History of 4 September
1917 – The American expeditionary force in France suffered its first fatalities in World War I.
1921 – The first police broadcast was made by radio station WIL in St. Louis, MO.
1923 – The first American dirigible, the “Shenandoah,” began its maiden voyage in Lakehurst, NJ.
1944 – During World War II, British troops entered the city of Antwerp, Belgium.
1948 – The Dutch Queen Wilhelmina left her throne for health reasons.
1949 – The longest pro tennis match in history was played when Pancho Gonzales and Ted Schroeder played 67 games in five sets.
1951 – The first live, coast-to-coast TV broadcast took place in the U.S. The event took place in San Francisco, CA, from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference. It was seen all the way to New York City, NY.
1953 – The New York Yankees became the first baseball team to win five consecutive American League championships.
1957 – The Arkansas National Guard was ordered by Governor Orval Faubus to keep nine black students from going into Little Rock’s Central High School.
1957 – The Ford Motor Company began selling the Edsel. The car was so unpopular that it was taken off the market for only two years.
1967 – “Gilligan’s Island” aired for the last time on CBS-TV. It ran for 98 shows.
1967 – Michigan Gov. George Romney said during a TV interview that he had undergone “brainwashing” by U.S. officials while visiting Vietnam in 1965.
1971 – “The Lawrence Welk Show” was seen for the last time on ABC-TV.
1972 – Swimmer Mark Spitz captured his seventh Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter medley relay event at Munich, Germany. Spitz was the first Olympian to win seven gold medals.
1981 – The Soviet Union began war games with about 100,000 troops on the Polish border.
1983 – U.S. officials announced that there had been an American plane, used for reconnaissance, in the vicinity of the Korean Air Lines flight that was shot down.
1986 – South African security forces halted a mass funeral for the victims of the riot in Soweto.
1989 – A reconnaissance satellite was released by the Air Force’s Titan Three rocket. The Titan Three set over 200 satellites into space between 1964 and 1989.
1993 – Pope John Paul II started his first visit to the former Soviet Union.
1993 – Jim Abbott (New York Yankees) pitched a no-hitter. Abbott had been born without a right hand.
1995 – The Fourth World Conference on Women was opened in Beijing. There were over 4,750 delegates from 181 countries in attendance.
1998 – In Mexico, bankers stopped approving personal loans and mortgages.
1998 – The International Monetary Fund approved a $257 million loan for Ukraine.
1998 – Google was incorporated as a privately held company.
1998 – While in Ireland, U.S. President Clinton said the words “I’m sorry” for the first time about his affair with Monica Lewinsky and described his behavior as indefensible.
1999 – The United Nations announced that the residents of East Timor had overwhelmingly voted for independence from Indonesia in a referendum held on August 30. In Dili, pro-Indonesian militias attacked independence supporters, burned buildings, blew up bridges and destroyed telecommunication facilities.
2002 – The Oakland Athletics won their AL-record 20th straight game. The A’s gave up an 11-run lead during the game and then won the game on a Scott Hatteberg home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
2003 – Keegan Reilly, 22, became the first paraplegic climber to reach the peak of Japan’s Mount Fuji.
2007 – Three terrorists suspected to be a part of Al-Qaeda are arrested in Germany after allegedly planning attacks on both the Frankfurt International airport and US military installations.
2010 – A 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes the South Island of New Zealand causing widespread damage and several power outages.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Beyoncé, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actress
- 1981 – Richard Garcia, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Lacey Sturm, American singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Whitney Cummings, American comedian, actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1982 – Mark Lewis-Francis, English sprinter
- 1983 – Yuichi Nakamaru, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and radio host
- 1983 – Margit Rüütel, an Estonian tennis player
- 1983 – Armands Skele, Latvian basketball player
- 1984 – Jonathan Adam, Scottish race car driver
- 1984 – Hamish McIntosh, Australian footballer
- 1984 – Kyle Mooney, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1985 – Raul Albiol, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Ri Kwang-chon, North Korean footballer
- 1985 – Walid Mesloub, Algerian footballer
- 1986 – Ayumi Kaihori, Japanese footballer
- 1986 – Xavier Woods, American wrestler
- 1987 – Wesley Blake, American wrestler
- 1988 – John Tyler Hammons, American politician
- 1989 – Elliott Whitehead, English rugby league player
- 1990 – James Bay, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1990 – Jonny Lomax, English rugby player
- 1990 – Danny Worsnop, English singer-songwriter
- 1991 – Anders Zachariassen, Danish handball player
- 1992 – Hanna Schwamborn, German actress
- 1992 – Kevin Lee, American mixed martial artist
- 1993 – Yannick Carrasco, Belgian footballer
- 1993 – Jody Fannin, English race car driver
- 1993 – Chantal Skamlová, a Slovak tennis player
- 1994 – Kenny McEvoy, Irish footballer
- 1994 – Sabina Sharipova, Uzbekistan tennis player
- 1994 – Thomas Minns, English rugby player
- 1995 – Jazz Tevaga, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1996 – Jordan Lilley, English rugby league player
- 1996 – Ashton Golding, English rugby league player