March 4

Discover what happened on March 4 in history, along with notable celebrity birthdays and fun Days of the Year to celebrate.

 

TODAY IN HISTORY:

1634 – Samuel Cole opened the first tavern in Boston, MA.

1681 – England’s King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn for an area that would become the state of Pennsylvania.

1789 – The first Congress of the United States met in New York and declared that the U.S. Constitution was in effect.

1791 – Vermont was admitted as the 14th U.S. state. It was the first addition to the original 13 American colonies.

1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by Congress. The Amendment limits the jurisdiction of the federal courts to automatically hear cases brought against a state by the citizens of another state. It was later expanded to also include citizens of the state being sued.

1826 – The first railroad in the U.S. was chartered. It was the Granite Railway in Quincy, MA.

1837 – The state of Illinois granted a city charter to Chicago.

1861 – The Confederate States of America adopted the “Stars and Bars” flag.

1877 – Emile Berliner invented the microphone.

1877 – Grand Haven, MI’s U.S. Senator Thomas White Ferry (who was acting Vice President) after the V.P.’s death believed he was acting President of the United States for this one day. All set off by the very controversial election of 1876 which was finally decided after 4 months of dispute. Rutherford B. Hayes was actually sworn in on March 3rd, but Ferry didn’t know that at the time.

1880 – The process of halftone engraving was used for the first time when the “Daily Graphic” was published in New York, NY.

1861 – Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President.

1881 – Eliza Ballou Garfield became the first mother of a President to live in the executive mansion.

1902 – The American Automobile Association was founded in Chicago, IL.

1908 – The New York Board of Education banned the act of whipping students in school.

1912 – A very cold stretch of weather settled into lower Michigan. Muskegon set a record with a low of -2 degrees. There were five straight days of below zero temperatures.

1913 – The Department of Labor was formed.

1914 – Siamese twins were successfully separated by Doctor Fillatre of Paris, France.

1917 – Jeanette Rankin of Montana took her seat as the first woman elected to the House of Representatives.

1918 – The first cases of the “Spanish flu” were reported among soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas. By 1920, nearly one-in-four Americans had suffered from this strain of the flu. It killed about 675,000 people in the United States. Worldwide, estimates put the death toll at 50 million or more.

1918 – The USS Cyclops departed from Barbados and is never seen again, presumably lost with its crew in the Bermuda Triangle.

1925 – Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office in Washington, DC. It was the first Presidential inauguration to be broadcast on the radio.

1930 – Emma Fahning became the first woman bowler to bowl a perfect game in competition run by the Women’s International Bowling Congress in Buffalo, NY.

1933 – In his inauguration speech, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

1933 – Labor Secretary Frances Perkins became the first woman to serve in a Presidential administrative cabinet.

1947 – WDIV TV, Channel 4 in Detroit, became Michigan’s first television station.

1950 – Walt Disney’s animated film “Cinderella” opened in theaters.

1952 – Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis were married.

1954 – In Boston, MA, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital reported the first successful kidney transplant.

1955 – The white pine became Michigan’s official state tree.

1966 – The Beatles stirred up a worldwide controversy after John Lennon told Maureen Cleave of the “London Evening Standard” that, “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus now.” The remark spurred a huge backlash against the group as many took the comment to be blasphemous,

1970 – Janis Joplin was fined $200 for using obscene language onstage in Tampa, FL.

1974 – “People” magazine was published for the first time as “People Weekly”.

1975 – Queen Elizabeth knighted Charlie Chaplin

1980 – The film of Loretta Lynn’s autobiography, “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, starring Sissy Spacek, had its world premiere in Nashville, TN.

1982 – The TV show “Police Squad!” premiered on ABC. The police show parody was created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. It starred Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin. The show was cancelled after six episodes, but it successfully spawned “The Naked Gun” film series from 1988 to 1994. In 2013, TV Guide ranked “Police Squad!” #7 on its list of 60 shows that were “Cancelled Too Soon”.

1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approved a blood test for the AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the U.S.

1989 – Time, Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. announced a plan to merge.

1993 – Patti LaBelle received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1994 – Four Islamic militants were convicted in the World Trade Center bombing.

1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, WI, caused the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.

1997 – President Bill Clinton barred federal spending on human cloning.

1998 – Microsoft repaired software that apparently allowed hackers to shut down computers in government and university offices nationwide.

1998 – The Supreme Court said that federal law banned on-the-job sexual harassment even when both parties are the same sex.

1999 – Monica Lewinsky’s book, “Monica’s Story”, about her affair with President Bill Clinton, went on sale.

2005 – Martha Stewart was released from federal prison in West Virginia and began five months of home confinement. She served five months in jail for lying about a stock sale.

2006 – A TLC television series called “Little People, Big World”, starring the Roloffs family, debuted on TV.

2012 – Vladimir Putin won re-election in Russia’s Presidential election.

