This day in history

[February 04, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 2009. There are 330 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Feb. 4, 1789, electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States. (However, the results of the balloting were not counted in the U.S. Senate until two months later.)

On this date:

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

In 1861, delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.

In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid.

In 1938, the Thornton Wilder play "Our Town" opened on Broadway.

In 1941, the United Service Organizations (USO) came into existence.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference at Yalta.

In 1948, the island nation of Ceylon -- now Sri Lanka -- became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.

In 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, Calif., by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

In 1976, more than 23,000 people died when a severe earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck Guatemala, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In 1998, more than 2,300 people were killed when an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 hit northeast Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Ten years ago: In a case that produced a firestorm of outrage, 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. Senators at President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial voted to permit the showing of portions of Monica Lewinsky's videotaped deposition. Gravely ill with lymphatic cancer, Jordan's King Hussein left the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and was flown home.

Five years ago: The Massachusetts high court declared that gays were entitled to nothing less than marriage and that Vermont-style civil unions would not suffice. A Senate rattled by a ricin attack began returning to regular business with no illnesses reported.

One year ago: President George W. Bush proposed a record $3.1 trillion budget that included huge federal deficits. Thomas S. Monson was introduced as the 16th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, succeeded the late Gordon B. Hinckley. Harry Richard Landis, one of two known surviving U.S. veterans of World War I, died near Tampa, Fla. at age 108.

Today's birthdays: Actor William Phipps is 87. Actor Conrad Bain is 86. Actor Gary Conway is 73. Movie director George A. Romero is 69. Rock musician John Steel (The Animals) is 68. Singer Florence LaRue (The Fifth Dimension) is 65. Former Vice President Dan Quayle is 62. Rock singer Alice Cooper is 61. Actor Michael Beck is 60. Actress Lisa Eichhorn is 57. Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor is 50. Rock singer Tim Booth is 49. Rock musician Henry Bogdan is 48. Country singer Clint Black is 47. Country musician Dave Buchanan (Yankee Grey) is 43. Actress Gabrielle Anwar is 39. Actor Rob Corddry is 38. Singer David Garza is 38. Actor Michael Goorjian is 38. Rock musician Rick Burch (Jimmy Eat World) is 34. Singer Natalie Imbruglia is 34. Rapper Cam'ron is 33. Rock singer Gavin DeGraw is 32. Olympic gold medal gymnast-turned-singer Carly Patterson is 21.

Thought for today: "Life is doubt, and faith without doubt is nothing but death." -- Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish philosopher (1864-1936)

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.