Milestones for June 4

780 BC China

Chinese astronomers reliably record the first total solar eclipse; first in history.

1070 Roquefort, France

Roquefort cheese first created in a cave near Roquefort; the blue veined delight is made from sheep's milk that is exposed to a mold known as Penicillium roqueforti and aged for 3 months or more in the limestone caverns of Mount Combalou near the village of Roquefort in southwestern France.

1913 Epsom, England

Emily Davison, a suffragist, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby; she is trampled and dies a few days later, never having regained consciousness, becoming the first martyr of the movement.

1942 Midway, Pacific

Admiral Chester Nimitz leads 76 ships of the US Navy against a split Japanese force at Midway Island in the central Pacific about 2000 km northwest of the Hawaiian islands, a vital re-fueling spot and naval base for the Americans; US cryptographers had broken the Japanese secret code and knew they were planning to take the island; Vice Admiral Nagumo, in command of the Japanese carriers, launched 108 planes against Midway, but could not put Midway's runways out of action; the fleets never engaged, but US Navy torpedo planes from the carriers Hornet, Yorktown, and Enterprise launched strikes as the Japanese carriers struck their planes below to prepare for a second strike on Midway. Hornet's dive bombers missed contact, but 15 planes comprising her Torpedo Squadron 8
found the enemy, sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu); the USS Yorktown also sinks after being hit by dive bombers and a torpedo from a submarine; a major battle of World War II, Midway turned the tide of the Pacific war against Japan, and showed that planes from aircraft carriers could defeat a superior surface force. Japan's first major defeat in WW II. [pictures: Yorktown sinking; US torpedo bomber setting out]

1944 Rome Italy

General Mark Clark leads his US 5th Army into the southern suburbs of Rome in Trinity Sunday, liberates the city from Mussolini's Fascist armies; many Romans stay indoors, afraid of last-ditch reprisals by the departing Germans; American and British armies do not occupy the city until the next morning out of respect for the religious holiday; first Axis capital to fall to the Allies.

1989 Beijing, China

At 1:00 am, Chinese troops and tanks surround Tiananmen Square, home of thousands of students of the pro-democracy movement, most of whom are sleeping; at 4:00 am, four men who began a hunger strike on June 2 start to negotiate with the troops to let the students leave the Square peacefully; at 5:00 am, several thousand leave the Square at gunpoint, then troops move in the tanks; as many as 2,600 people die as soldiers open fire to dislodge the occupiers of the Square.

