Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Today in Music History for Feb. 4: In 1894, Belgian musician and inventor Adolphe Sax died at age 79. He gave the world the saxophone, the saxtromba and the sax horn.

Today in History for Feb. 4: In 1783, Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colony, the United States. In 1789, George Washington was elected the first president of the United States.

Today in History for Feb. 3: In 1690, the first paper money in the American colonies was issued by Massachusetts -- to pay soldiers fighting a war against Quebec.

Celebrity Birthdays for Feb. 3: Jazz saxophonist John Handy is 91. Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton is 84. Angelo D'Aleo of the '50s and '60s pop group The Belmonts, is 84. Actress Blythe Danner is 81.

Today in Music History for Feb. 3: In 1809, composer Felix Mendelssohn, a devout Lutheran, was born in Hamburg in present-day Germany. His Elijah oratorio is considered second only to Handel's Messiah by many critics.

Celebrity Birthdays for Feb. 5: Hockey commentator Don Cherry is 90. Tony-winning playwright John Guare is 86. Financial writer Jane Bryant Quinn is 85. Actor David Selby (``Dark Shadows,'' ''Falcon Crest``) is 83.

Celebrity Birthdays for Feb. 8: Composer-conductor John Williams is 92. News anchor Ted Koppel is 84. Actor Nick Nolte is 83. Folk singer and songwriter Tom Rush is 83. Comedian Robert Klein is 82.

Celebrity Birthdays for Feb. 10: Opera singer Leontyne Price is 97. Actor Robert Wagner is 94. Singer Roberta Flack is 87. Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson is 85. Singer Jimmy Merchant of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers is 84.

Celebrity Birthdays for Feb. 4: Actor Jerry Adler ("The Good Wife," ''The Sopranos") is 95. Actor Gary Conway ("Burke's Law") is 88. Actor John Schuck is 84. Drummer John Steel of The Animals is 83. Singer Florence LaRue of the Fifth Dimension is 81.

Celebrity Birthdays for Feb. 9: Actress Janet Suzman is 85. Pop songwriter Barry Mann is 85. Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee is 84. Drummer Brian Bennett (The Shadows) is 84.