By The Associated Press

                     - Today is Thursday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 1999. There are 330
                       days left in the year.

                     - On Feb. 4, 1789, electors unanimously chose George Washington to
                       be the first president of the United States.
                     - In 1783, Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with
                       its former colonies, the United States of America.
                     - In 1801, John Marshall was sworn in as chief justice of the
                       United States.
                     - In 1861, delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery,
                       Ala., to form the Confederate States of America.
                     - In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the Winter
                       Olympic Games at Lake Placid.
                     - In 1938, the Thornton Wilder play "Our Town" opened on Broadway.
                     - In 1941, the United Service Organizations (USO) came into
                       existence.
                     - In 1945, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston
                       Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a wartime conference
                       at Yalta.
                     - In 1948, the island nation of Ceylon - now Sri Lanka - became an
                       independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.
                     - In 1974, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in
                       Berkeley, Calif., by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
                     - In 1983, singer Karen Carpenter died in Downey, Calif., at age 32.
                     - In 1987, pianist Liberace died at his Palm Springs, Calif., home
                       at age 67.
                     - In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica, Calif., found O.J. Simpson
                       liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her
                       friend, Ronald Goldman.
                     - Ten years ago: Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze wrapped
                       up four days of high-level talks in China, the first visit by a
                       Soviet foreign minister in three decades.
                     - Five years ago: The Federal Reserve increased interest rates for
                       the first time in five years in a surprise announcement that
                       triggered a huge sell-off on Wall Street; the Fed said the move was
                       designed to head off any recurrence of high inflation.
                     - One year ago: An estimated 5,000 people were killed when an
                       earthquake hit northeast Afghanistan with a magnitude of 6.1.

                     - Today's Birthdays: Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks is 86.
                     Feminist author Betty Friedan is 78. Actor Conrad Bain is 76. Actor
                     Gary Conway is 63. Former Sen. Donald Riegle, D-Mich., is 61. Movie
                     director George Romero ("Night of the Living Dead") is 59. Singer
                     Florence LaRue (The Fifth Dimension) is 55. Comedian David Brenner
                     is 54. Former Vice President Dan Quayle is 52. Rock singer Alice
                     Cooper is 51. Actor Michael Beck is 50. Actress Pamela Franklin is
                     49. Actress Lisa Eichorn is 47. Rock musician Henry Bogdan (Helmet)
                     is 38. Country singer Clint Black is 37. Actress Gabrielle Anwar is
                     29. Singer Natalie Imbruglia is 24.