February 4, 2021

1,810 years ago
211

Died on this date
Septimius Severus, 55. Emperor of the Roman Empire, 193-211. Septimius Severus, a native of Africa, advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, and seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax during the Year of the Five Emperors, killing incumbent Emperor Didius Julianus. He achieved military success, enlarging the borders of the Empire. Emperor Severus travelled to Britain in 208, strengthening Hadrian's Wall, reoccupying the Antonine Wall, and invading Caledona (Scotland). He fell fatally ill with an infectious disease late in 210. Severus was succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta, beginning the Severan dynasty.

220 years ago
1801

Law
John Marshall was sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States; he replaced Oliver Ellsworth, who had resigned on December 15, 1800.

160 years ago
1861

Politics and government
Delegates from the southern states that had voted to secede from the Union--South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana--met in Montgomery, Alabama and organized a provisional government for the Confederate States of America. Texas had also voted to secede, but their delegates were delayed in arriving.

150 years ago
1871

Born on this date
Friedrich Ebert. Chancellor of Germany, 1918-1919; 1st President of Germany, 1919-1925. Mr. Ebert, leader of the Social Democratic Party, became Chancellor as Kaiser Wilhelm II was fleeing for the Netherlands, and took office as provisional President on February 11, 1919, and retained the position after the new constitution came into effect in August 1919. He cooperated with nationalist groups in suppressing worker uprisings, which made him a figure of controversy. Mr. Ebert died of septic shock after an emergency appendectomy on February 28, 1925, 24 days after his 54th birthday.

140 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz. President of Mexico, 1914-1915. Mr. Gutiérrez was a general from Coahuila in the Mexican Revolution, and was elected President by the Aguascalientes Convention after the ouster of President Victoriano Huerta. President Gutiérrez moved the capital from Mexico City to San Luis Potosi, but he was unsuccessful in attempting to control the two main generals of the revolution, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. Mr. Gutiérrez resigned as President and made peace with the revolution's "Primer Jefe" ("First Chief"), Venustiano Carranza. Mr. Gutiérrez went into exile in the United States, but returned to Mexico in 1920, and was elected Senator and Governor of Coahuila in 1928. He supported the rebellion of José Gonzalo Escobar in 1929, but was forced into exile in San Antonio, Texas when the rebellion failed. Mr. Gutiérrez returned to Mexico again in 1935, and died in Saltillo on August 12, 1939 at the age of 58.

130 years ago
1891

Died on this date
Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, 74. Mexican clergyman. Rev. Labastida, known for his conservative views, was named Roman Catholic Bishop of Puebla in 1855. When Liberals returned to power in Mexico in 1857, Rev. Labastida went into exile in Europe. He was recalled to Mexico in 1859 after Conservatives regained power, but was later exiled to Europe again. Rev. Labastida met Archduke Maximilian of Austria in 1862, and in 1863 visited Pope Pius IX, who appointed him Archbishop of Mexico. After French forces invaded Mexico in 1862 and a Council of Notables was convened in 1863 to discuss the founding of an empire, Archbishop Labastida proposed that Maximilian should be made Emperor, and was named by the Council of Notables to the Regency of the Empire prior to Maximilian's acceptance of the offer. Archbishop Labastida was removed from the Council of Notables in November 1863 because of differences with French commander François Achille Bazaine, and returned to Euope after the triumph of the Republic in 1867, but without resigning his office. Archbishop Labastida attended the First Vatican Council (1870-1871), and was permitted by Mexican President Benito Juarez to return to the country, which he did.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Friedrich Glauser. Austro-Hungarian-born Swiss author. Mr. Glauser, a native of Vienna, moved to Switzerland with his family in 1910, and served in the French Foreign Legion from 1921-1923. He was best known for the Sergeant Studer series of detective novels in the 1930s, which made references to current European history. Mr. Glauser was a morphine and opium addict for most of his life, and died of a stroke on December 8, 1938 at the age of 42.

120 years ago
1901

Popular culture
Québec City revived its Winter Carnival.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Betty Friedan. U.S. author and feminist activist. Mrs. Friedan, born Betty Goldstein, was the author of The Feminine Mystique (1963); co-founded in 1966 and served as the first president of the National Orgnization for Women (NOW); and was responsible more than anyone else for creating the modern feminist movement and its associated evils. She provided ample evidence for Rush Limbaugh's statement that the feminist movement was created to give unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society. Mrs. Friedan died on February 4, 2006, her 85th birthday.

Economics and finance
Germans of all classes were united in rejecting Allied demands for $55 billion in Great War reparations.