2020 – Former Daredevil Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua

 

BIRTHDAYS:

Russell Freeburg – 103 years old (1923) – Journalist and author

Samuel Adler – 98 years old (1928) – German-American composer and conductor

Paula Prentiss – 88 years old (1938) – Actress

Jack Fisher – 87 years old (1939) – Baseball player

Robert Shaye – 87 years old (1939) – Film producer

David Plante – 86 years old (1940) – Novelist

Gloria Gaither – 84 years old (1942) – Singer-songwriter

Charles C. Krulak – 84 years old (1942) – General

David Matthews – 84 years old (1942) – Keyboard player and composer

Lynn Sherr – 84 years old (1942) – Journalist and author

James Gustave Speth – 84 years old (1942) – Lawyer and politician

Anthony Ichiro Sanda – 82 years old (1944) – Japanese-American physicist and academic

Gary Williams – 81 years old (1945) – Basketball player and coach

David Franzoni – 79 years old (1947) – Screenwriter and film producer

Bob Lewis – 79 years old (1947) – Guitarist

James Ellroy – 78 years old (1948) – Writer

Tom Grieve – 78 years old (1948) – Baseball player, manager, and sportscaster

Rick Perry – 76 years old (1950) – Captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas

Sam Perlozzo – 75 years old (1951) – Baseball player and manager

Ronn Moss – 74 years old (1952) – Singer-songwriter and actor

Svend Robinson – 74 years old (1952) – American-Canadian lawyer and politician

Emilio Estefan – 73 years old (1953) – Cuban-American musician and producer

Kay Lenz – 73 years old (1953) – Actress

Chris Smith – 73 years old (1953) – Lawyer and politician

Peter Jacobsen – 72 years old (1954) – Golfer and sportscaster

Mykelti Williamson – 69 years old (1957) – Actor and director

Patricia Heaton – 68 years old (1958) – Actress

Tina Smith – 68 years old (1958) – Politician

Chonda Pierce – 66 years old (1960) – Comedian

Ray Mancini – 65 years old (1961) – Boxer

Steven Weber – 65 years old (1961) – Actor and comedian

Jason Newsted – 63 years old (1963) – Musician and songwriter

Stacy Edwards – 61 years old (1965) – Actress

Khaled Hosseini – 61 years old (1965) – Afghan-American novelist

Kevin Johnson – 60 years old (1966) – Basketball player and politician, 55th Mayor of Sacramento

Fiona Ma – 60 years old (1966) – Accountant and politician

Dav Pilkey – 60 years old (1966) – Author and illustrator

Grand Puba – 60 years old (1966) – Rapper

Mike Small – 60 years old (1966) – Golfer and coach

Evan Dando – 59 years old (1967) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist

Chaz Bono – 57 years old (1969) – Writer, musician, and actor

Andrea Bendewald – 56 years old (1970) – Actress

Katherine Center – 54 years old (1972) – Journalist and author

Robert Smith – 54 years old (1972) – Football player and sportscaster

Phillip Daniels – 53 years old (1973) – Football player and coach

Linus of Hollywood – 53 years old (1973) – Singer-songwriter and producer

Len Wiseman – 53 years old (1973) – Director, producer, and screenwriter

Crowbar – 52 years old (1974) – Wrestler

Tommy Phelps – 52 years old (1974) – South Korean-American baseball player and coach

David Wagner – 52 years old (1974) – Tennis player and educator

Traver Rains – 49 years old (1977) – Fashion designer and photographer

Jean-Marc Pelletier – 48 years old (1978) – Ice hockey player

Trenton Hassell – 47 years old (1979) – Basketball player

Suzanna Choffel – 46 years old (1980) – Singer-songwriter

Jack Hannahan – 46 years old (1980) – Baseball player

Michael Henrich – 46 years old (1980) – Ice hockey player

Aja Volkman – 46 years old (1980) – Singer-songwriter

Landon Donovan – 44 years old (1982) – Soccer player and coach

Cate Edwards – 44 years old (1982) – Lawyer and author

K. Michelle – 44 years old (1982) – Singer

Drew Houston – 43 years old (1983) – Entrepreneur

Sergio Romo – 43 years old (1983) – Baseball player

Spencer Larsen – 42 years old (1984) – Football player

Raven Quinn – 42 years old (1984) – Singer-songwriter

Zak Whitbread – 42 years old (1984) – American-English footballer

Scott Michael Foster – 41 years old (1985) – Actor

Whitney Port – 41 years old (1985) – Fashion designer and author

Margo Harshman – 40 years old (1986) – Actress

Mike Krieger – 40 years old (1986) – Brazilian-American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Instagram

