Anniversaries 4 February

Birth

Josiah Quincy III1

American politician 1772–1864

Thomas Kibble Hervey7

British poet and critic 1799–1859

Mark Hopkins (educator)32

American educationalist and theologian 1802–1887

Frederick Goddard Tuckerman3

American poet 1821–1873

A. V. Dicey3

British jurist and constitutional theorist 1835–1922

Georg Brandes40

Danish literature critic and scholar 1842–1927

Bill Haywood8

Labor organizer 1869–1928

Gotse Delchev4

revolutionary from the Balkans 1872–1903

Ma Fuxiang5

Chinese politician 1876–1932

Zabel Yesayan4

Armenian writer 1878–1943

Fernand Léger42

French painter 1881–1955

Ludwig Erhard5

German politician 1897–1977

Jacques Prevért12

French poet, screenwriter 1900–1977

Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross7

British politician 1902–2003

Charles Lindbergh39

American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social ac… 1902–1974

Graham Sutton2

Welsh scientist 1903–1977

Dietrich Bonhoeffer161

German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi 1906–1945

Otto Ohlendorf11

German general 1907–1951

Rosa Parks22

African-American civil rights activist 1913–2005

Norman Wisdom1

English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter 1915–2010

Gavin Ewart4

English poet 1916–1995

Lotfi A. Zadeh18

Electrical engineer and computer scientist 1921–2017

Betty Friedan33

American activist 1921–2006

Bhimsen Joshi11

Indian vocalist 1922–2011

Joan Vollmer6

Common-law wife of William S. Burroughs 1923–1951

Russell Hoban5

American British novelist, children's writer and illustrator 1925–2011

Robert Coover2

writer, teacher 1932

Jimmy Magee14

Gaelic games commentatot 1935–2017

Birju Maharaj7

Indian dancer 1938

George A. Romero3

American-Canadian film director, film producer, screenwrite… 1940–2017

Laisenia Qarase57

Prime Minister of Fiji 1941

John R. Leopold3

politician 1943

Ken Thompson28

American computer scientist, creator of the Unix operating … 1943

Karen Davis (activist)1

American activist 1944

Dan Quayle41

American politician, lawyer 1947

Alice Cooper30

American rock singer, songwriter and musician 1948

Agha Shahid Ali1

poet 1949–2001

Sheryll Murray3

British politician 1956

Michael Simkins1

British actor 1956

Keigo Higashino4

Japanese mystery writer 1958

Lawrence Taylor10

All-American college football player, professional football… 1959

Jonathan Larson28

American composer and playwright 1960–1996

Siobhan Dowd1

British writer and activist 1960–2007

Stewart O'Nan3

American writer 1961

Thomas E. Sniegoski2

writer 1962

Roderick Long11

American philosopher 1964

Hunter Biden3

American lawyer, investment advisor, and second son of form… 1970

Eric Garcetti12

American politician 1971

Dara Ó Briain11

Irish comedian and television presenter 1972

Oscar De La Hoya1

American boxer 1973

Valya Dudycz Lupescu7

American writer 1974

Natalie Imbruglia2

British-Australian singer and actor 1975

Michael Vassar4

President of the Singularity Institute 1979

Kentaro Yabuki1

Japanese manga artist 1980

Nkosi Johnson4

South African child AIDS activist 1989–2001

Death

Septimius Severus5

Emperor of Ancient Rome 145–211

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury17

English politician and Earl 1671–1713

Robert Blair9

British writer 1699–1746

John Ferriar4

British writer and physician 1761–1815

Theodoros Kolokotronis8

Greek general 1770–1843

Valentine Blacker3

British colonial administrator 1778–1826

Mary Elizabeth Braddon2

English author 1835–1915

Hendrik Lorentz5

Dutch physicist 1853–1928

Chapman Cohen8

British atheist and secularist writer and lecturer 1868–1954

Edward Sapir10

American linguist and anthropologist 1884–1939

Luigi Russolo11

Electronic music pioneer and Futurist painter 1885–1947

William Darling (politician)10

Scottish politician 1885–1962

Hans Blüher2

German journalist and writer 1888–1955

Brock Chisholm3

Doctor and soldier 1896–1971

Edith Summerskill, Baroness Summerskill1

British politician 1901–1980

Carl R. Rogers28

American psychologist 1902–1987

Bergen Evans3

American lexicographer 1904–1978

Ivo Kozarčanin3

Croatian writer 1911–1941

Henry Kuttner31

American author 1915–1958

Ossie Davis1

American actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and soc… 1917–2005

Betty Friedan33

American activist 1921–2006

Patricia Highsmith22

American novelist and short story writer 1921–1995

Iannis Xenakis3

Greek composer 1922–2001

Neal Cassady2

American cultural figure of 1950s and 1960s 1926–1968

Matti Nykänen1

Finnish ski jumper 1963–2019