March 4 Events In History

EVENTS

• 1681 – King Charles II of England granted a huge tract of land in the New World to William Penn to settle an outstanding debt. The area later became Pennsylvania.

  

• 1789 – The first meeting of the new Congress under the new U.S. Constitution took place in New York City.
• 1801 – Thomas Jefferson becomes the first US president inaugurated in Washington, DC.
• 1830 – Former President John Quincy Adams returned to Congress as a representative from Massachusetts. He was the first ex-president ever to return to the House and served eight consecutive terms.
• 1877 – The microphone is invented by Emile Berliner.
• 1902 – American Automobile Association (AAA) is established.
• 1918 – The first documented cases of the Spanish flu herald a deadly worldwide pandemic. The disease quickly spread around the world, causing over 25 million deaths.
• 1933 – Newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office and delivered his first inaugural address attempting to restore public confidence during the Great Depression, stating, “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself…” His cabinet appointments included the first woman to a Cabinet post, Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins.
• 1977 – The Vrancea earthquake claims over 1500 lives. Most of the victims were residents of Romania’s capital Bucharest.
• 1980 – Robert Mugabe becomes Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister. A hero of the black struggle against the white minority rule in his country, Mugabe won a landslide victory. More recently, his oppressive style of leadership has been condemned domestically and internationally.
• 2007 – The world’s first national internet election is held. Estonia was the first country to allow its citizens to vote in a parliamentary election through the world wide web.

BIRTHDAYS

• 1678 – Antonio Vivaldi (Composer)
• 1747 – Revolutionary war hero Casimir Pulaski (1747-1779) was born in Poland
• 1888 – Knute Rockne (Notre Dame Football coach)
• 1932 – Ryszard Kapuściński (Polish journalist)
• 1950 – Rick Perry (American politician, 47th Governor of Texas)
• 1951 – Chris Rea (English singer-songwriter, guitarist)

  

• 1958 – Patricia Heaton (Actress)
• 1968 – Graham Westley (English footballer, manager)
• 1982 – Landon Donovan (Soccer Player)

DEATHS

• 1811 – Mariano Moreno (Argentinian lawyer, journalist, politician)
• 1852 – Nikolai Gogol (Ukrainian/Russian author, playwright)
• 1888 – Amos Bronson Alcott (American educator, philosopher)

  

• 1977 – Anatol E. Baconsky (Romanian poet, author, critic)
• 2008 – Gary Gygax (American game designer, writer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons)