime search for a rape suspect.
- 2000 – Austrian President Thomas Klestil swore in a coalition government that included Joerg Haider’s far-right Freedom Party. European Union sanctions were a result of the action.
- 2003 – Yugoslavia was formally dissolved by lawmakers. The country was replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.
- 2004 – The social networking website Facebook.com was launched.
- 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 take-off, killing 43 people.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Jason Kapono, American basketball player
- 1981 – Johan Vansummeren, Belgian cyclist
- 1982 – Chris Sabin, American wrestler
- 1982 – Ivars Timermanis, Latvian basketball player
- 1982 – Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuanian cyclist
- 1983 – Lee Stempniak, American ice hockey player
- 1983 – Rebecca White, Australian politician
- 1984 – Sandeep Acharya, Indian singer (d. 2013)
- 1984 – Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
- 1986 – Maximilian Götz, German race car driver
- 1986 – Mahmudullah Riyad, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1987 – Darren O’Dea, Irish footballer
- 1987 – Lucie Šafářová, a Czech tennis player
- 1988 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer
- 1993 – Bae Noo-ri, South Korean actress
- 1998 – Maximilian Wöber, Austrian footballer