This Day in USA History
January 4

What happened in history on this day: January 4? On January 4 in ... 1861 - Fort Morgan, Mobile, seized by Alabama. 1861 - President Buchanan appoints a fast on account of threatened succession. 1862 - Battle of Fort Hindman, Arkansas (Arkansas Post). 1862 - Battle of Helena, Arkansas. 1862 - Romney Campaign - Stonewall Jackson occupies Bath. 1904 - US Supreme Court rules Puerto Ricans cannot be denied admission to US. 1935 - Fort Jefferson National Monument, Florida established. 1945 - US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after kamikaze attack. 1945 - Sixty-nine American B-29 bombers from the Marianas Islands attack Kobe, Japan, with incendiary bombs, destroying 2.5 million square feet of the city. 1962 - New York City introduces the first automated subway train that operates without a crew on-board. 1965 - US President Lyndon Johnson gives "Great Society" State of the Union Address. 1971 - US Congressional Black Caucus organizes. 1971 - Ohio agrees to pay US$675,000 to relatives of Kent State prison victims. 1974 - US President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over tapes subpoenaed by Watergate Committee. 1975 - US President Gerald Ford signs Executive Order No. 11828 on US Central Intelligence Agency Activities within the US. 1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. 1982 - San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge closed for third time by fierce storm. 1987 - An Amtrak train en route from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16. 1989 - Over the Gulf of Sidra, two Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are engaged and shot down by two US Navy F-14 Tomcats. 1989 - US Vice President George Bush is first since Vice President Van Buren to declare himself President. 1995 - The 104th US Congress convenes, the first controlled by Republicans in both houses since 1953. Newt Gingrich is speaker of the House. 1999 - Aluminum Company of America changes its company name to Alcoa Incorporated. 2000 - Alan Greenspan is nominated for a fourth term as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman. 2004 - NASA's MER-A (Spirit) lands on Mars at 04:35 UTC. 2007 - Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the United States House of Representatives. 2007 - A dense metallic meteorite about 1-inch in diameter crashes through the roof of a house in eastern New Jersey, USA. 2008 - In the USA, Warner Bros studio announces it will drop support for the HD DVD video disc format on June 1, and will exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony's Blu-ray format. Warner Bros is Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 19 percent of sales in the United States. Births on January 4 1905 - Birth of Sterling Holloway in Cedartown, Georgia, USA; actor (Waldo - Life of Riley). 1916 - Birth of Robert Parrish in Columbus, Georgia, USA; director (Casino Royale). 1917 - Birth of Jesse Marc Weidenfeld AKA Jesse White in Buffalo, New York, USA; actor (Maytag Repairman, Bedtime for Bonzo, Million Dollar Mermaid). 1918 - Birth of Norman Dale Baker AKA Buddy Baker in Missouri, USA; musician, composer for hundreds of Disney attractions, movies, TV shows, The Mickey Mouse Club, The Monkey's Uncle, named a Disney Legend in 1998. 1919 - Birth of Albert Richard Collins AKA Jazzbo in New York City, New York, USA; disk jockey (Tonight! America After Dark). 1927 - Birth of Barbara Rush in Denver, Colorado, USA; actress (Marsha - Peyton Place, Flamingo Road). 1930 - Birth of Sorrell Booke in Buffalo, New York, USA; actor (Bye Bye Braverman, Black Like Me, Boss Hogg - Dukes of Hazzard). 1932 - Birth of Richard Stahl in Detroit, Michigan, USA; actor (Howard - It's a Living). 1937 - Birth of Dyan Cannon in Tacoma, Washington, USA; Mrs Cary Grant, actress (Heaven Can Wait). 1937 - Birth of Grace Bumbry in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA; mezzo-soprano ("Venus in Tannhäuser"). 1938 - Birth of Louis Krebs Graham in Nashville, Tennessee, USA; PGA golfer (1975 US Open). 1939 - Birth of Oliver Clark in Buffalo, New York, USA; actor (Bob Newhart Show, Two of Us). 1940 - Birth of Anthony Skooter Teague in Texas, USA; actor (How to Succeed in Business). 1941 - Birth of John Bennett Perry in Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA; singer/actor (Falcon Crest). 1945 - Birth of Jay Dee Maness in Loma Linda, California, USA; singer (Desert Rose Band - "Love Reunited"). 1951 - Birth of Barbara Ann Cochran in Claremont, New Hampshire, USA; slalom skier (Olympics-gold-1972). 1955 - Birth of Kathy Forester in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, USA; country singer (Forester Sister - "Men"). 1956 - Birth of Ann Magnuson in Charleston, West Virginia, USA; actress (Anything But Love, Hunger). 1957 - Birth of Patty Loveless [Ramey] in Pikeville, Kentucky, USA; singer ("Blue Side of Town"). 1958 - Birth of Matt Frewer in Washington DC, USA; actor (Max Headroom, Doctor Doctor). 1958 - Birth of Nina Foust in Asheboro, North Carolina, USA; LPGA golfer (1994 Hawaiian Ladies Open-6th). 1960 - Birth of Cory Everson in Racine, Wisconsin, USA; body builder (six times Ms Olympia). 1961 - Birth of Lee Curreri in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Bruno Martelli - Fame). 1962 - Birth of Patrick Cassidy in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor/composer (Fever Pitch, Off the Wall). 1963 - Birth of Linda Muri in Killingly, Connecticut, USA; rower (Olympics-1996). 1964 - Birth of Stephanie Maxwell-Pierson in Somerville, New Jersey, USA; American rower (Olympics-1992). 1965 - Birth of Rick Hearst Howard Beach, New York City, New York, USA; actor (Alan-Michael - Guiding Light). 1967 - Birth of Michael "Mike" Peterson in Washington DC; rower (Olympics-1996). 1969 - Birth of Lindsay Kennedy in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; actor (Jeb - Little House on the Prairie). 1971 - Birth of Carlos Perez; Dominican/US baseball pitcher (Montreal Expos). 1971 - Birth of Jeremy Licht in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Mark-Valerie/Hogan Family). 1980 - Birth of Erin Cahill; American actress. 1983 - Birth of Spencer Chamberlain; American musician. 2000 - Birth of Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, American actress. Deaths on January 4 1925 - Death of George T. Morgan, chief engraver of the US Mint (1917-25). 1931 - Art Acord, American western actor (Set Free, Spurs and Saddles), dies at age 40. 1956 - Alexander Tikhonovich Grechaninov, Russian/American composer, dies at age 91. 1990 - Robert F Adams, American sci-fi author (Castaways in Time), dies at age 57. 1990 - Death of Doc Edgerton, American electrical engineer (born 1903). 1991 - Leo N Wright, US saxophonist ("I Left My Heart in San Francisco"), dies at age 57. 1995 - Dorothy Granger, US actress (Hog Wild, Dentist), dies at about age 80. 1995 - Death of Sol Tax, American anthropologist (born 1907). 1997 - Death of Harry Helmsley, American real estate mogul (Empire State Building), at age 87 (born 1909). 1998 - Death of Mae Questel, American actress (born 1908). 2005 - Death of Alton Tobey, American artist (born 1914). 2005 - Death of Guy Davenport, American author, artist, and scholar (born 1927).         Your Ad Here You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history. Bookmark this URL:   http://thisdayinhistoryinfo.info/usa/   and revisit each day. (this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events) Or, visit my Timelines of History page. Other web pages of interest: Chronology of the United States of America Today in Disney History Today in Sports History Chronology of World War II Chronology of Personal Computers