George Andrew Romero was an American-Canadian film director, writer, editor and actor. Regarded as an influential pioneer of the horror film genre and in particular zombie films, he has been called an "icon" and the "father of the zombie film". The first half of his Night of the Living Dead series—Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), and Day of the Dead (1985)—are considered three of the best and most influential horror films ever made, and were major contributors to the image of the zombie in modern culture.

1940John Schuck, American actor^[†]

Conrad John Schuck Jr. is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for his role as Sergeant Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama McMillan & Wife. He also played Herman Munster in the late-1980s – early 1990s sitcom The Munsters Today, playing the role originated by Fred Gwynne in the 1960s sitcom The Munsters.

Notable Deaths

1940Nikolai Yezhov, Russian police officer and politician (born 1895)^[†]

Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov, also spelt Ezhov, was a Soviet secret police official under Joseph Stalin who was head of the NKVD from 1936 to 1938, at the height of the Great Purge. Yezhov organized mass arrests, torture, and executions during the Great Purge, but he fell out of favour with Stalin and was arrested, subsequently admitting in a confession to a range of anti-Soviet activity including "unfounded arrests" during the Purge. He was executed in 1940 along with others who were blamed for the Purge.

Headlines from February 4, 1940

Charles S. Mott to Give Away $5,200,000; Recipient of G.M. Stock Is Unrevealed

MOFFAT SAYS STATE SPENDS A MINIMUM FOR WHAT IT GIVES; Thinks Budget 'as Low as Is Consistent With Supplying Existing Services' 1939 AND 1940 COMPARED Legislature's Cuts Retained-- Ways and Means Chairman Hopes for Calm Hearing

ROOSEVELT IS PUT IN ILLINOIS PRIMARY; Chicago Democratic Leaders Enter Him in Contest in April --Dewey Formally Listed

Senate Farm Bloc Moves to Add Hundreds of Millions to Aid Bill; Organizes to Void House Cuts and Vote Parity Fund--Glass Doubts Reduced Total of Measure Can Be Retained

RAID BRITISH COAST; 20 Bombers Are Routed but Berlin Declares They Sank 14 Ships WAR'S FIERCEST AIR CLASH British Fighters Shoot Down One Enemy Plane on Land as Thousands Watch

Notable Births

Notable Deaths