FDR inaugurated

Under the cover of constant bombing from British artillery, Brigadier General John Thomas slips 2,000 troops, cannons and artillery into position at Dorchester Heights, just south of Boston, on March 4, 1776. Under orders from General George Washington, Thomas and his troops worked through the night digging trenches, positioning cannons and completing their occupation of Dorchester Heights. […]

On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson upholds an inaugural tradition begun by Thomas Jefferson and hosts an open house at the White House. After Jackson’s swearing-in ceremony and address to Congress, the new president returned to the White House to meet and greet a flock of politicians, celebrities and citizens. Very shortly, the crowd swelled […]

A soldier at a military base in Fort Riley, Kansas complains of cold-like symptoms, sore throat, fever and headache. By noon, over 100 soldiers had reported similar symptoms, marking what are believed to be the first cases in the historic influenza epidemic of 1918, later known as Spanish flu.

On March 4, 1952, actor and future President Ronald Reagan marries his second wife, actress Nancy Davis. The couple wed in Los Angeles at the Little Brown Church in the Valley. Nancy Davis, whose real name is Anne Frances Robbins, met her husband in 1951. (MGM Studios signed her to a contract and billed her […]

After 20 tumultuous years of marriage, actress Lucille Ball files for divorce from her husband and collaborator, Desi Arnaz, on March 4, 1960. The breakup of the couple, stars of the hit sitcom “I Love Lucy” and owners of the innovative Desilu Studios, was one of the highest-profile divorces in American history at the time. […]

On March 4, 1974, actress Mia Farrow from The Great Gatsby graces the cover of the inaugural issue of People, a weekly celebrity and human interest magazine spotlighting the personal lives of notable and intriguing people. People remains one of America’s best-selling weeklies. People’s founding editor Richard Stolley came from the newsweekly LIFE, where he’d […]

Candy had just completed his directorial debut.

On March 4, 2005, billionaire mogul Martha Stewart is released from a federal prison near Alderson, West Virginia, after serving five months for lying about her sale of ImClone stock in 2001. After her televised exit from the facility, Stewart flew on a chartered jet from nearby Greenbrier International Airport to New York, where she […]