February 4: A President Chosen, An Heiress Taken, and A Network Born
February 4 connects three moments that shaped American leadership, captivated the nation's attention, and transformed human connection—when the Electoral College unanimously chose the one man trusted to define the presidency, when a bizarre kidnapping blurred the lines between victim and accomplice, and when a college student launched a website that would fundamentally alter how billions of people communicate. These stories remind us that institutions need the right person at the beginning, that truth can be stranger than fiction, and that dorm room ideas can change the world.
The Indispensable Man
On February 4, 1789, the Electoral College met and unanimously elected George Washington as the first President of the United States, with 69 electoral votes. John Adams received 34 votes, making him Vice President under the system that gave the office to the runner-up. Washington's unanimous selection reflected the nation's recognition that he was the only person with the stature, character, and trust necessary to launch the presidency successfully. He had led the Continental Army to unlikely victory, then voluntarily surrendered power—an act that stunned European observers accustomed to generals who seized power rather than relinquished it. Americans believed Washington would define the presidency through example rather than ambition.
Washington understood that every action would set precedent for future presidents. He established the cabinet system, created the practice of seeking Senate advice on treaties, set the two-term tradition, and demonstrated that the presidency's power came from constitutional legitimacy rather than military force. He could have been king—many expected it—but instead became president, showing the world that republics could work and that leaders could voluntarily leave power. His Farewell Address warned against partisan division and foreign entanglements, advice that shaped American policy for generations. The man elected on this day proved that institutions are only as strong as the people who first inhabit them, that character matters more than constitutional clauses, and that sometimes history provides the right person at exactly the right moment. Washington's greatest achievement wasn't winning independence but walking away from power when he could have kept it forever, establishing that American presidents serve fixed terms and then go home. The unanimous vote on this day recognized not just a war hero but the man who could teach Americans how to be citizens of a republic rather than subjects of a king.
From Victim to Accomplice
On February 4, 1974, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)—a radical left-wing terrorist group—kidnapped 19-year-old Patricia Hearst from her Berkeley apartment. Hearst was the granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, making her a high-profile target. The SLA demanded millions in food distribution to California's poor as ransom. The nation watched, horrified, as the heiress was held in a closet, subjected to abuse and indoctrination. Then, just weeks later, came the shocking twist: Hearst announced she had joined her captors, adopting the nom de guerre "Tania" and participating in a San Francisco bank robbery captured on surveillance cameras.
The transformation from kidnapping victim to revolutionary raised questions that divided the nation: Was Hearst truly converted or coerced under duress? The concept of "Stockholm syndrome"—where captives develop psychological bonds with captors—entered American vocabulary through her case. After her capture in 1975, Hearst was convicted of bank robbery and served nearly two years before President Carter commuted her sentence. President Clinton later granted her a full pardon. Her case became a touchstone for debates about coercion, brainwashing, free will, and justice. The bizarre saga that began on this day demonstrated how 1970s radicalism could produce surreal scenarios, how privilege offered no protection from violence, and how a kidnapping could transform into something far stranger than anyone imagined. Hearst's story remains one of America's most controversial—a case where victim and perpetrator seemed to merge, where revolutionary rhetoric met criminal reality, and where a young woman's ordeal became a national spectacle that still provokes debate about personal agency under extreme duress.
The Face Book Launches
On February 4, 2004, Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg launched "TheFacebook" from his dorm room in Kirkland House. The site initially served only Harvard students, requiring a harvard.edu email address to register. Within 24 hours, over 1,200 students had signed up; within a month, over half of Harvard's undergraduates had profiles. The concept was simple: create an online version of the "face books" distributed to incoming students, allowing them to connect with classmates, share photos, and build networks. Zuckerberg had coded the site in just two weeks, building on his earlier—and controversial—FaceMash project that ranked students' attractiveness.
Within months, TheFacebook expanded to other Ivy League schools, then to universities nationwide, then globally. It dropped the "The" from its name, opened to non-students, and grew into Facebook—now Meta—with over 3 billion users worldwide. The platform fundamentally transformed human communication, creating new forms of connection while raising profound questions about privacy, misinformation, mental health, and corporate power. Facebook made Zuckerberg one of the world's richest people and most controversial tech leaders. The dorm room project launched on this day demonstrated that the internet's most influential platforms often start as college projects, that connecting people at scale creates both value and problems, and that technological capability advances faster than society's ability to manage its consequences. Facebook changed how we share news, organize movements, maintain friendships, and present ourselves—for better and worse. The website Zuckerberg launched from his dorm room proved that a 19-year-old with coding skills and a compelling idea could create something that would reshape global communication, redefine privacy expectations, and make human connection both more ubiquitous and more complicated than ever before.
