August 4
1735 - Printer John Peter Zenger, defended by Andrew Hamilton, was acquitted of libel in a case that helped foster freedom of the press.
1790 - The United States Coast Guard had hits beginnings as President George Washington signed a measure authorizing a group of revenue cutters to enforce tariff and trade laws and prevent smuggling.
1830 - Plans for the city of Chicago were laid out.
1884 - Thomas Stevens became the first person to bicycle across the United States. (He would later bicycle around the world.)
1892 - Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother were killed with an axe in Fall River, Massachusetts.
1914 - During World War I, Germany invaded Belgium and, in response, Britain declared war on Germany.
1916 - Denmark ceded the Danish West Indies, including the Danish Virgin Islands, to the United States for $25 million.
1944 - Fiftheen-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. (Anne and her sister, Margot, died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.)
1964 - The bodies of three civil rights workers were found in an earthen dam, six weeks into a federal investigation backed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
1972 - Arthur Bremer was convicted and sentenced in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to 63 years in prison for his attempt on the life of Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace (the sentence was later reduced to 53 years; Bremer was released from prison in 2007).
1977 - President Jimmy Carter signed a congressional act creating the Department of Energy.
1987 - The Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues.
1993 - A federal judge sentenced Los Angeles police officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Rodney King’s civil rights.
2009 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee for entering the country illegally and ordered their release during a surprise visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
2019 - A masked gunman fired on revelers enjoying summer nightlife in a popular entertainment district of Dayton, Ohio, leaving nine people dead and 27 wounded; police said officers shot and killed the shooter within 30 seconds of the start of his rampage.
2020 - Nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored for years in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, exploded, killing more than 200 people, injuring more than 6,000 and devastating nearby neighborhoods; it was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.
Birthdays
27 - Jessica Sanchez (singer)
27 - Bruna Marquezine (actress)
29 - Meghan Rienks (actress)
30 - Dylan Sprouse (actor)
30 - Cole Sprouse (actor)
33 - Jessica Mauboy (singer)
37 - Crystal Bowersox (singer)
39 - Greta Gerwig (actress)
41 - Abigail Spencer (actress)
41 - Meghan Markle (actress, Britain's Duchess of Sussex)
41 - Kira Girard (reality star)
51 - Yo-Yo (rapper)
51 - Jeff Gordon (race car driver)
53 - Michael DeLuise (actor)
54 - Daniel Dae Kim (actor)
57 - Crystal Chappell (actress)
60 - Roger Clemens (baseball player)
61 - Barack Obama (44th president of the United States)
63 - Lauren Tom (actress)
64 - Mary Decker Slaney (track and field athlete)
64 - Kym Karath (actress)
67 - Billy Bob Thornton (actor)
73 - John Riggins (football player)
78 - Richard Belzer (actor/comedian)
79 - Tina Cole (actress/singer)
==================================
Today in Sports History - August 4
1934 - Mel Ott became the first major league baseball player to score six runs in a single game.
1936 - Jesse Owens of the United States won the second of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he prevailed in the long jump over German Luz Long, who was the first to congratulate him.
1982 - Outfielder Joel Youngblood becomes only MLB player to get hits for 2 different teams in 2 different cities on the same day; singles for Mets in Chicago day game; traded, then singles for Expos in Philadelphia night game.
1983 - New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield threw a baseball during warm-ups and accidentally killed a seagull. After the game, Toronto police arrested him for "causing unnecessary suffering to an animal."
1985 - Tom Seaver (Chicago White Sox) achieved his 300th victory.
1985 - The New York Yankees retire Phil Rizzuto's #10.
1985 - Rod Carew (California Angels) got his 3,000th major league hit.
1986 - The United States Football League called off its 1986 season. This was after winning only token damages in its antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League.
1993 - Tony Gwynn gets 6 hits in 11-10 win v Giants, 4th time this season the Padre has 5 or more hits; ties MLB record.
1996 - Jim Bunning, Earl Waver, Bill Foster and Ned Hanlon are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2007 - In a game against the San Diego Padres, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hits his 755th career home run, tying Hank Aaron's 33-year-old major league record.
2007 - 32-year-old Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees becomes the youngest player in MLB history to reach 500 career home runs.
2010 - Three years to the date of his 500th career home run, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees hits his 600th career home run, becoming just the seventh player (and youngest) in MLB history to reach the milestone.
2012 - Michael Phelps won the 18th Olympic gold medal of his career as the United States won the medley relay at the London Games.
2012 - Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 to join Steffi Graf as the only women to complete the Golden Slam — winning the Olympics and the four majors.
