This Day in History

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April 4

The International Day for Mine Awareness And Assistance in Mine Action is observed today.


Events

1147 – First historical record of Moscow.

1581 – Francis Drake is knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world.

1721 – Sir Robert Walpole becomes the first British prime minister.

1818 – The United States Congress adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (then 20).

1841 – William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and setting the record for the briefest administration, 31 days.

1850 – Los Angeles is incorporated as a city.

1873 – The Kennel Club is founded, the oldest and first official registry of purebred dogs in the world.

1887 – Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.

1925 – The Schutzstaffel (SS) is founded in Germany.

1944 – World War II: First bombardment of oil refineries in Bucharest by Anglo-American forces kills 3000 civilians.

1949 – Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

1956 - Elvis Presley played the first of two nights in San Diego Arena in San Diego, California. The local police chief issued a statement saying if Elvis ever returned to the city and performed like he did, he would be arrested for disorderly conduct.

1958 – The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London.

1964 – The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.

1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

1969 – Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.

1973 – The World Trade Center in New York is officially dedicated.

1973 – A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, makes the last flight of Operation Homecoming.

1975 – Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1975 – A United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transporting orphans, crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, killing 172 people.

1983 – Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space.

1991 – Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their airplane over an elementary school in Merion, Pennsylvania.

1994 – Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark found Netscape Communications Corporation under the name Mosaic Communications Corporation.

1996 – Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.

2007 - A Swedish couple ran into trouble with authorities after trying to name their baby Metallica. Michael and Karolina Tomaro went to court with the country's National Tax Authority about naming their daughter after the rock band. The six-month-old has been baptized Metallica, but tax officials said the name was "inappropriate". Under Swedish law, both first names and surnames need to win the approval of authorities before they can be used.

Births

1802 – Dorothea Dix, 1821 – Linus Yale, Jr. (Yale locks), 1884 – Isoroku Yamamoto, 1888 – Tris Speaker, 1895 – Arthur Murray, 1906 – John Cameron Swayze ("It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.", 1913 – Frances Langford♪ ♫, 1913 – Muddy Waters, 1916 – David White (the husband's boss on Bewitched), 1922 – Elmer Bernstein♪ ♫, 1928 – Maya Angelou, 1932 – Clive Davis♪ ♫, 1932 – Richard Lugar, 1932 – Anthony Perkins (Psycho), 1933 – Bill France, Jr. (former CEO of NASCAR), 1935 – Kenneth Mars, 1938 – A. Bartlett Giamatti (former MLB Commissioner), 1944 – Craig T. Nelson (Coach, The District), 1948 – Berry Oakley(Allman Bros), 1950 – Christine Lahti, 1952 – Gary Moore♪ ♫(Thin Lizzy), 1956 – David E. Kelley, 1959 – Phil Morris (lawyer 'Jackie Chiles' on Seinfeld), 1960 – Hugo Weaving ('Elrond' in The Lord of the Rings movies, 'Agent Smith (all of them) in The Matrix movies), 1964 – Anthony Clark (Yes, Dear), 1964 – David Cross (Mr. Show), 1965 – Robert Downey Jr., 1966 – Nancy McKeon (The Facts Of Life), 1966 – Mike Starr(Alice In Chains), 1970 – Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan, Battlefield Earth, The Green Mile), 1972 – Jill Scott♪ ♫, 1973 – David Blaine, 1976 – James Roday (Psych), 1979 – Heath Ledger, 1979 – Natasha Lyonne (American Pie, Slums of Beverly Hills), 1991 – Jamie Lynn Spears♪ ♫

Deaths

1841 – William Henry Harrison (9th POTUS), 1912 – Isaac K. Funk (Funk & Wagnalls), 1923 – John Venn (created the Venn diagram), 1929 – Karl Benz (yeah, that Benz), 1931 – André Michelin (yeah, that Michelin), 1958 – Johnny Stompanato (bodyguard, and mob enforcer), 1967 – Al Lewis♪ ♫(wrote "Blueberry Hill"), 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr., 1979 – Edgar Buchanan, 1980 – Red Sovine♪ ♫, 1983 – Gloria Swanson, 1984 – Oleg Antonov (Antonov aircraft), 1991 – H. John Heinz III, 1993 – Alfred Mosher Butts (created Scrabble), 2001 – Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth(created The Rat Fink), 2003 – Anthony Caruso (The Asphalt Jungle), 2013 – Roger Ebert