Andrea Bowen – 36 years old (1990) – Actress

Draymond Green – 36 years old (1990) – Basketball player

Nick Castellanos – 34 years old (1992) – Baseball player

Jared Sullinger – 34 years old (1992) – Basketball player

Jenna Boyd – 33 years old (1993) – Actress

Michael Gallup – 30 years old (1996) – Football player

Matisse Thybulle – 29 years old (1997) – Australian-American basketball player

Obi Toppin – 28 years old (1998) – Basketball player

George Pickens – 25 years old (2001) – Football player

Jacob Hopkins – 24 years old (2002) – Actor

Miya Cech – 19 years old (2007) – Actress

 

TODAY IS:

• National Dance The Waltz Day:
• World Obesity Day: Maintaining a healthy weight can be a challenge, but a balanced diet and regular exercise can improve physical health and mental wellbeing.
• National Snack Day:
• National Pound Cake Day: Soft and buttery, this classic baked treat, with its dense texture and subtle sweetness, is the perfect companion for a cozy moment.
• National Sons Day: They may be mischievous at times, but their infectious laughter and boundless energy make every day an adventure.
• HPV Awareness Day:
• International Game Master (GM) Day:
• National Hug a G.I. Day: Offering warm embraces and solidarity to service members, conveying unwavering backing to those in uniform.
• International Scrapbooking Industry Day: Capturing life's best moments with a creative twist, it's like a DIY time capsule, filled with memories you can flip through.
• Benjamin Harrison Day:
• Toy Soldier Day: Stepping into the shoes of medical saviors, adventure seekers, and brave defenders — it's all about dressing up and living the fantasy!
• Marching Band Day: Groups of musicians, drums thumping and brass blaring, creating an infectious rhythm that lifts spirits and infuses energy into any gathering.
• Holy Experiment Day:
• Stop Bad Service Day:
• National Backcountry Ski Day:
• National Grammar Day: Crafting sentences with precision, nailing the art of clear communication, ensuring words flow seamlessly for a confident and impactful message.
• Courageous Follower Day:
• World Day of Fight Against Sexual Exploitation:
• Do Something Day: When things get tough, it's important to remember that setbacks are temporary. Stay positive and keep pushing towards your goals.
• Old Inauguration Day:
• Learn What Your Name Means Day:
• World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development:
• Teen Tech Week: Libraries evolve with technology, offering digital tools and resources for research, learning, and exploration beyond books.
• Peace Corps Week: Every year, hundreds of volunteers embark on a journey to serve in communities around the world, bringing help and hope to those in need.
• Termite Awareness Week:
• Make Mine Chocolate:
• National Professional Pet Sitters Week: Looking for someone to pamper your furry friends while you're away? Professional pet sitters have got you covered!
• Women in Aviation Week:
• Women in Construction Week:
• Read an E-Book Week: With an eBook, your entire library fits in your pocket! Plus, they're eco-friendly, cost-effective, and perfect for on-the-go reading.
• British Pie Week: A culinary tradition cherished across the British Isles, these savory delights encase rich fillings, embodying a heritage of comfort and satisfaction.
• National Consumer Protection Week: In a world of endless choices, consumer protection serves to safeguard and empower, ensuring fairness and accountability for all.
• National Invest in Veterans Week: Extending a helping hand to those who've served, ensuring a smooth transition to civilian life with care and respect.
• School Breakfast Week: Starting the day with a healthy breakfast boosts a child's brainpower, improves mood, and helps maintain a healthy weight.
• Dental Assistant Recognition Week: Brightening smiles and helping patients achieve healthy teeth, dental assistants make dental visits fun, comfortable, and stress-free!
• Newspaper in Education Week:
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Week:
• National Ghostwriters Week:
• Will Eisner Week: The godfather of graphic novels, Will Eisner revolutionized the comics industry with his iconic characters and stunning artwork.
• Hearing Awareness Week:
• National Aplastic Anemia & MDS Awareness Week:
• Celebrate Your Name Week:
• Words Matter Week: Clear expression connects people, conveys ideas, and shapes understanding, making writing and communication indispensable skills for life.
• Cheerleading Week: With infectious energy and unbeatable spirit, they fill the stands with enthusiasm and encourage their teams to victory.
• National School Social Work Week: With compassion and expertise, school social workers provide invaluable support in navigating academic, personal, and social challenges.
• Telecommuter Appreciation Week: From saving time and money, to being more productive, with remote work, more and more are enjoying the flexibility of working from home.
• National Green Week:
• Write a Letter Appreciation Week: With technology so handy, the joy of sending and receiving hand-written letters grows increasingly rare. Make a point to write a beautiful cursive letter.
• Return Borrowed Books Week: Few things are as satisfying as returning a stack of library books you've read cover to cover, ready to exchange for new adventures.
• National Procrastination Week:
• Universal Human Beings Week: With empathy and compassion, our collective power to create, innovate, and inspire is what makes us unique.
• Ramadan: During this holy month, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, focusing on spiritual reflection and community. Ramadan is a time for self-improvement and bringing people together in celebration of faith.

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For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.