TODAY IN HISTORY
February 4, 1789: The Electoral College votes unanimously to make George Washington the first President of the United States. John Adams finished second and thereby became vice president. Only ten of the original 13 states participated. New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island were left out—North Carolina and Rhode Island because they still hadn’t ratified the Constitution, and New York because its legislature failed to choose a slate of electors by the January 7 deadline.
February 4, 1861: Representatives of seven US states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina—meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to draw up a preliminary constitution for a new secessionist nation. Texas would soon join once the results of its February 1 referendum were tabulated. The “Montgomery Convention,” as the meeting is sometimes known, formed the basis of the future Confederate States of America.
MIDDLE EAST
SYRIA
The US military’s Central Command reported on Wednesday that it carried out five airstrikes targeting alleged Islamic State-related sites in Syria between January 27 and February 2. These were apparently substantial operations, employing over 50 munitions in total. There’s no indication as to where they took place or any casualties/damage they caused but CENTCOM did make sure to note that they were conducted with the support of the Syrian government. The Pentagon may be aiming for a final flurry of anti-IS strikes before it withdraws US forces from Syria now that it’s no longer backing the Syrian Democratic Forces group.
