This Day in USA History
April 4

What happened in history on this day: April 4? On April 4 in ... 1794 - Albion Cox is appointed as US Mint assayer. 1862 - Battle of Yorktown begins. 1862 - US begins Peninsular Campaign aimed at capturing Richmond. 1864 - Skirmish at Elkin's Ford (Little Missouri River), Arkansas. 1865 - Lee's army arrives at Amelia, Courthouse. 1883 - Death of Peter Cooper, US presidential candidate for Greenback Party in 1876. 1902 - Cecil Rhodes scholarship fund is established with US$10 million. 1916 - US Senate agrees (82-6) to participate in European war. 1932 - Vitamin C first isolated, by C C King, at University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. 1933 - US dirigible Akron crashes off coast of New Jersey, 73 die. 1945 - US forces liberated the German death camp Ohrdruf in Germany. 1945 - US tanks/infantry conquer Bielefeld. 1949 - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pact signed in Washington DC by US, Britain, France and Canada. 1960 - 32nd Academy Awards - Ben-Hur, Charlton Heston, and Simone Signoret win. 1966 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. 1968 - Apollo 6 launched atop Saturn V rocket; unmanned. 1968 - Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, civil rights leader, is assassinated by a sniper's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, at age 39. 1975 - US Air Force transport carrying orphans from Saigon, Vietnam crashes killing 155. 1975 - Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen. 1983 - 6th space shuttle mission, Challenger 1 launched. 1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons. 1988 - Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office. 1993 - At Camden Yards, Bill Clinton becomes the first U.S. president to throw the first pitch of the baseball season from the pitcher's mound. 1994 - Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark found Mosaic Communications (later renamed Netscape). 2009 - In Binghampton, New York, USA, a gunman kills 13 people in the American Civic Association building after taking dozens hostage, then kills himself. 2011 - The US Mint releases the 2011 Glacier National Park quarter dollar to circulation. Births on April 4 1901 - Birth of Carmel Myers in San Francisco, California, USA; actress (Carmel Myers Show). 1906 - Birth of Bea Benaderet in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Kate - Petticoat Junction). 1906 - Birth of John Cameron Swayze in Wichita, Kansas, USA; newscaster (Timex spokesman, Hindenberg disaster). 1907 - Birth of Nathan M Pusey in Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA; educator (1963 National Association for Social Sciences Medal). 1913 - Birth of Frances Langford in Lakeland, Florida, USA; singer ("Armed Forces Hour", "Star Time"). 1913 - Birth of Rosemary Lane in Indianola, Iowa, USA; actress (Four Mothers, Harvest Melody). 1914 - Birth of Richard Coogan in Short Hills, New Jersey, USA; actor (Captain Video). 1922 - Birth of Elmer Bernstein in New York City, New York, USA; movie music composer (Robot Monster). 1924 - Birth of Eva Marie Saint in Newark, New Jersey, USA; actress (Sandpiper, Loving, Exodus). 1925 - Birth of Elizabeth Wilson in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA; actor (Doc, East Side/West Side). 1928 - Birth of Bill Ryan in Brooklyn, New York, USA; newscaster (Smithsonian). 1928 - Birth of Maya Angelou [Marguerite Johnson] in Saint Louis, Missouri; poet (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings), actress (Nyo - Roots). 1932 - Birth of Anthony Perkins in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Psycho, Fear Strikes Out, Pretty Poison). 1938 - Birth of A Bartlett Giamatti in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; president of Yale/baseball commissioner (1989). 1938 - Birth of Michael Parks in Corona, California, USA; actor (Then Came Bronson). 1939 - Birth of Joanne Carner in Kirkland, Washington, USA; LPGA golfer (US Open 1970, 1976). 