Tuesday, August 04th
The 216th day of 2009.
There are 149 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Aug. 4, 1914, Britain declared war on Germany while the United States proclaimed its neutrality. (Go to article.)
On Aug. 4, 1901, Louis Armstrong, the influential American jazz trumpeter, was born. Following his death on July 6, 1971, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On August 4, 1866, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Seven Weeks' (or Austro-Prussian) War. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1735 A jury acquitted John Peter Zenger of the New York Weekly Journal of seditious libel.
1790 The Coast Guard had its beginnings as the Revenue Cutter Service.
1792 Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in Field Place, England.
1830 Plans for the city of Chicago were laid out.
1892 Andrew and Abby Borden were axed to death in their home in Fall River, Mass. Lizzie Borden, Andrew Borden's daughter from a previous marriage, was accused of the killings, though she was later acquitted.
1916 The United States reached agreement with Denmark to purchase the Danish Virgin Islands for $25 million.
1929 Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was born Rahman Abdel-Raouf Arafat Al-Qudwa in either Cairo or Gaza.
1944 Anne Frank, 15, was arrested along with her sister, parents and four other people, after they had spent two years hiding from the Nazis in a building in Amsterdam. Her diary became a famous account of the Holocaust.
1964 The bodies of three missing civil rights workers were found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.
1977 President Jimmy Carter signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy.
1987 The Federal Communications Commission voted to rescind the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and TV stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues.
1994 Serb-dominated Yugoslavia withdrew its support for Bosnian Serbs, sealing the 300-mile border between Yugoslavia and Serb-held Bosnia.
2002 A Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a bus in northern Israel during rush hour, killing nine passengers.
2005 A mini-submarine carrying seven Russians became caught on an underwater antenna 600 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean; the men were rescued three days later with help from a British vessel.
2007 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants tied Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs in a 3-2 loss to the Padres in San Diego.
2007 Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees became at age 32 the youngest player in major league history to hit his 500th career home run, during a home game against Kansas City.
Current Birthdays
Barack Obama turns 48 years old today.
AP Photo/Ron Edmonds President Barack Obama turns 48 years old today.
89 Helen Thomas
Journalist
70 Frankie Ford
Rock singer
68 Ted Strickland
Governor of Ohio
66 Tina Cole
Actress, singer
65 Richard Belzer
Actor, comedian ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")
60 John Riggins
Football Hall of Famer
54 Alberto Gonzales
Former attorney general
54 Billy Bob Thornton
Actor
51 Kym Karath
Actress ("The Sound of Music")
50 Lauren Tom
Actress
48 Michael Gelman
TV producer ("Live With Regis and Kelly")
47 Roger Clemens
Baseball player
44 Crystal Chappell
Actress ("Guiding Light")
44 Dennis Lehane
Author
41 Rob Cieka
Rock musician (Boo Radleys)
41 Daniel Dae Kim
Actor ("Lost")
40 Michael DeLuise
Actor
38 Jeff Gordon
Race car driver
39 Ron Lester
Actor
38 Yo-Yo
Rapper, actress
36 Jon Nicholson
Country singer
28 Marques Houston
R&B singer, actor
17 Dylan Sprouse
Actor
17 Cole Sprouse
Actor
Historic Birthdays
Louis Armstrong
8/4/1901 - 7/6/1971
American jazz trumpeter
(Go to obit.)
40 Richard de Clare Gloucester
8/4/1222 - 7/15/1262
English nobleman
30 Percy Bysshe Shelley
8/4/1792 - 7/8/1822
English Romantic poet
90 Russell Sage
8/4/1816 - 7/22/1906
American financier
55 Walter Pater
8/4/1839 - 7/30/1894
British critic, essayist and humanist
70 Sir Pherozeshah Mehta
8/4/1845 - 11/5/1915
Indian politician and newspaper publisher
78 Sir Osbert Lancaster
8/4/1908 - 7/27/1986
English cartoonist, stage designer and writer
79 Glenn Cunningham
8/4/1909 - 3/10/1988
American champion middle-distance runner
82 William Schuman
8/4/1910 - 2/15/1992
American composer and educator
35 Raoul Wallenberg
8/4/1912 - 7/17/1947
Swedish businessman and diplomat; rescued thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II
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