41st year - N° 35 Wednesday, 4 February 2026

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-) 41st year - N° 35 Wednesday, 4 February 2026

4 February / Today's 34 Events: (-) 1318 years ago  Tuesday 4th of February 0708 87th Pope Sisinnius dies of gout at the age of 58 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. Sisinnius remained pope for just twenty days. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "although he was so afflicted with gout that he was unable even to feed himself, he is nevertheless said to have been a man of strong character, and to have been able to take thought for the good of the city". (x) 146 years ago  Wednesday 4th of February 1880 69-year-old James Donnelly, his 60-year-old wife Johannah, and their children 26-year-old Thomas and 32-year-old John and their niece Bridget are killed with clubs, spades, axes and gunfire by 25 members of the ‘Whiteboys’ Northern Division in Lucan, Ontario, Canada. After the Whiteboys had committed their bloody work they burned the house to the ground. A small boy named Conner took refuge under the bed and escaped unhurt. (+) 145 years ago  Friday 4th of February 1881 Artist Fernand Joseph Henri Léger is born in Argentan, Basse-Normandie, France. (-) 132 years ago  Sunday 4th of February 1894 Musician and musical instrument designer Adolphe Antoine-Joseph Sax dies of unknown causes at the age of 80 in Paris, Île-de-France, France. (+) 126 years ago  Sunday 4th of February 1900 Poet Jacques Prévert is born in 19 Rue de Chartres, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Île-de-France, France. (+) 124 years ago  Tuesday 4th of February 1902 Aviation pioneer Charles Augustus Lindbergh aka The Lone Eagle is born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. (+) 119 years ago  Monday 4th of February 1907 Victim of Fritz Haarmann aka Der Hannover Werwolf Wilhelm Erdner is born in Gehrden, Niedersachsen, Germany. (+) 118 years ago  Tuesday 4th of February 1908 Model and actress Gwili Andre, originally Gurli Andresen aka Gurlie is born in Copenhagen, Hovedstaden, Denmark. (x) 115 years ago  Saturday 4th of February 1911 24-year-old Mass poisoner John Hutchinson serves poisoned coffee at a party in his father's house in Dalkeith, Scotland, United Kingdom. From the 18 guests two died the same evening and twelve others were violently ill. The dead were 50-year-old Charles Hutchison and Alexander Clapperton. (-) 114 years ago  Sunday 4th of February 1912 Tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer Franz Reichelt aka The Birdman aka The Flying Tailor crashes to death while jumping from the first platform with an experimental parachute at the age of 33 in Tour Eiffel, Champ de Mars, VIIe, Paris, Île-de-France, France. Le Petit Parisien reported that Reichelt's right leg and arm were crushed, his skull and spine broken, and that he was bleeding from his mouth, nose and ears. Le Figaro noted that his eyes were wide open, dilated with terror. He was already dead by the time the onlookers rushed to his body, but he was taken to the Necker hospital where he was officially pronounced dead and then on to a police station in the rue Amelie before being returned to his home in rue Gaillon. (+) 112 years ago  Wednesday 4th of February 1914 Deputy to Rupert Murdoch Muriel McKay is born in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. (+) 111 years ago  Thursday 4th of February 1915 SS-Sturmbannführer Walter Reder aka The Butcher of Marzabotto is born in Freiwaldau, Sudetenland, Austria-Hungary. (-) 105 years ago  Friday 4th of February 1921 Murderer William Thomas Gray is executed by hanging by Albert Pierrepoint at the age of 29 in Wandsworth Prison, Wandsworth, London, Greater London, United Kingdom. (-) 105 years ago  Friday 4th of February 1921 Murderer Jack Alfred Field is executed by hanging by Albert Pierrepoint at the age of 19 in Wandsworth Prison, Wandsworth, London, Greater London, United Kingdom. (+) 103 years ago  Sunday 4th of February 1923 Beat Generation prominent Joan Vollmer is born in Loudonville, New York, United States. (+) 86 years ago  Sunday 4th of February 1940 Film director George Andrew Romero aka The Grandfather of the Zombie is born in Bronx, New York, New York, United States. (+) 78 years ago  Wednesday 4th of February 1948 Possible victim of the Zodiac Killer Cheri Jo Josephine Bates is born