80 years ago
1941

War
Japanese troops made a surprise landing in the Chinese province of Kwantung in an effort to cut supply lines into free China.

Defense
U.S. Army General Robert E. Wood, acting chairman of the America First Committee, claimed the the United Kingdom had enough assets in the United States to finance war orders for another 12-18 months.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the extension of the export licensing system to the U.S.S.R. in an effort to prevent shipments from reaching Germany through Russia.

Popular culture
The United Service Organizations (USO) was incorporated in New York to provide recreational opportunities for U.S. armed forces personnel on leave.

75 years ago
1946

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Symphony--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra with Clyde Rogers (3rd week at #1)
--Bing Crosby
--Jo Stafford
--Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
2 Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra with Vaughn Monroe and the Norton Sisters
--Woody Herman and his Orchestra
3 I Can't Begin to Tell You--Bing Crosby with Carmen Cavallaro
--Harry James and his Orchestra
--Andy Russell
4 It Might as Well Be Spring--Dick Haymes
--Paul Weston and his Orchestra with Margaret Whiting
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
5 Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief--Betty Hutton
6 Dig You Later (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba)--Perry Como and the Satisfyers
7 Chickery Chick--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra with Nancy Norman, Billy Williams and the Kaye Choir
--Evelyn Knight and the Jesters
8 Personality--Johnny Mercer
9 Waitin' for the Train to Come In--Peggy Lee
--Harry James and his Orchestra
--Johnny Long and his Orchestra and Dick Robertson
10 It's Been a Long Long Time--Harry James and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby with Les Paul and his Trio
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
--Stan Kenton and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were the version of Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Woody Herman and his Orchestra; Slowly, with versions by Kay Kyser and his Orchestra and Dick Haymes (#14); Money is the Root of All Evil (Take it Away, Take it Away, Take it Away) by the Andrews Sisters and Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (#17); One More Dream (And She's Mine) by Johnnie Johnston (#32); Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin', with versions by Stan Kenton and his Orchestra, and the Delta Rhythm Boys (#33); Everyone Knew But Me, with versions by Helen Forrest with Les Paul and his Trio, and Louis Prima and his Orchestra (#37); All I Owe Ioway by Dick Haymes (#38); 9:20 Special by Harry James and his Orchestra (#39); and Warsaw Concerto by Carmen Cavallaro and his Orchestra (#42). One More Dream (And She's Mine) was the other side of As Long as I Live, charting at #28 with the version by Frankie Carle and his Orchestra. The version of Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' by Stan Kenton and his Orchestra was the other side of Artistry Jumps, charting at #25.

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Indiscretion of Mr. Edwards

Theatre
Born Yesterday, starring Judy Holliday, Paul Douglas, and Gary Merrill, opened at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway in New York.

War
Testimony at the trial in Nuremberg of accused Nazi war criminals revealed that German counter-intelligence chief Admiral Wilhelm Canaris had refused to carry out General Keitel's orders to seize and immobilize the French fleet six months before the Allied landing in north Africa. In other testimony, Belgian professor Dr. Leon van der Essen claimed that two German batteries had destroyed the famous University of Louvain library in May 1940, an incident the Nazis had later tried to blame on Britain. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the legality of the U.S. military tribunal which had sentenced Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita to death.

Diplomacy
The Argentine Foreign Office informed the United States that it had no evidence to substantiate Argentine presidential candidate Juan Peron's claim that the U.S. embassy had engaged in arms smuggling.

Defense
The U.S. War, Navy, and State Departments announced the organization of a college for high-ranking officials in Washington to emphasize problems of national security.

Economics and finance
Argentina reported its ratification of the Bretton Woods agreement.

Labour
About 3,500 tugboat workers of the American Federation of Labor International Longshoremen's Association went on strike in New York for a 40-hour work week.

70 years ago
1951

Theatre
The Rose Tattoo, written by Tennessee Williams, directed by Daniel Mann, and starring Maureen Stapleton, Phyllis Love, and Eli Wallach, opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway in New York.

Agriculture
Italian Agriculture Minister Antonio Segni disclosed details of the government's land reform program, involving distribution of 3.75 million acres to peasants between mid-1951 and 1953.

Labour
The U.S.S.R. said that the World Federation of Trade Unions would move its international headquarters from Paris to Warsaw.

