ASSASSINATION
1968 The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.; the killing sparked a wave of riots across the U.S. (James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to assassinating King, then spent the rest of his life claiming his innocence and attempting to withdraw his guilty plea; he died in prison in 1998.)
WAR!
1945 During World War II, U.S. troops on Okinawa encountered the first significant resistance from Japanese forces at the Machinato Line.
2003 U.S. forces seized Saddam International Airport outside Baghdad.
TERRORISM
2007 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the surprise release of 15 captive British sailors and marines.
DISASTER
1905 Earthquake in Kangra India, kills 370,000.
1933 US Dirigible Akron crashes off coast of New Jersey, 73 die.
1971 Marine clay under houses liquifies, 31 die (St-Jean-Vianney Québec).
1975 More than 130 people, most of them children, were killed when a U.S. Air Force transport plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crash-landed shortly after takeoff from Saigon.
1994 KLM Saab 340B crashes at Schiphol, 3 killed.
1998 Sixty-three people were killed in an explosion inside a Ukrainian coal mine.
PATENTS
1828 Casparus van Wooden patents chocolate milk powder (Amsterdam).
REVENGE
1975 Steve Miller is arrested for burning his girlfriend's clothes.
1984
1984 Winston Smith in Orwell's "1984" begins his secret diary.
JEWS
1920 Arabs attack Jews in Jerusalem.
1949 Israel & Jordan sign armistice agreement.
WILE E. PELOSI
2007 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad despite White House objections.
FLAGS
1818 Congress decided the United States flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state.
PC VICTIM
2007 Radio host Don Imus made offensive on-air remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. (Despite a subsequent apology, Imus was fired by CBS Radio and cable network MSNBC; he was hired elsewhere by year's end.)
IMPEACHED!
1988 The Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham of two charges of official misconduct, and removed him from office. (Mecham was the first governor to be impeached and removed from office in nearly six decades.)
BORN
1821 Linus Yale US, portrait painter/inventor (Yale cylinder lock).
1908 Ernestine Gilbreth Carey author (Cheaper by the Dozen).
1915 Muddy Waters [McKinley Morganfield], guitarist (Hoochie Coochie Man).
BIRTHDAYS
Author-poet Maya Angelou is 80. Sen. Richard Lugar, R.-Ind., is 76. Recording executive Clive Davis is 76. Bandleader Hugh Masekela is 69. Author Kitty Kelley is 66. Actor Craig T. Nelson is 64. Actor Walter Charles is 63. Actress Caroline McWilliams is 63. Actress Christine Lahti is 58. Country singer Steve Gatlin (The Gatlin Brothers) is 57. Writer-producer David E. Kelley is 52. Actor Phil Morris is 49. Actress Lorraine Toussaint is 48. Actor Hugo Weaving is 48. Rock musician Craig Adams (The Cult) is 46. Actor David Cross is 44. Actor Robert Downey Jr. is 43. Actress Nancy McKeon is 42. Actor Barry Pepper is 38. Country singer Clay Davidson is 37. Rock singer Josh Todd (Buckcherry) is 37. Singer Jill Scott is 36. Rock musician Magnus Sveningsson (The Cardigans) is 36. Magician David Blaine is 35. Singer Kelly Price is 35. Rhythm-and-blues singer Andre Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 34. Actor James Roday is 32. Actress Natasha Lyonne is 29. Actress Jamie Lynn Spears is 17.
DEATH
1841 President William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia one month after his inaugural, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office.
1979 Edgar Buchanan actor (Uncle Joe-Petticoat Junction), dies at 77.
1979 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto former Pakistani President, hanged in Pakistan at 51.
April 4, the 95th day of 2008. There are 271 days left in the year.
compiled by Mondoreb
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
* DBKP Today in Weird History: April 4 2008
* Today in Weird History: April 4 2008
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