August 4th: The Day in History

by Stefani Koorey

First published in August/September, 2005, Volume 2, Issue 4, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.

Births

1755 Nicolas-Jacque Conte inventor (modern pencil) 

1792 Percy Bysshe Shelley England, romantic poet (Adonais) 

1839 Walter Pater London England, writer (Plato & Platoism) 

1859 Knut Hamsun Norway, writer/Nazi (Hunger-Nobel 1920) 

1870 Sir Harry Lauder Scotland, comedian/singer (Roman in the Gloamin) 

1901 Louis Armstrong New Orleans, Jazz musician & bandleader

1900 Arturo Umberto Illia pres of Argentina (1963-66) 

1900 Elizabeth Britain’s Queen Mother 

1909 Glenn Cunningham US middle distance runner in the 1930’s 

1920 Helen Thomas UPI journalist (starts press conferences) 

1944 Richard Belzer KOed by Hulk Hogan/comedian (How to be a Stand Up) 

1952 Bobby Buntrock Denver Colo, actor (Harold Baxter-Hazel) 

1955 Billy Bob Thornton Hot Springs, Ark. US. actor, ‘Sling Blade’

1962 Roger Clemens Dayton Ohio, Boston Red Sox pitcher (Cy Young, MVP) 

Deaths which occurred on August 04:

1892 Andrew and Abby Borden, Fall River, MA

1973 Eddie Condon jazz guitarist (Eddie Condon’s Floor Show), dies at 68 

1981 Melvyn Douglas actor, dies at 80 

Events

1181 Supernova seen in Cassiopia 

1693 Dom Perignon invents champagne 

1753 George Washington becomes a master mason 

1777 Retired British cavalry officer Philip Astley establishes 1st circus 

1790 US Coast Guard founded as Revenue Cutter Service 

1830 Plans for the city of Chicago laid out 

1881 122ø F (50ø C), Seville, Spain (European record) 

1892 Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden arrested in Fall River, Mass 

1914 Germany declares war on Belgium; Britain declares war on Germany 

1916 US agrees to buy Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million 

1925 US marines leave Nicaragua after 13-year occupation 

1927 Peace Bridge between US & Canada opened 

1944 Anne Frank, 15, (Diary of Anne Frank) is arrested by Nazis 

1945 Golfer Byron Nelson records most tournament wins (18) in a season 

1948 5 day southern filibuster succeeds in maintaining poll tax 

1949 The NBL & NBAA merge into the National Basketball Association 

1953 Black families move into Trumbull Park housing project in Chicago 

1956 1st motorcycle rode over 200 mph (Wilhelm Herz-210 mph/338 kph) 

1960 Rocket propelled USAF research aircraft sets record at 2,150 MPH 

1964 Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman & James Chaney found buried inside an earthen dam in Mississippi 

1968 100,000 attend Newport Pop Festival, Costa Mesa, Calif 

1970 Jim Morrison arrested for drunkenness 

1971 US launches 1st satellite into lunar orbit from manned spacecraft 

1977 Pres Carter establishes Dept of Energy 

1984 Prince’s “Purple Rain,” album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 24 weeks 

1988 Congress votes $20,000 to each Japanese-American interned in WW II 

1996 26th Olympic Summer games close in Atlanta, Georgia

Source: http://www.scopesys.com/anyday/