September 4

Events

• 476 - Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself King of Italy.
• 1781 - Los Angeles is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula (City of the Queen of the Angeles) by a group of 44 Spanish settlers.
• 1870 - Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared.
• 1886 - Indian Wars: After almost 30 years of fighting, Apache leader Geronimo surrenders with his last band of warriors to General Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.
• 1888 - George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film.
• 1894 - In New York City, 12,000 tailors strike against sweatshop working conditions.
• 1923 - In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the first American dirigible, the "USS Shenandoah, takes to the sky for the first time.
• 1940 - World War II: The USS Greer becomes the first United States ship fired upon by a German submarine in the war, even though the United States is a neutral power. Tension heightens between the two nations as a result.
• 1944 - World War II: The British 11th Armored Division liberate the city of Antwerp in Belgium.
• 1945 - World War II: Japanese forces surrender on Wake Island after hearing word of their nation's surrender.
• 1948 - Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.
• 1951 - The first live transcontinental television broadcast takes place in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
• 1957 - American Civil Rights Movement: Little Rock Crisis - Orville Faubus, governor of Arkansas, calls out the National Guard to prevent black students from enrolling in Central High School in Little Rock.
• 1957 - Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.
• 1967 - The last new episode of the television sitcom Gilligan's Island airs on CBS-TV.
• 1967 - Vietnam War: Operation SWIFT begins - The United States Marines launch a search and destroy mission in Quang Nam and Quang Tin Provinces. The ensuing 4-day battle in Que Son Valley kills 114 Americans and 376 North Vietnamese.
• 1971 - A Boeing 727 carrying Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes into the side of a mountain near Juneau, Alaska killing all 111 people on board.
• 1971 - The Lawrence Welk Show airs its last show.
• 1972 - Mark Spitz wins his seventh swimming gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, becoming the first Olympian to win seven gold medals.
• 1995 - The Fourth World Conference on Women opens in Beijing with over 4,750 delegates from 181 countries in attendance.
• 1996 - War on Drugs: Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, Colombia starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare that will claim the lives of at least 130 Colombians.
• 1997 - In Lorain, Ohio, the last Ford Thunderbird rolls off the assembly line.
• 1997 - A U.S. Air Force C-141 cargo plane and a German TU-154 collide in mid-air over southwest Africa killing 33

Births

• 1241 - Alexander III of Scotland , Scottish king
• 1768 - Francois Chateaubriand, writer, diplomat
• 1824 - Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer (d. 1896)
• 1832 - Antonio Agliardi, Italian diplomat
• 1851 - John Dillon, Irish nationalist (d. 1927)
• 1875 - Kirby Rollin, Pulitzer Prize winning author
• 1891 - Fritz Todt, developer of the German autobahn
• 1892 - Darius Milhaud, composer
• 1896 - Antonin Artaud, playwright, actor, director (d. 1948)
• 1905 - Mary Renault, novelist (d. 1983)
• 1906 - Max Delbrück, German biologist
• 1908 - Richard Wright, American writer (d. 1960)
• 1908 - Edward Dmytryk, film director (d. 1999)
• 1918 - Paul Harvey Legendary American radio broadcaster
• 1928 - Dick York, actor (d. 1992)
• 1931 - Mitzi Gaynor, actress
• 1937 - Dawn Fraser, Olympic Games gold medalist in swimming
• 1957 - Khandi Alexander, American actress
• 1960 - Damon Wayans, actor, comedian
• 1968 - Mike Piazza, baseball player
• 1970 - Daisy Dee, singer and actress
• 1981 - Beyoncé Knowles, singer

Deaths

• 1804 - Richard Somers, American naval officer
• 1864 - John Hunt Morgan, Confederate military leader
• 1907 - Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer
• 1965 - Albert Schweitzer, German physician
• 1974 - Marcel Achard, French playwright
• 1986 - Hank Greenberg, American baseball player
• 1989 - Georges Simenon, author
• 1991 - Tom Tryon, actor, novelist
• 1991 - Dottie West, country music singer
• 1993 - Hervé Villechaize, actor
• 1995 - William Kunstler, attorney
• 2001 - Hank The Angry Drunken Dwarf (Henry Joseph Nasiff Jr), radio personality
• 2003 - Tibor Varga, violinist, conductor and pedagogue

Holidays

See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By