Other Events

06 04 June 4 is the 155th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (156th in leap years), with 210 days remaining..
1039 06 04 Henry II becomes King of Germany.
1039 06 04 Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor. dies
1070 06 04 Roquefort cheese created in a cave near Roquefort, France
1133 06 04 Rome-Innocentius II crowns Lotharius III Roman-German emperor
1391 06 04 Mob led by Ferrand Martinez surounds & sets fire to Jewish quarter of Seville Spain, surviving Jews sold into slavery
1487 06 04 Lord Lovell & John de la Poles army land at Furness Lancashire
1632 06 04 Prince Frederik Henry conquerors Venlo
1647 06 04 British army seizes King Charles I as a prisoner
1664 06 04 Viceroy Willem Frederik conquerors Dijlerschans
1666 06 04 Battle at Duinkerk: English vs Dutch fleet
1741 06 04 Prussia goes to the Covenant of Nymphenburg.
1745 06 04 Frederick the Great (Prussia) defeats Austrians & Saxons at Battle at Hohenfriedberg Silezia.
1756 06 04 Quakers leave assembly of Pennsylvania
1760 06 04 New England planters arrive to take land in Nova Scotia Canada taken from the Acadians.
1763 06 04 Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison's attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort; at what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan.
1783 06 04 Montgolfier brothers launch first hot-air balloon (unmanned)
1784 06 04 Mme Thible becomes first woman to fly (in a balloon)
1789 06 04 US constitution goes into effect
1792 06 04 Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for Great Britain.
1794 06 04 Congress passes Neutrality Act, bans Americans from serving in armed forces of foreign powers
1798 06 04 Giacomo Casanova, famous lover. dies
1800 06 04 White House completed & President & Mrs John Adams move in
1801 06 04 Frederick Muhlenberg, first speaker of the United States House of Representatives. dies
1805 06 04 Tripoli forced to conclude peace with US after war over tribute
1812 06 04 Louisiana Territory officially renamed Missouri Territory
1812 06 04 War of 1812: The United States Congress votes for war against Britain.
1825 06 04 Unseasonable hurricane hits New York City.
1831 06 04 National Congress selects Leopold von Saksen-Coburg as King of Belgium
1832 06 04 3rd national black convention meets (Phila)
1845 06 04 Mexican-US war starts
1850 06 04 Empire Engine Company No 1 organized
1850 06 04 Self deodorizing fertilizer patented in England
1862 06 04 American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
1868 06 04 Van Bosse/Fock govt begins
1870 06 04 4th Belmont: W Dick aboard Kingfisher wins in 2:59«
1872 06 04 Johan Rudolf Thorbecke, Dutch politician. dies
1873 06 04 First contract workers of British-Indies Co arrives in Suriname
1875 06 04 Pacific Stock Exchange opens at San Francisco, California.
1876 06 04 Express train arrives in San Francisco, California only 83 hours after having left New York City.
1878 06 04 Cyprus ceded by Turkey to Britain for administrative purposes
1878 06 04 Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom.
1884 06 04 18th Belmont: Jim McLaughlin aboard Panique wins in 2:42
1892 06 04 Oil City & Titusville Penn, destroyed by oil tank explosion; 130 die
1892 06 04 The Sierra Club is incorporated in San Francisco, California.
1896 06 04 Henry Ford takes his first Ford through streets of Detroit
1907 06 04 Automatic washer & dryer introduced
1912 06 04 Cone of Mount Katmai (Alaska) collapses
1912 06 04 Massachusetts passes first US minimum wage law
1916 06 04 Russian General Brusilov fails on his Eastern Front attack
1917 06 04 American men begin registering for the draft
1917 06 04 First Pulitzer prize awarded to Richards & Elliott (Julia Ward Howe)
1917 06 04 Order of British Empire inaugurated
1919 06 04 Senate passes Women's Suffrage bill
1919 06 04 US marines invade Costa Rica
1920 06 04 The Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris between Allies & Hungary.
1927 06 04 First Ryder Cup: US beats England, 9«-2« at Worcester CC Mass
1927 06 04 Johnny Weissmuller set swim records in 100-yard & 200-yard free-style
1929 06 04 George Eastman demonstrates first technicolor movie (Rochester NY)
1932 06 04 64th Belmont: Tom Malley aboard Faireno wins in 2:32.8
1932 06 04 Edouard Herriot becomes premier of France
1937 06 04 Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of People's front govt of France
1938 06 04 10th Walker Cup: Britain-Ireland, 7«-4«
1938 06 04 70th Belmont: James Stout aboard Pasteurized wins in 2:29.6
1939 06 04 Tommy Ladnier, jazz musician (b. 1900). dies
1940 06 04 World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation is completed; British complete miracle of Dunkirk by evacuating 300,000 troops
