August 4 in History

Historical Events on August 4

AD 70

Titus ends the siege of Jerusalem after destroying Herod's Temple.
598

Goguryeo-Sui War: Emperor Wéndi of Sui orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong), to conquer Goguryeo (Korea) during the Manchurian rainy season, with a Chinese army and navy.
1265

Second Barons' War: Battle of Evesham: The army of Prince Edward (the future king Edward I of England) defeats the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, killing de Montfort and many of his allies.
1327

First War of Scottish Independence: James Douglas leads a raid into Weardale and almost kills Edward III of England.
1532

The Duchy of Brittany is united to the Kingdom of France.
1578

Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir: The Moroccans defeat the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal is killed in the battle, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.
1693

Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of champagne; it is not clear whether he actually invented champagne, however he has been credited as an innovator who developed the techniques used to perfect sparkling wine.
1701

Great Peace of Montreal between New France and First Nations is signed.
1704

War of the Spanish Succession: Gibraltar is captured by an English and Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles.
1783

Mount Asama erupts in Japan, killing about 1,400 people. The eruption causes a famine, which results in an additional 20,000 deaths.
1789

France: members of the National Constituent Assembly take an oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges.
1790

A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard).
1791

The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman-Habsburg wars.
1796

French Revolutionary Wars: Napoleon leads the French Army of Italy to victory in the Battle of Lonato.
1821

The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper.
1824

The Battle of Kos is fought between Turkish and Greek forces.
1854

The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.
1863

Matica slovenská, Slovakia's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation, is established in Martin.
1873

American Indian Wars: While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the United States 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer clashes for the first time with the Cheyenne and Lakota people near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed.
1889

The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.
1892

The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. She was tried and acquitted for the crimes a year later.
1914

In response to the German invasion of Belgium, Belgium and the British Empire declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.
1915

World War I: The German 12th Army occupies Warsaw during the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive and the Great Retreat of 1915.
1924

Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.
1936

Prime Minister of Greece Ioannis Metaxas suspends parliament and the Constitution and establishes the 4th of August Regime.
1944

The Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find and arrest Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and four others.
1946

An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern Dominican Republic. One hundred are killed and 20,000 are left homeless.
1947

The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
1964

Civil Rights Movement: Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21.
1964

Gulf of Tonkin incident: U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
1965

The Constitution of the Cook Islands comes into force, giving the Cook Islands self-governing status within New Zealand.
1969

Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuân Thuỷ begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.
1974

A bomb explodes in the Italicus Express train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Italy, killing 12 people and wounding 22.
1975

The Japanese Red Army takes more than 50 hostages at the AIA Building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The hostages include the U.S. consul and the Swedish Chargé d'affaires. The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya.
1977

U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
1984

The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.
1987

The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues "fairly".
1993

A federal judge sentences Los Angeles Police Department officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights.
1995

Operation Storm begins in Croatia.
2006

A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).
2007

NASA's Phoenix spacecraft is launched.

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