Health
The Soviet Health Ministry publication Medical Worker reported that the oldest man in the U.S.S.R. ad probably the world was Masmir Kiut, 154, a Caucasian peasant.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra

#1 single in Italy: What a Sky (Su nel cielo)--Nico Fidenco (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Ramona--Blue Diamonds (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Dutch Top 40): Save the Last Dance for Me--The Drifters (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The Shirelles (2nd week at #1)
2 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
3 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
--[Mantovani & his Orchestra]
4 Shop Around--The Miracles
5 Wonderland By Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
--[Louis Prima]
--[Anita Bryant]
6 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka
7 Angel Baby--Rosie and the Originals
8 Emotions--Brenda Lee
9 Are You Lonesome To-Night?--Elvis Presley
10 Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee

Singles entering the chart were Ebony Eyes (#65)/Walk Right Back (#89) by the Everly Brothers; Dedicated to the One I Love by the Shirelles (#77); Little Boy Sad by Johnny Burnette (#85); Ginnie Bell by Paul Dino (#88); The Watusi by the Vibrations (#95); Stayin’ In by Bobby Vee (#97); You're the Boss by Lavern Baker & Jimmy Ricks (#98); I Remember by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs (#99); Ram-Bunk-Shush by the Ventures (#100); Close Together by Jimmy Reed (also #100); and Ja-Da by Johnny and the Hurricanes (also #100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Baby Sittin' Boogie--Buzz Clifford (2nd week at #1)
2 Shop Around--The Miracles
3 Oh Joan--The Beau-Marks
4 Ebony Eyes--The Everly Brothers
5 Apache--Jorgen Ingmann and his Guitar
6 Take Time Out--Carl Dobkins, Jr.
7 Emotions--Brenda Lee
8 Where the Boys Are--Connie Francis
9 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson
10 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were Havin' Fun by Dion (#37); Pony Time by Chubby Checker (#40); Dream Boy by Annette with the Afterbeats (#43); Tomorrow by the Shirelles (#44); Model Girl by Johnny Maestro (#46); A Scottish Soldier (Green Hills of Tyrol) by Andy Stewart (#47); More than I Can Say by Bobby Vee (#49); and At Last by Etta James (#50).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Baby Sittin' Boogie--Buzz Clifford
2 Ebony Eyes--The Everly Brothers
3 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka
4 Emotions--Brenda Lee
5 Wheels--The String-A-Longs
6 Where the Boys Are--Connie Francis
7 Shop Around--The Miracles
8 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson
9 Wings of a Dove--Paul Clayton
10 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were A Scottish Soldier (Green Hills of Tyrol) by Andy Stewart (#24); The Touchables by Dickie Goodman (#28); There's a Moon Out Tonight by the Capris (#33); Little Boy Sad by Johnny Burnette (#34); Pony Time by Chubby Checker (#37); Little Sad Eyes by the Castells (#39); and Top Forty, News, Weather and Sports by Mark Dinning (#40). The Touchables was a "break-in" record, a comedy record featuring excerpts from recent hits.

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik 7, whose purpose was to test life-support systems. The satellite weighed 14,292 pounds, making it the heaviest object yet sent into orbit by man. The Soviet announcement said that the satellite had been sent aloft by an "improved, multi-stage rocket." It was indicated that the project was aimed at testing the power of Soviet propulsion systems and increasing the weight of objects hurled into space as part of the Soviet plan to put a man into orbit. Sputnik 7 went into an orbit ranging from 138-203 miles above the Earth.



On television tonight
The Roaring 20's, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Two a Day

War
The Angolan War of Independence and the greater Portuguese Colonial War began.

World events
The Cuban government of Fidel Castro seized the company that supplied water to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but the water supply, sent to the naval base through an aqueduct of the Yateras Water Company, was not immediately affected. It was said that the government seized the company because its owners, members of the families that owned the Bacardi rum concern, had fled Cuba. The U.S. State Department said that the Navy had prepared for an emergency by developing a de-salting plant, adding reservoir capacity, and keeping water tankers stationed in the Caribbean Sea.

Terrorism
The drama that had begun on January 22 when pirates led by former Portuguese army captain Hecor Galvao hijacked the Portuguese cruise ship Santa Maria and held almost 1,000 people hostage in the Atlantic Ocean ended when Brazil returned the ship, at the request of the Portuguese government, to the Colonial Navigation Company of Lisbon. The crew and passengers had been debarked at Recife two days earlier, and Mr. Galvao and his 29 followers had been given asylum by Brazil.

Medicine
The journal Radiation Research published A Direct Measurement of the Radiation Sensitivity of Normal Mouse Bone Marrow Cells by Canadian Drs. James Till and Ernest McCulloch, their groundbreaking work proving the existence of stem cells in the blood, able to differentiate themselves into red or white cells or platelets.

