Historical events on August 4
AUGUST 4, 1862
In Brooklyn, a mob composed largely of Irish Americans attacked a group of African Americans in a riot.
Brooklyn is a borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the State of New York.
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AUGUST 4, 1964
Vietnam War: The National Security Agency falsely claimed that a U.S. Navy destroyer was attacked a second time by North Vietnamese vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin, leading Congress to authorize the use of military force.
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies.
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AUGUST 4, 1914
World War I: Adhering to the terms of the Treaty of London, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in response to the latter's invasion of Belgium.
World War I or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the
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AUGUST 4, 1991
An explosion on the Greek cruise ship MTS Oceanos ruptured its hull, causing it to sink off the east coast of South Africa, with all 571 people on board rescued.
MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when she suffered uncontrolled flooding. Her captain, Yiannis Avranas,
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AUGUST 4, 2007
An airport police officer discovered a suitcase containing approximately US$800,000 as it passed through security at Jorge Newbery Airfield in Buenos Aires, sparking an international scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina.
Lorena Telpuk, formerly María del Luján Telpuk or the Suitcase Girl, is a former airport police officer at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in
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AUGUST 4, 1972
President Idi Amin announced the expulsion of Asians from Uganda.
Idi Amin Dada Oumee was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until
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AUGUST 4, 1783
Mount Asama (pictured) in Japan began a climactic eruption, which exacerbated the Great Tenmei famine and led to thousands of deaths.
Mount Asama is an active complex volcano in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The volcano is the most active
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AUGUST 4, 1997
French supercentenarian Jeanne Calment died at the age of 122 years, 164 days, with the longest confirmed human lifespan in history.
A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in
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AUGUST 4, 1830
American surveyor James Thompson produced the first plat of Chicago for the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners.
James Thompson was an American surveyor who created the first plat of Chicago. Born in South Carolina, Thompson moved to Kaskaskia in
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AUGUST 4, 1995
Yugoslav Wars: The Croatian Army initiated Operation Storm, the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and the largest European land battle since the Second World War.
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place from 1991
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AUGUST 4, 1356
Hundred Years' War: A large-scale mounted raid by Anglo-Gascon forces began under the command of Edward the Black Prince.
The Hundred Years' War was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the
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AUGUST 4, 1791
The signing of the Treaty of Sistova brought an end to the Austro-Turkish War.
The Treaty of Sistova ended the last Austro-Turkish war (1787–91). Brokered by Great Britain, Prussia and the Netherlands, it was signed in
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AUGUST 4, 2020
A large explosion of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon killed 218 people and caused US$15 billion in damage.
On 4 August 2020, a major explosion occurred in Beirut, Lebanon, triggered by the ignition of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. The
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AUGUST 4, 1953
Alfred C. Glassell Jr. caught a black marlin weighing 1,560 lb (710 kg) (pictured) off the coast of Peru, setting the record for the largest bony fish caught by hand.
Alfred Curry Glassell Jr. was an American businessman and philanthropist. He made a fortune in the oil and gas industry in Louisiana
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AUGUST 4, 1983
Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, the president of Upper Volta, was ousted in a coup d'état led by Thomas Sankara.
Jean-Baptiste Philippe Ouédraogo, also referred to by his initials JBO, is a Burkinabé physician and retired military officer who served as President
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AUGUST 4, 2006
Sri Lankan Civil War: Seventeen employees of the French nongovernmental organization ACF International were massacred in Muttur.
The Sri Lankan civil war was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983,
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AUGUST 4, 2014
Julieka Ivanna Dhu, an Aboriginal Australian woman, died in police custody after her deteriorating condition was mocked and ignored.
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of
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AUGUST 4, 1892
Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother were found murdered in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts; Borden was later tried and acquitted for the murders.
Lizzie Andrew Borden was an American woman who was tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father
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AUGUST 4, 1704
War of the Spanish Succession: A combined Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles captured Gibraltar from Spain.
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the
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AUGUST 4, 1265
Second Barons' War: Royal troops led by Prince Edward defeated baronial forces under Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in Worcestershire, England.
The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in England between the forces of barons led by Simon de Montfort against
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AUGUST 4, 1796
French Revolutionary Wars: Commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte (depicted), the French Army of Italy decisively defeated Austrian forces led by Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich at the Battle of Lonato.
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802.
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