1940 06 04 First NL night game at Sportsman's Park (Dodgers 10, Cardinals 1)
1940 06 04 First night game at Forbes Field (Pirates 14, Braves 2)
1940 06 04 German forces enter Paris.
1940 06 04 First synthetic rubber tire unveiled
1940 06 04 Winston Churchill says We shall fight on the seas & oceans
1941 06 04 Kaiser Wilhelm II. dies
1941 06 04 Nazis forbid Jews access to beach & swimming pools
1941 06 04 Republic of Croatia orders all Jews to wear a star with the letter Z
1942 06 04 Capitol Record Co opens for business
1942 06 04 Reinhard Heydrich, Nazi official. dies
1943 06 04 Argentina taken over by Gen Rawson & Col Juan Per¢n
1943 06 04 Race riots in Los Angeles.
1943 06 04 St Louis Card Mort Cooper pitches his 2nd consecutive 1 hitter
1944 06 04 First British gliders touches down on French soil for D-Day
1944 06 04 First submarine captured & boarded on high seas-U 505
1944 06 04 French general De Gaulle arrives in London
1945 06 04 6th Marine division occupies Orokoe Peninsula Okinawa
1945 06 04 US, Russia, England & France agree to split occupied Germany
1946 06 04 Largest solar prominence (300,000 mi/500,000 km) observed
1947 06 04 House of Reps approves Taft-Hartley act
1947 06 04 Louisiana Lady closes at Century Theater NYC after 4 performances
1949 06 04 Cavalcade of Stars debuts (DuMont); Jackie Gleason made host in 1950
1950 06 04 CVP wins Belgian parliamentary election
1950 06 04 Dutch cyclist Wim van Est wins Bordeaux-Paris (586 km in 17:25)
1951 06 04 Mississippi Valley State University founded
1951 06 04 Pirate's Gus Bell hits for cycle helps beat Phillies 12-4
1953 06 04 Pitts trades outfielder Ralph Kiner & Joe Garagiola to Chic
1954 06 04 Arthur Murray flies X-1A rocket plane to record 27,000 m
1954 06 04 France grants Vietnam independence inside French Union
1955 06 04 Mickey Rooney Show, TV comedy last airs on NBC
1956 06 04 Speech by Khrushchev blasting Stalin made public
1957 06 04 First commercial coal pipeline placed in operation
1957 06 04 May & Cowdrey make 411 stand v WI Ramadhin bowls 98 overs
1958 06 04 French premier De Gaulle arrives in Algiers
1958 06 04 SF Giants Hank Sauer & B Schmidt are 2nd to hit consecutive pinch HRs
1961 06 04 Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Western Golf Open
1962 06 04 Lee Harvey Oswald departs Rotterdam on SS Maasdam to US
1963 06 04 British Minister of War John Profumo resigns due to Christine Keeler
1963 06 04 First transmission of Pop Go the Beatles on BBC radio
1964 06 04 Beatles World Tour begins in Copenhagen Denmark
1964 06 04 LA Dodger Sandy Koufax 3rd no-hitter beats Phil Phillies, 3-0
1964 06 04 Maldives adopts constitution
1964 06 04 Test Cricket debut of Geoff Boycott v Australia at Trent Bridge, 48
1965 06 04 Rolling Stones release Satisfaction
1966 06 04 Hurricane Alma kills 51 in Honduras; to June 10.
1966 06 04 98th Belmont: William Boland aboard Amberoid wins in 2:29.6
1966 06 04 Batman & His Grandmother by Dickie Goodman hits #70
1967 06 04 19th Emmy Awards: Mission Impossible, Monkees, Don Knotts & Lucy Ball
1967 06 04 Curt Flood's record 568 straight chances without an error ends (227 straight games)
1967 06 04 KTVN TV channel 2 in Reno, NV (CBS) begins broadcasting
1967 06 04 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA St Louis Women's Golf Invitational
1967 06 04 Monkees take home an Emmy for their Outstanding comedy Series
1968 06 04 Don Drysdale pitches his 6th straight shutout, en route to 58 innings
1968 06 04 Dorothy Gish, actress. dies
1969 06 04 22-year-old man sneaks into wheel pod of a jet parked in Havana & survives 9-hr flight to Spain despite thin oxygen levels at 29,000 ft
1969 06 04 Beatles release Ballad Of John & Yoko/Old Brown Shoe, in US
1969 06 04 Nicky Hopkins quits rock & rolls, Jeff Beck Group
1970 06 04 43rd National Spelling Bee: Libby Childress wins spelling croissant
1970 06 04 SD Padres draft Mike Ivie #1
1970 06 04 Tonga (formerly Friendly Islands) declares independence from United Kingdom.
1970 06 04 WSMW TV channel 27 in Worcester, MA (IND) begins broadcasting
1970 06 04 Yanks Horace Clarke breaks up a no-hitter in the 9th for the first of 3 times in 28 days
1971 06 04 J Luns appointed secretary-general of NATO
1971 06 04 Oakland A's beat Wash Senators, 5-3, in 21 innings
1971 06 04 Zaheer Abbas scores Cricket 274 at Edgbaston, 544 minutes 38 fours
1972 06 04 Angela Davis, black activist, acquitted of killing a white guard
1972 06 04 Carol Mann wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Open
1972 06 04 Record 8 shutouts pitched in 16 major league games (AL=5, NL=3)
1973 06 04 43rd French Womens Tennis: Margaret Court beats C Evert (67 76 64)
1973 06 04 Maurice René Fréchet, mathematician. dies
1974 06 04 Never-to-be-repeated 10¢ Beer Night at Cleveland Stadium occurs; unruly fans stumble onto field & cause Indians to forfeit the game to Rangers with score tied 5-5 in 9th
1974 06 04 NFL grants franchise to Seattle Seahawks
1975 06 04 Oldest animal fossils in US discovered in NC
1977 06 04 Apple II, the first personal computer, goes on sale
1977 06 04 Violence during Puerto Rican Day in Chicago kills 2
1978 06 04 32nd Tony Awards: Da & Ain't Misbehavin' win
1978 06 04 6th du Maurier Golf Classic (Peter Jackson Classic): JoAnne Carner
1978 06 04 Liberal Julio Turbay Ayola wins Colombia elections
1978 06 04 Working closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 25 performances
1979 06 04 South-African pres Vorster resigns due to scandal
1979 06 04 Sri Lanka forfeit ICC Trophy game vs Israel for political reasons
1981 06 04 54th National Spelling Bee: Paige Pipkin wins spelling sarcophagus
1982 06 04 Israel attacks targets in south Lebanon
1982 06 04 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, released in USA
1983 06 04 53rd French Womens Tennis: Chris Evert beats Mima Jausovec (61 62)
1983 06 04 Ivan Tors, producer, writer, animal trainer. dies
1984 06 04 18th Music City News Country Awards: Statler Brothers
1984 06 04 Arnold Palmer fails to make US Open golf tournament first time in 32 yrs
1984 06 04 Bruce Springsteen releases Born in the USA
1984 06 04 DNA is successfully cloned from an extinct animal
1984 06 04 NY Mets draft Shawn Abner, 17, #1
1985 06 04 STS 51-G vehicle moves to launch pad
1985 06 04 Supreme Court strikes down Alabama moment of silence law
1986 06 04 Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
1987 06 04 Danny Harris beats Edwin Moses, ends streak of 122 cons hurdle wins
1988 06 04 42nd Tony Awards: M Butterfly & Phantom of the Opera win
1988 06 04 58th French Womens Tennis: Steffi Graf beats N Zvereva (60 60)
1988 06 04 Cabaret closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 262 performances
1988 06 04 Kay Cottee sails into Sydney as first woman to circle the globe alone
1988 06 04 Longest game in Balt Memorial Stadium (5:46) 14 inn (beat NY 7-6)
1988 06 04 Rickey Henderson steals 2 bases for record 249 as a NY Yankee
1989 06 04 2nd Children's Miracle Network Telethon raises $770,000
1989 06 04 43rd Tony Awards: Heidi Chronicles & Jerome Robbin's Broadway win
1989 06 04 Succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions occurs in Eastern Europe.
1989 06 04 Beijing cop shoots & wounds Chinese priemer Li Ping
1989 06 04 Eastern Europe's first somewhat free election in 40 years held in Poland
1989 06 04 Gas explodes near 2 passenger trains in USSR, kills 100s
1989 06 04 Largest parade in Bronx history honors 350th anniversary
1989 06 04 Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Rochester Golf International
1989 06 04 Red Sox lead Blue Jays 10-0 in 7th, but lose 12-11 in 12 for Blue Jays 12th consecutive victory at Fenway
1989 06 04 Tiananmen Square protests suppressed in Beijing and covered live on television.
1990 06 04 24th Music City News Country Awards: R Van Shelton & Patty Loveless
1990 06 04 Dr Jack Kevorkian assisted an Oregon woman to commit suicide, beginning a national debate over the right to die
1990 06 04 Greyhound Bus files bankruptcy
1990 06 04 LA Dodger Ramon Martinez strikes out 18 Atlanta Braves
1990 06 04 NY Telephone company announces that it wants Bronx area code 917
1990 06 04 Stiv Bators, musician (The Dead Boys). dies
1991 06 04 First post WW II non-communist government in Albania
1991 06 04 Lesbian priest Elizabeth Carl is ordained in Episcopal Church
1991 06 04 Pope John Paul II compares abortion with nazi murders
1991 06 04 Robert Strauss becomes US ambassador to Soviet Union
1992 06 04 San Jose voters reject Giants plan to build a new stadium
1992 06 04 USPO announces young Elvis beats old Elvis stamp
1994 06 04 Haile Gebre Selassie runs world record 5 km (12:56.96)
1995 06 04 49th Tony Awards: Love! Valour! Compassion! & Sunset Boulevard win
1995 06 04 8th Children's Miracle Network Telethon raises $1,331,000
1995 06 04 Dale Eggeling wins LPGA Oldsmobile Golf Classic
1995 06 04 Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect closes at Golden NYC at 347 perf
1999 06 04 Josephine Konvicka, of Fayette County, Texas, is murdered in a barn not far from Weimar, Texas by Angel Maturino Resendiz. She is his seventh victim in his sixth incident.
1999 06 04 Noemi Dominguez, of Houston, Texas, is murdered by Angel Maturino Resendiz. She is his sixth victim in his fifth incident.
2001 06 04 John Hartford, musician, composer dies
2004 06 04 Harry Potter is released in theaters

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