August 4th
1735
Printer John Peter Zenger, defended by Andrew Hamilton, was acquitted of libel in a case that helped foster freedom of the press.
1884
Thomas Stevens became the first person to bicycle across the United States. He later bicycled around the world.
1914
Germany invaded Belgium and, in response, Britain declared war on Germany.
1916
Denmark ceded the Danish West Indies, including the Danish Virgin Islands, to the United States for 25 million.
1944
Anne Frank and her family were found hiding in Amsterdam by Nazis.
1977
President Carter signed a congressional act that established the Department of Energy.
1983
New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield threw a baseball during warm-ups and accidentally killed a seagull. After the game, Toronto police arrested him for "causing unnecessary suffering to an animal."
1985
Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox achieved his 300th victory.
1985
Rod Carew of the California angels got his 3,000th major league hit.
1989
The final episode of "Highway to Heaven" aired.
2007
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants tied Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs.
2007
Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees became at age 32 the youngest player in major league history to hit his 500th career home run.
Birthdays
70 Frankie Ford Rock singer
66 Tina Cole Actress, singer
65 Richard Belzer Actor, comedian ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")
60 John Riggins Football Hall of Famer
54 Billy Bob Thornton Actor
51 Kym Karath Actress ("The Sound of Music")
50 Lauren Tom Actress
48 Barack Obama 44th President of the United States
47 Roger Clemens Baseball player
41 Daniel Dae Kim Actor ("Lost")
40 Michael DeLuise Actor
38 Jeff Gordon Race car driver
22 Stog-a-Boy Cigar Asylum Inmate
~ jwintosh Cigar Asylum Inmate
69 Louis Armstrong 8/4/1901 - 7/6/1971 American jazz trumpeter