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Sunrise ... sunset ... tides ... annual rainfall ... on this day in history ... international holiday celebrations ... full moon lore ... and more. Tune in for the Daily Almanac Monday through Friday at 5:49am and 8:49am.Do you have comments or questions, corrections, or suggestions for the Almanac? Would you like the Almanac to acknowledge a special birthday or anniversary? Contact me by email: kevin@kalw.org.

February 4, 2013

  • 35th Day of 2013 / 330 Remaining
  • 44 Days Until The First Day of Spring
  • Sunrise: 7:11
  • Sunset: 5:37
  •  
  • Moon Rise: 1:51am
  • Moon Set: 12:37pm
  • Moon’s Phase: 46 %
  • The Next Full Moon
  • February 25 @ 12:28pm
  • Full Snow Moon
  • Full Hunger Moon

Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February’s full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.

  • Tides
  • High: 5:28am/12:28pm
  • Low: 7:39pm/11:56pm
  • Rainfall (measured July 1 – June 30)
  • This Year:13.50
  • Last Year:6.06
  • Normal To Date:13.78
  • Annual Seasonal Average:23.80
  • February 4-8 is…
  • International Apparel Week
  • International Networking Week
  • International Friendship Week
  • National School Counseling Week
  • Commencement of the Armed Struggle - Angola
  • Independence Day - Sri Lanka
  •  
  • Liberace Day
  • Quacker Day
  • USO Day
  • World Cancer Day
  • National Stuffed Mushroom Day
  • National  Homemade Soup Day

On this day in history...

1783 - Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.

1789 - Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.

1824 - J.W. Goodrich introduced rubber galoshes to the public.

1847 - In Maryland, the first U.S. Telegraph Company was established.

1861 - Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, AL, to form the Confederate States of America.

1865 - The Hawaiian Board of Education was formed.

1895 - The Van Buren Street Bridge opened in Chicago, IL.

1901 - "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines" opened in New York City.

1904 - The Russo-Japanese War began after Japan laid siege to Port Arthur.

1913 - Louis Perlman received a patent for his demountable tire-carrying rims.

1930 Candy maker Frank C. Mars of Minnesota introduced the Snickers bar in 1930.

1932 - The first Winter Olympics were held in the United States at Lake Placid, NY.

1935 - CBS radio presented "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch" for the first time.

1936 - Radium E. became the first radioactive substance to be produced synthetically.

1938 - The play "Our Town", by Thornton Wilder, opened in New York City.

1941 - The United Service Organizations (USO) was created.

1945 - During World War II, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a conference at Yalta to outline plans for Germany's defeat.

1948 - Ceylon gained independence within the British Commonwealth. The country later became known as Sri Lanka.

1952 - Jackie Robinson was named Director of Communication for NBC. He was the first black executive of a major radio-TV network.

1953 - "The Stooge" premiered at the Paramount Theatre in New York City.

1957 - Smith-Corona Manufacturing Inc., of New York, began selling portable electric typewriters. The first machine weighed 19 pounds.

1964 - The Administrator of General Services announced that the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had been ratified. The amendment banned the poll tax.

1968 - The world's largest hovercraft was launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight.

1973 - The Reshef was unveiled as Israel's missile boat.

1974 - Patricia (Patty) Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, CA, by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

1976 - An earthquake in Guatemala and Honduras killed more than 22,000 people.

1985 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan's defense budget called for a tripling of the expenditure on the "Star Wars" research program.

1993 - Russian scientists unfurled a giant mirror in orbit and flashed a beam of sunlight across Europe during the night. Observers saw it only as a momentary flash.

1997 - A civil jury in California found O.J. Simpson liable in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Goldman's parents were awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages.

1997 - Two Israeli troop-carrying helicopters collided on their way to Lebanon, all 73 soldiers and airmen aboard were killed.

1997 - President Milosevic of Serbia apparently surrendered to the will of his people, ordering his government to recognize opposition victories in local elections held in November 1996.

1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) scored his 600th National Hockey League (NHL) goal during his 719th game. Lemieux reached the milestone second fastest in history. Gretzky had reached the plateau during his 718th game.

1998 - In northeast Afghanistan, at least 5,000 people were killed in an earthquake that measured 6.1 on the Richter Scale.

1999 - Warplanes from Israel attacked south Lebanon just after rockets were fired toward Israel. No casualies were claimed on either side.

1999 - Gary Coleman was sentenced to a $400 fine, a suspended 90-day jail sentence, and ordered to attend 52 anger-management classes. The sentence stemmed from Coleman assaulting an autograph seeker on July 30, 1998.

1999 - Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, was shot and killed in front of his Bronx home by four plainclothes New York City police officers. The officers had been conducting a nighttime search for a rape suspect.

2000 - Austrian President Thomas Klestil swore in a coalition government that included Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party. European Union sanctions were a result of the action.

2003 - Yugoslavia was formally dissolved by lawmakers. The country was replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.

If today’s your birthday, you share it with…

Mark Hopkins 1802
Fernand Léger 1881
Jacques Prévert 1900
Charles Lindbergh 1902
MacKinlay Kantor 1904
Eddie Foy Jr. 1905
James Craig 1912
Byron Nelson 1912
Rosa Parks 1913
Dick Seaman 1913
William Talman 1915
Ida Lupino 1918
Norman Wisdom 1918
Betty Friedan 1921
William Phipps 1922
Conrad Bain 1923
Gary Conway 1936
John Schuck 1940
George A. Romero 1940
John Steel (The Animals) 1941
Cheryl Miller 1943
Florence LaRue (The Fifth Dimension) 1944
David Brenner 1945
Dan Quayle 1947
Alice Cooper 1948

Michael Beck 1949
Pamela Franklin 1950
Lisa Eichhorn 1952
Lawrence Taylor 1959
Pamela Ferdin 1960
Tim Booth (James) 1960
Henry Bogdan (Helmet) 1961
Clint Black 1962
Dave Buchanan (Yankee Grey) 1966
Gabrielle Anwar 1970
David Garza 1971
Michael Goorjian 1971
Natalie Imbruglia 1975
Rick Burch (Jimmy Eat World) 1975
Cam'ron 1976

David Latulippe is host of On the Arts, KALW's weekly radio magazine of the performing arts, as well as for Explorations in Music, and the Berkeley Symphony broadcasts. He has also hosted and produced the radio series From the Conservatory, Music from Mills, and Music at Menlo, and is principal guest host for Revolutions Per Minute.