September 4 - Events

Events

• 476 – Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself "King of Italy", thus ending the Western Roman Empire.
• 626 – Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne over the Tang Dynasty of China.
• 1260 – The Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of King Manfred of Sicily, defeat the Florentine Guelphs at Montaperti.
• 1666 – In London, England, the most destructive damage from the Great Fire occurs.
• 1774 – New Caledonia is first sighted by Europeans, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook.
• 1781 – Los Angeles, California, is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola) by 44 Spanish settlers.
• 1797 – Coup of 18 Fructidor in France.
• 1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Harrison begins when the fort is set on fire.
• 1862 – Civil War Maryland Campaign: General Robert E. Lee takes the Army of Northern Virginia, and the war, into the North.
• 1870 – Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared.
• 1884 – The United Kingdom ends its policy of penal transportation to New South Wales in Australia.
• 1886 – American Indian Wars: after almost 30 years of fighting, Apache leader Geronimo, with his remaining warriors, surrenders to General Nelson Miles in Arizona.
• 1888 – George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.
• 1912 – Albanian rebels succeed in their revolt when the Ottoman Empire agrees to fulfill their demands
• 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Turkey, gathers a congress in Sivas to make decisions as to the future of Anatolia and Thrace.
• 1923 – Maiden flight of the first U.S. airship, the USS Shenandoah.
• 1939 – World War II: a Bristol Blenheim is the first British aircraft to cross the German coast following the declaration of war and German ships are bombed.
• 1941 – World War II: a German submarine makes the first attack against a United States ship, the USS Greer.
• 1944 – World War II: the British 11th Armoured Division liberates the Belgian city of Antwerp.
• 1944 – World War II: Finland exits from the war with Soviet Union.
• 1948 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.
• 1949 – The Peekskill Riots erupt after a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York.
• 1950 – Darlington Raceway is the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the first 500-mile NASCAR race.
• 1951 – The first live transcontinental television broadcast takes place in San Francisco, California, from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
• 1957 – American Civil Rights Movement: Little Rock Crisis – Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas, calls out the National Guard to prevent African American students from enrolling in Central High School.
• 1957 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.
• 1963 – Swissair Flight 306 crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board.
• 1964 – Scotland's Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh officially opens.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins: U.S. Marines engage the North Vietnamese in battle in the Que Son Valley.
• 1971 – Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.
• 1972 – Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.
• 1975 – The Sinai Interim Agreement relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict is signed.
• 1977 – The Golden Dragon Massacre took place in San Francisco, California.
• 1985 – The discovery of Buckminsterfullerene, the first fullerene molecule of carbon.
• 1989 – In Leipzig, East Germany, the first of weekly demonstration for the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms takes place.
• 1996 – War on Drugs: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare in which at least 130 Colombians are killed.
• 1998 – Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.
• 2001 – Tokyo DisneySea opens to the public as part of the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan.
• 2007 – Three terrorists suspected to be a part of Al-Qaeda are arrested in Germany after allegedly planning attacks on both the Frankfurt International airport and US military installations.
• 2010 – Canterbury earthquake: a 7.1 magnitude earthquake which struck the South Island of New Zealand at 4:35 am causing widespread damage and several power outages.
• 2012 – The Democratic National Convention is held in Charlotte, North Carolina.