1735 - Printer John Peter Zenger, defended by Andrew Hamilton, was acquitted of libel in a case that helped foster freedom of the press.
1790 - The United States Coast Guard had hits beginnings as President George Washington signed a measure authorizing a group of revenue cutters to enforce tariff and trade laws and prevent smuggling.
1830 - Plans for the city of Chicago were laid out.
1884 - Thomas Stevens became the first person to bicycle across the United States. (He would later bicycle around the world.)
1892 - Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother were killed with an axe in Fall River, Massachusetts.
1914 - During World War I, Germany invaded Belgium and, in response, Britain declared war on Germany.
1916 - Denmark ceded the Danish West Indies, including the Danish Virgin Islands, to the United States for $25 million.
1944 - Fiftheen-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. (Anne and her sister, Margot, died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.)
1964 - The bodies of three civil rights workers were found in an earthen dam, six weeks into a federal investigation backed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
1972 - Arthur Bremer was convicted and sentenced in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to 63 years in prison for his attempt on the life of Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace (the sentence was later reduced to 53 years; Bremer was released from prison in 2007).
1977 - President Jimmy Carter signed a congressional act creating the Department of Energy.
1987 - The Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues.
1993 - A federal judge sentenced Los Angeles police officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Rodney King’s civil rights.
2009 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee for entering the country illegally and ordered their release during a surprise visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
2019 - A masked gunman fired on revelers enjoying summer nightlife in a popular entertainment district of Dayton, Ohio, leaving nine people dead and 27 wounded; police said officers shot and killed the shooter within 30 seconds of the start of his rampage.
2020 - Nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored for years in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, exploded, killing more than 200 people, injuring more than 6,000 and devastating nearby neighborhoods; it was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.
Birthdays
27 - Jessica Sanchez (singer)
27 - Bruna Marquezine (actress)
29 - Meghan Rienks (actress)
30 - Dylan Sprouse (actor)
30 - Cole Sprouse (actor)
33 - Jessica Mauboy (singer)
37 - Crystal Bowersox (singer)
39 - Greta Gerwig (actress)
41 - Abigail Spencer (actress)
41 - Meghan Markle (actress, Britain's Duchess of Sussex)
41 - Kira Girard (reality star)
51 - Yo-Yo (rapper)
51 - Jeff Gordon (race car driver)
53 - Michael DeLuise (actor)
54 - Daniel Dae Kim (actor)
57 - Crystal Chappell (actress)
60 - Roger Clemens (baseball player)
61 - Barack Obama (44th president of the United States)
63 - Lauren Tom (actress)
64 - Mary Decker Slaney (track and field athlete)
64 - Kym Karath (actress)
67 - Billy Bob Thornton (actor)
73 - John Riggins (football player)
78 - Richard Belzer (actor/comedian)
79 - Tina Cole (actress/singer)
==================================
Today in Sports History - August 4
1934 - Mel Ott became the first major league baseball player to score six runs in a single game.
1936 - Jesse Owens of the United States won the second of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he prevailed in the long jump over German Luz Long, who was the first to congratulate him.
1982 - Outfielder Joel Youngblood becomes only MLB player to get hits for 2 different teams in 2 different cities on the same day; singles for Mets in Chicago day game; traded, then singles for Expos in Philadelphia night game.
1983 - New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield threw a baseball during warm-ups and accidentally killed a seagull. After the game, Toronto police arrested him for "causing unnecessary suffering to an animal."
1985 - Tom Seaver (Chicago White Sox) achieved his 300th victory.
1985 - The New York Yankees retire Phil Rizzuto's #10.
1985 - Rod Carew (California Angels) got his 3,000th major league hit.
1986 - The United States Football League called off its 1986 season. This was after winning only token damages in its antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League.
1993 - Tony Gwynn gets 6 hits in 11-10 win v Giants, 4th time this season the Padre has 5 or more hits; ties MLB record.
1996 - Jim Bunning, Earl Waver, Bill Foster and Ned Hanlon are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2007 - In a game against the San Diego Padres, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hits his 755th career home run, tying Hank Aaron's 33-year-old major league record.
2007 - 32-year-old Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees becomes the youngest player in MLB history to reach 500 career home runs.
2010 - Three years to the date of his 500th career home run, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees hits his 600th career home run, becoming just the seventh player (and youngest) in MLB history to reach the milestone.
2012 - Michael Phelps won the 18th Olympic gold medal of his career as the United States won the medley relay at the London Games.
2012 - Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 to join Steffi Graf as the only women to complete the Golden Slam — winning the Olympics and the four majors.