1945 - Birth of Caroline McWilliams in Seattle, Washington, USA; actress (Sally - Soap, Marcy - Benson). 1945 - Birth of Walter Charles in East Strousberg, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Fletch Lives, Weeds). 1946 - Birth of Craig T Nelson in Spokane, Washington, USA; actor (Chief Jack Mannion - The District, Hayden Fox - Coach, Poltergeist). 1948 - Birth of Berry Oakley in Chicago, Illinois, USA; rocker (Allman Brothers - "Ramblin' Man"). 1948 - Birth of Gail Davies in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, USA; country singer ("Blue Heartache"). 1948 - Birth of Luke Halpin in Astoria, New York, USA; actor (Sandy Ricks - Flipper). 1950 - Birth of Christine Lahti in Detroit, Michigan, USA; actress (Dr Kathryn Austin - Chicago Hope, The Harvey Korman Show, Swing Shift). 1951 - Birth of Steve Gatlin in Olney, Texas, USA; country singer (Gatlin Brothers - "Broken Lady"). 1954 - Birth of Julie Carmen in Mount Vernon, New York, USA; actress (Gloria, Last Plane Out). 1958 - Birth of John Wesley Jones in Lawton, Oklahoma, USA; 4X100 metre relayer (Olympics-gold-1976). 1964 - Birth of Gregory Thomas Kraft in Detroit, Michigan, USA; PGA golfer (1993 Walt Disney-second). 1964 - Birth of Robbie Rist in California, USA; actor (Oliver - The Brady Bunch). 1965 - Birth of Zwart Francis [Charles Thompson]; US singer/songwriter (Pixies). 1965 - Birth of Robert Downey Jr in New York City, New York, USA; comedian/actor (Larry Paul - Ally McBeal, Saturday Night Live, Less than Zero, Back to School). 1966 - Birth of Michal Clingman in Indio, California, USA; WPVA volleyball player (Nationals-9th-1994). 1966 - Birth of Nancy McKeon in Westbury, New York, USA; actress (Jo Polniazek - Facts of Life). 1969 - Birth of Carlos Reyes in Miami, Florida, USA; pitcher (Oakland Athletics). 1972 - Birth of Jim Werland in Ventura, California, USA; canoe (alternate-Olympics-1996). 1972 - Birth of Matt Wagner in Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA; pitcher (Seattle Mariners). 1973 - Birth of Damon Allen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; figure skater (1997 Midwestern champion). 1976 - Birth of Alicia Silverstone in San Francisco, California; actress (Clueless). 1979 - Birth of Charles Butler in Salt Lake City, Utah; dance skater (and Joseph-1997 National). 1984 - Birth of Sean May, American basketball player. 1991 - Birth of Jamie Lynn Spears, American actress. 1992 - Birth of Alexa Nikolas, American actress. Deaths on April 4 1841 - Death of William Henry Harrison in District of Columbia, USA, of pneumonia at age 68; 9th US President, first US president to die in office. 1944 - John Peale Bishop, American poet (Undertaker's Garland), dies at age 51. 1967 - Mischa Elman, Ukraine/US violinist, dies at age 76. 1968 - Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, civil rights leader, is assassinated by a sniper's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, at age 39. 1972 - Adam Clayton Powell Jr, American politician (Representative-Democrat-New York), dies at age 63. 1980 - Death of Red Sovine, American country and folk singer and songwriter (born 1917). 1983 - Gloria Swanson, American actress (Airport 1975), dies of a heart ailment at age 84 (born 1897). 1987 - C[atherine] L[ucille] Moore, American author (Judgment Night), dies at age 76 (born 1911). 1991 - H. John Heinz III, American politician (Senator-Republican-Pennsylvania), dies in a plane crash, at age 52 (born 1938). Six others are also killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania. 1991 - Death of Forrest Towns, American runner (born 1914). 1992 - Karl Tunberg, US scriptwriter (Ben Hur), dies. 1993 - Alfred Mosher Butts, US architect/game maker (Scrabble), dies at age 93. 1996 - Larry LaPrise, American songwriter, dies at age 83 (born 1912). 1996 - Death of Barney Ewell, American athlete (born 1918). 2007 - Death of Bob Clark, American film director (born 1939).         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