Boxing
Joey Archer (30-0) won a 10-round majority decision over Don Fullmer (25-4-1) in a middleweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York. On the undercard, Wilf Greaves (33-16-1) of Edmonton won an 8-round majority decision over Obdulio Nunez (15-3) in another middleweight bout.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (4th week at #1)

War
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat agreed to extend the Middle East cease-fire for 30 days, but at the same time proposed that Israel should pull back its troops, and that Egypt would then begin clearing the Suez Canal for navigation.

Business
Rolls-Royce Ltd., the U.K.’s 14th-largest industrial firm, collapsed into receivership. The crash was attributed to a two-year deal with Lockheed Aircraft Corp. for 540 engines for its new triStar jet airbus at a fixed price of US$840,000. The actual cost of each engine rose to more than $1 million, putting the company over the brink. Rolls-Royce supplied engines for 110 airlines and 32 air forces. The motor car division, which accounted for only 5% of the firm, was due to be sold, while the British government of Prime Minister Edward Heath slated nationalization of the division held to be vital to national defense.

40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon (9th week at #1)
2 The Tide is High--Blondie
3 Looking for Clues--Robert Palmer
4 9 to 5--Dolly Parton
5 I Love a Rainy Night--Eddie Rabbitt
6 Celebration--Kool & The Gang
7 Turn Me Loose--Loverboy
8 De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da--The Police
9 The Winner Takes it All--ABBA
10 Passion--Rod Stewart

Singles entering the chart were Stealin' the Night by J.C. Stone (#18); I Ain't Gonna Stand for It by Stevie Wonder (#19); and Treat Me Right by Pat Benatar (#20).

World events
Iran released Mohi Sobhani, one of three Americans still being held in Iran.

Energy
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget announced that President Ronald Reagan intended to eliminate five large synthetic fuel development projects and to slash federal support to Synthetic Fuels Corporation by about 1/3, or $5.3 billion.

Oil
Exxon, Texaco, and Shell announced price increases averaging 9c per gallon on heating oil.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 3 @ Chicago 6

30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ai wa Katsu--(愛は勝つ)--Kan (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter--Iron Maiden

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Beinhart--Torfrock (2nd week at #1)

War
Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani made a surprise offer to hold peace talks directly with Iraq and the United States.

Economics and finance
U.S. President George Bush presented a $1.446-trillion budget to Congress for the 1992 fiscal year. The deficit was forecast at $280.9 billion, the second-highest ever. The figures reflected neither the full cost of the Gulf War nor of the savings and loan bailout.

Football
CFL
The Edmonton Eskimos named Ron Lancaster as their head coach, replacing the departed Joe Faragalli. "The Little General" had a 19-year Hall of Fame career as a quarterback with the Ottawa Rough Riders (1960-1962) and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders (1963-1978) before serving as the Roughriders' head coach in 1979-1980. After compiling a record of just 4 wins and 28 losses, Mr. Lancaster was let go by the Roughriders, but joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where he was an outstanding colour commentator on telecasts of CFL games from 1981-1990.

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): How Bizarre--OMC (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): Spaceman--Babylon Zoo (3rd week at #1)

Weather
A major snowstorm paralyzed the midwestern United States. Milwaukee tied its record low temperature at −26° F (−32.2° C).

Football
NFL
Pro Bowl @ Aloha Stadium, Honolulu
NFC 15 AFC 11

The National Football Conference scored 3 points in the 1st quarter and 17 in the 2nd as they held on to defeat the American Football Conference before 50,034 fans. Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers caught 6 passes for 82 yards and was named the game's most valuable player.

20 years ago
2001

Terrorism
Canadian Bill Sampson, who had been working in Riyadh for a Saudi government agency, and two other men--a Briton and a Belgian--appeared on television in Saudi Arabia and explained how they carried out two bombings in Riyadh in November 2000, which had killed one Briton and injured four others. If sentenced according to Sharia law, the men risked execution by beheading.

Football
NFL
Pro Bowl @ Aloha Stadium, Honolulu
AFC 38 NFC 17

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Martial Célestin, 97. Prime Minister of Haiti, 1988. Mr. Célestin was Haitian Ambassador to France (1953-1956), but his career suffered under the dictatorships of Presidents François (1957-1971) and Jean Claude (1971-1986) Duvalier. Mr. Célestin became a law professor, and was named Prime Minister by President Leslie Manigat on February 9, 1988, and took office as Justice Minister three days later. He was deposed on June 20, 1988 in the coup led by Henri Namphy that also deposed Mr. Manigat, and returned to his position as a law professor, retiring in 2005.