Skip to main content

Arkansas troops block “Little Rock Nine” from entering segregated high school

Born on This Day

Richard Wright

1908 - 1960

Author whose novel Native Son and memoir Black Boy depicted the discrimination faced by Black Americans.

Damon Wayans

1960 -

Emmy-winning comedian and actor best known for “In Living Color” and “My Wife and Kids.”

Beyoncé

1981 -

Pop superstar who’s won more Grammys than any other artist. Hits include “Crazy in Love” and “Single Ladies.” Married to rapper Jay-Z.

Richard WrightGetty Images

Damon WayansGetty Images

BeyoncéGetty Images for Atlantis The Ro

1957

SEP4

Ford introduces its much-ballyhooed new model, the Edsel. Named in honor of Henry Ford’s son, it suffered from quality, reliability and design issues, and the name instead becomes synonymous with failure.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on September 4th

Last Western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, deposed

Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed by Odoacer, a German barbarian who proclaims himself king of Italy. This augurs what many historians consider the fall of the Roman Empire. Odoacer was a mercenary leader in the Roman imperial army when he launched his mutiny against the young emperor. At […]

Confederate forces enter Kentucky

Confederate General Leonidas Polk commits a major political blunder by marching his troops into Columbus, Kentucky—negating Kentucky’s avowed neutrality and causing the Unionist legislature to invite the U.S. government to drive the invaders away. Kentucky was heavily divided prior to the war. Although slavery was prevalent in the state, nationalism was strong and Unionists prevented […]

Geronimo surrenders

Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to U.S. government troops. Geronimo was the last Native American warrior to formally give in to U.S. forces, signaling the end of the Indian Wars in the Southwest.

George Eastman patents Kodak camera

On September 4, 1888, inventor George Eastman secures a patent for a small roll-film handheld camera and registers the trademark “Kodak.” Within a year, more than 5,000 Kodak cameras were sold.

French general gives order to attack at the Marne

On the evening of September 4, 1914, General Joseph Joffre, commander in chief of the French army during World War I, gives the order and readies his troops for a renewed offensive against the advancing Germans at the Marne River in northeastern France, set to begin the following morning. With the French 6th Army poised […]

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

President Truman makes first transcontinental television broadcast

On September 4, 1951, President Harry S. Truman’s opening speech before a conference in San Francisco is broadcast across the nation, marking the first time a television program was broadcast from coast to coast. The speech focused on Truman’s acceptance of a treaty that officially ended America’s post-World War II occupation of Japan. The broadcast, […]

Radio Hanoi announces the death of Ho Chi Minh

Radio Hanoi announces the death of Ho Chi Minh, who died two days earlier, proclaiming that the National Liberation Front will halt military operations in the South for three days in mourning for Ho. Ho had been the spiritual leader of the communists in Vietnam since the earliest days of the struggle against the French […]

U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz wins 7th gold medal in the 1972 Olympics

U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz wins his seventh gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Spitz swam the fly leg of the 400-meter medley relay, and his team set a new world-record time of 3 minutes, 48.16 seconds. Remarkably, Spitz also established new world records in the six other events in which he won […]

Kelly Clarkson wins first “American Idol”

On September 4, 2002, Kelly Clarkson, a 20-year-old cocktail waitress from Texas, wins the first season of American Idol in a live television broadcast from Hollywood’s Kodak Theater. Clarkson came out on top in the amateur singing contest over 23-year-old runner-up Justin Guarini after millions of viewers cast their votes for her by phone. She […]

Comedy legend Joan Rivers dies

On September 4, 2014, Joan Rivers, one of the best-known comedians of her era, dies at age 81 in a New York City hospital, a week after she went into cardiac arrest while undergoing a medical procedure on her vocal cords at a Manhattan clinic. During a showbiz career that spanned more than five decades, […]

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Mother Teresa becomes a saint

On September 4, 2016, Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun who dedicated her life to caring for the destitute in India, officially becomes Saint Teresa of Calcutta, almost two decades after her death on September 5, 1997. Pope Francis declared Mother Teresa of Calcutta a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in front of thousands […]

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement