4 April

1147       First historical record of Moscow.

1492       Ambrosius Blarer (born), German reformer (died 1564)

1581       Francis Drake is knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world.

1609       Carolus Clusius (died), Flemish botanist and doctor (born 1526)

1617       John Napier (died), Scottish mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (born 1550)

1646       Antoine Galland (born), French orientalist and archaeologist (died 1715)

1743       Daniel Neal (died), English historian (born 1678)

1761       Theodore Gardelle (died), Swiss painter (born 1722)

1766       John Taylor (died), English scholar (born 1704)

1774       Oliver Goldsmith (died), Irish-English author, poet, and playwright (born 1728)

1792       James Sykes (died), American lawyer and politician (born 1725)

1802       Dorothea Dix (born), American activist (died 1887)

1807       Jérôme Lalande (died), French astronomer (born 1732)

1812       U.S. President James Madison enacts a ninety-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.

1814       Napoleon abdicates for the first time.

1818       The United States Congress adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (then 20).

1835       John Hughlings (born) Jackson, English neurologist (died 1911)

1841       William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and with the shortest term served (born 1773).

1842       Édouard Lucas (born), French mathematician (died 1891)

1843       William Henry Jackson (born), American painter and photographer (died 1942)

1850       Los Angeles, California is incorporated as a city.

1853       Tad Lincoln (born), American son of Abraham Lincoln (died 1871)

1859       Bryant’s Minstrels debut “Dixie” in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show.

1863       Ludwig Emil Grimm (died), German painter and engraver (born 1790)

1870       Heinrich Gustav Magnus (died), German chemist and physicist (born 1802)

1873       The Kennel Club is founded, the oldest and first official registry of purebred dogs in the world.

1874       Charles Ernest Beulé (died), French archaeologist and politician (born 1826)

1883       Peter Cooper (died), American businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union (born 1791)

1887       Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.

1890       Edmond Hébert (died), French geologist (born 1812)

1895       Arthur Murray (born), American dancer and educator (died 1991)

1906       John Cameron Swayze (born), American journalist (died 1995)

1912       Isaac K. Funk (died), American minister, lexicographer, and publisher, co-founded Funk & Wagnalls (born 1839)

1919       William Crookes (died), English chemist and physicist (born 1832)

1923       John Venn (died), English mathematician and philosopher, created the Venn diagram (born 1834)

1928       Maya Angelou (born), American author, poet, actress, and director

1929       Karl Benz (died), German engineer and businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz (born 1844)

1931       André Michelin (died), French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (born 1853)

1932       Clive Davis (born), American record producer, founded Arista Records and J Records

1933       Bill France, Jr. (born), American businessman (died 2007)

1938       A. Bartlett Giamatti (born), American academic (died 1989)

1939       Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.

1939       Hugh Masekela (born), South African singer-songwriter and trumpet player

1939       Major Lance (born), American singer (died 1994)

1942       Kitty Kelley (born), American journalist and author

1944       Craig T. Nelson (born), American actor

1946       Dave Hill (born), English guitarist (Slade)

1948       Berry Oakley (born), American bass player (The Allman Brothers Band) (died 1972)

1948       Pick Withers (born), English drummer (Dire Straits and Magna Carta)

1949       Junior Braithwaite (born), Jamaican-American singer (Bob Marley and the Wailers) (died 1999)

1949       Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

1964       The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.

1965       Robert Downey, Jr. (born), American actor, singer, screenwriter, and producer

1967       Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech in New York City’s Riverside Church.

1968       Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 6.

1968       Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee  (born 1929).

1968       Robert F. Kennedy’s speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

1969       Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.

1973       The World Trade Center in New York is officially dedicated.

1975       Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico

1983       Gloria Swanson (died), American actress, singer, and producer (born 1899)

1983       Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space (STS-6).

1984       Oleg Antonov (died), Russian-Ukrainian engineer and businessman, founded Antonov (born 1906)

1984       President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.

1988       Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.

1994       Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark found Netscape Communications Corporation under the name “Mosaic Communications Corporation”.

2001       Ed Roth (died), American illustrator (born 1932)

2013       Roger Ebert (died) American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (born 1942)

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EO Smith

Interests include biological anthropology, evolution, social behavior, and human behavior. Conducted field research in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya and on Angaur, Palau, Micronesia, as well as research with captive nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.
EO Smith
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