Today in History – September 4th

Published September 4, 2012 |

1666, In London, England, the most destructive damage from the Great Fire occurs.
1774, New Caledonia is 1st sighted by Europeans, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook.
1781, Los Angeles, California, is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.
1803, Sarah Childress Polk, First Lady of the United States (d. 1891) was born.
1812, War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Harrison begins when the fort is set on fire.
1862, Civil War Maryland Campaign: General Robert E. Lee takes the Army of Northern Virginia, and the war, into the North.
1864, John Hunt Morgan, American Confederate military leader (b. 1825) died.
1870, Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared.
1886, after nearly 30 years of fighting, Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to General Nelson Miles in Arizona.
1888, George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.
1901, William Lyons, British industrialist (Jaguar cars) (d. 1985) was born.
1912, Albanian rebels succeed in their revolt when the Ottoman Empire agrees to fulfill their demands
1917, Henry Ford II, American industrialist (d. 1987) was born.
1918, Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster (d. 2009) was born.
1923, Maiden flight of the 1st US airship, the USS Shenandoah.
1939, WWII: Bristol Blenheim is 1st British aircraft to cross German coast since declaration of war and German ships are bombed
1941, WWII: a German submarine makes the 1st attack against a US ship, the USS Greer.
1944, WWII: Finland exits from the war with Soviet Union.
1944, WWII: the British 11th Armoured Division liberates the Belgian city of Antwerp.
1948, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.
1949, The Peekskill Riots erupt after a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York.
1950, Darlington Raceway is the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the 1st 500-mile NASCAR race.
1956, The IBM RAMAC 305 is introduced, the 1st commercial computer to use magnetic disk storage.
1957, The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.
1963, Swissair Flight 306 crashes near Durrenasch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board.
1967, Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins: US Marines engage the North Vietnamese in battle in the Que Son Valley.
1971, Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.
1972, Mark Spitz becomes the 1st competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.
1974, Creighton Abrams, U.S. Army general (b. 1914) died.
1975, The Sinai Interim Agreement relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict is signed.
1977, The Golden Dragon Massacre took place in San Francisco, California.
1985, The discovery of Buckminsterfullerene, the 1st fullerene molecule of carbon.
1991, Dottie West, American singer (b. 1932) died.
1998, Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.
2001, Tokyo DisneySea opens to the public as part of the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan.
2006, Steve Irwin, Australian naturalist and television personality (b. 1962) died.

Follow us on Twitter to get the latest history news and find out what happened on this day in history — http://www.twitter.com/Yesteeyear

Chris Rivait

Chris loves history and hopes that Yesteeyear becomes a place where everyone can share their history knowledge. Chris owns an Internet Marketing company, Arrivait Marketing. He has a wonderful wife and four great children.