Today is Saturday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 2012. There are 331 days left in the year.
On Feb. 4, 1962, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was founded in Memphis, Tenn., by entertainer Danny Thomas.
On this date:
In 1783, Britain’s King George III proclaimed a formal cessation of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War.
In 1789, electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.
In 1861, delegates from six southern states that had recently seceded from the Union met in Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.
In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin Roosevelt opened the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid.
In 1941, the United Service Organizations (USO) came into existence.
In 1962, a rare conjunction of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn occurred.
In 1983, pop singer-musician Karen Carpenter died in Downey, Calif., at age 32.