September 4

September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). There are 118 days remaining.

Events

476 - Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself King of Italy.

1781 - Los Angeles is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula (the City of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula) by a group of 44 Spanish settlers.

1870 - Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared.

1886 - Indian Wars: After almost 30 years of fighting, Apache leader Geronimo surrenders with his last band of warriors to General Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.

1888 - George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film.

1894 - In New York City, 12,000 tailors strike against sweatshop working conditions.

1923 - In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the first American airship, the USS Shenandoah, takes to the sky for the first time.

1940 - World War II: The USS Greer becomes the first United States ship fired upon by a German submarine in the war, even though the United States is a neutral power. Tension heightens between the two nations as a result.

1944 - World War II: The British 11th Armored Division liberate the city of Antwerp in Belgium.

1945 - World War II: Japanese forces surrender on Wake Island after hearing word of their nation's surrender.

1948 - Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.

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 - Orville Faubus, governor of Arkansas, calls out the National Guard to prevent black students from enrolling in Central High School in Little Rock.

1957 - Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.

1963 - Swissair Flight 306 crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland killing all on board.

1964 - Forth Road Bridge, near Edinburgh, officially opened.

1967 - The last new episode of the television sitcom Gilligan's Island airs on CBS-TV.

1967 - Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins - The United States Mariness launch a search-and-destroy mission in Quang Nam and Quang Tin Provinces. The ensuing 4-day battle in Que Son Valley kills 114 Americans and 376 North Vietnamese.

1971 - A Boeing 727 carrying Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes into the side of a mountain near Juneau, Alaska killing all 111 people on board.

1971 - The Lawrence Welk Show airs its last show.

1972 - Mark Spitz wins his seventh swimming gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, becoming the first Olympian to win seven gold medals.

1972 - The Price Is Right, hosted by Bob Barker, returns to television with a new format on CBS. Over three decades later, it continues to air and give away prizes galore.

1995 - The Fourth World Conference on Women opens in Beijing with over 4,750 delegates from 181 countries in attendance.

1996 - War on Drugs: Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, Colombia starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare that will claim the lives of at least 130 Colombians.

1997 - In Lorain, Ohio, the last Ford Thunderbird rolls off the assembly line.

1997 - A U.S. Air Force C-141 cargo plane and a German TU-154 collide in mid-air over southwest Africa killing 33.