1. On February 4, 1899, Missouri Senator Francis M. Cockrell introduced a bill that would establish a national forest reserve in the Ozark Mountains. The bill was later signed into law and became the Mark Twain National Forest, which covers over 1.5 million acres in southern Missouri.

2. Missouri-born athlete, Jackie Robinson, made history on February 4, 1949, when he signed a record-breaking contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African American player to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

3. On February 4, 1978, the St. Louis Blues played their first-ever game at the newly-built NHL arena, the St. Louis Arena. The Blues went on to win the game against the Washington Capitals, 3-0.

4. Missouri native and Hollywood actor, Brad Pitt, was born on February 4, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Pitt was raised in Springfield, Missouri, and attended the University of Missouri in Columbia.

5. On February 4, 1837, the Missouri State Legislature approved the creation of Lafayette County, named after the Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette. The county was carved out of Jackson County and is located in the western part of the state.