in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. (+) 78 years ago They Said Hello Hooray Wednesday 4th of February 1948 Musician Alice Cooper, originally Vincent Damon Furnier aka The Godfather of Shock Rock is born in Allen Park, Detroit, Michigan, United States. (+) 63 years ago  Monday 4th of February 1963 Multiple murderer Garcia Glen White is born in Houston, Texas, United States. (x) 60 years ago  Friday 4th of February 1966 133 die in All Nippon Airways Boeing 727-81 Flight 60 crash in Tokyo Bay, Kantō, Japan. (x) 52 years ago  Monday 4th of February 1974 20-year-old Newspaper heiress, kidnap victim and member of the Symbionese Liberation Army Patty Patricia Campbell Hearst is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 2603 Benvenue Avenue, Berkeley, California, United States. When an attempt to swap Hearst for jailed SLA members failed, the SLA demanded that the captive's family distribute $70 worth of food to every needy Californian – an operation that would cost an estimated $400 million. On 3 April 1974 Hearst announced on an audiotape that she had joined the SLA and assumed the name 'Tania'. (-) 43 years ago Cachexia Skipped a Syrupy Heartbeat Friday 4th of February 1983 Musician Karen Carpenter dies of heartbeat irregularities brought on by chemical imbalances associated with anorexia nervosa at the age of 33 in Downey, California, United States. (x) 42 years ago  Saturday 4th of February 1984 Anneliese Schreiner is attacked and raped by serial killer Thomas Rath aka Der Moormörder in Bremen, Freie Hansestadt Bremen, Germany. Schreiner survived. (-) 40 years ago  Tuesday 4th of February 1986 John Jordan is presumably strangled by serial killer Kenneth Erskine aka The Stockwell Strangler in Josephine Avenue, Brixton, London, Greater London, United Kingdom. (-) 39 years ago  Wednesday 4th of February 1987 Pianist and entertainer Liberace, originally Władziu Valentino Liberace aka The Glitter Man aka The King of Bling dies of AIDS at the age of 68 in Palm Springs, California, United States. (x) 37 years ago  Saturday 4th of February 1989 Noise music band Club Moral play their 79th concert in Les Établissements Phonographiques de l'Est, 115 Rue Du Chemin Vert, XIe, Paris, Île-de-France, France. (-) 31 years ago  Saturday 4th of February 1995 Writer Patricia Mary Highsmith dies of aplastic anemia and cancer at the age of 74 in Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland. (x) 29 years ago  Tuesday 4th of February 1997 55-year-old Serial killer Myra Hindley aka The Moors Murderers (with Ian Brady) is given notice that she will never leave prison during her life in London, Greater London, United Kingdom. (-) 27 years ago They Would Still Hate Him in the Morning Thursday 4th of February 1999 Triple murderer Sean Richard Sellers aka The Schoolboy Night Stalker aka The Night Roomer is executed by lethal injection at the age of 30 in Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester, Oklahoma, United States. Sellers' last meal request was for Chinese food: eggrolls, sweet-and-sour shrimp, and batter-fried shrimp. Seller's last words included "All the people that are hating me right now and are here waiting to see me die, when you wake up in the morning, you're not going to feel any different. You're going to hate me just as much tomorrow as tonight." (-) 25 years ago  Sunday 4th of February 2001 Composer Iannis Xenakis dies of a serious illness at the age of 79 in Paris, Île-de-France, France. (-) 23 years ago He Asked for Six Chocolate Chip Cookies Tuesday 4th of February 2003 Murderer John William Elliott aka Jackie is executed by lethal injection at the age of 43 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States. Elliott's last meal request was for one cup of hot tea from tea bags and six chocolate chip cookies. 22 years ago  Wednesday 4th of February 2004 Devotees of all kind gathering for the Thaipoosam Festive Days at the festival grounds in Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia. (-) 17 years ago He Had an Interior Dissection Wednesday 4th of February 2009 Musician Lux Interior, originally Erick Lee Purkhiser dies of aortic dissection at the age of 63 in Glendale Memorial Hospital, 1420 S Central Avenue, Glendale, California, United States. 13 years ago  Monday 4th of February 2013 A dish of stuffed squid in Borgerhout, Antwerpen, Belgium.

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