On This Day: February 4th

It is February 4th, the 35th day of the year, 330 days left in the year. Happy Independence Day to my Sri Lankan readers! Now let’s get started:

• 1703 – 46 of the 47 Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) after avenging their master’s death.  This story is a national legend in Japan, and the 1998 movie Ronin is loosely based on this story.
• 1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected the first President of the United States.
• 1792 – George Washington is unanimously elected President of the United States for a second time.  He remains the only person to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College.
• 1794 – The French Republic abolishes slavery in all of its territories.
• 1859 – The Codex Sinaiticus, an ancient Greek copy of the Bible, is discovered in Egypt.
• 1861 – Delegates from six southern states form the Cofederate States of America.
• 1899 – The Phillipine-American War begins.  This war was an insurrection by Filipino nationals against American rule following the Spanish-American War.
• 1941 – The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops during World War I.  Contrary to popular belief, this is a non-governmental, non-profit, private organization that operates under Congressional charter, and not a part of the federal government.
• 1974 – Patty Hearst (pictured below in an SLA promo) is kidnapped from her Berkeley, CA apartment by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a now-defunct American urban guerrilla warfare group.  This case remains a classic example of Stockholm Syndrome, as Hearst appeared to take up the cause of the SLA, and committed crimes with them.
• 1992 – Current Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez leads a failed coup attempt against then-President Carlos Andres Perez.  Chavez would spend 2 years in prison before being pardoned in 1994, and then elected President in 1998.
• 2004 – Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

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