Discover what happened on June 4 in history, along with notable events that shaped transportation, technology, innovation, and space exploration.
What Happened on June 4 in History?
Important events on this day include Henry Ford’s successful test drive of the Quadricycle in Detroit, the debut of the Apple II computer, the infamous “10 Cent Beer Night” baseball game, and the first launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
JUNE 4 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
1783 – A hot-air balloon was demonstrated by Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier. It reached a height of 1,500 feet.
1784 – Marie Thible became the first woman to fly in a hot-air balloon. The flight was 45 minutes long and reached a height of 8,500 feet.
1812 – The Louisiana Territory had its name changed to the Missouri Territory.
1816 – “The Washington” was launched at Wheeling, WV. It was the first stately, double-decker steamboat.
1876 – The “Transcontinental Express” train arrived in San Francisco, CA, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York, NY.
1892 – The Sierra Club was incorporated in San Francisco, CA.
1896 – Henry Ford made a successful test drive of his new car in Detroit, MI. He called the vehicle a “Quadricycle.”
1910 – A statue of George Armstrong Custer was dedicated in Monroe, MI. The famous general spent much of his life in Monroe.
1912 – Massachusetts became the first state to set a minimum wage.
1919 – The U.S. Senate passed the Women’s Suffrage bill.
1924 – An eternal light was dedicated at Madison Square in New York City in memory of all New York soldiers who died in World War I.
1931 – The first rocket-glider flight was made by William Swan in Atlantic City, NJ.
1935 – “Invisible” glass was patented by Gerald Brown and Edward Pollard.
1937 – The first shopping cart was introduced by Sylvan Goldman, owner of the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain in Oklahoma. It was actually a modified folding chair on wheels.
1947 – The House of Representatives approved the Taft-Hartley Act. The legislation allowed the President of the United States to intervene in labor disputes.
1973 – A patent for the ATM was granted.
1974 – The Cleveland Indians had to forfeit a game to the Texas Rangers when fans got out of control on “10 Cent Beer Night”.
1974 – Sally Murphy became the first woman to qualify as an aviator with the U.S. Army.
1977 – The Apple II computer went on sale for the first time.
1982 – The movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, starring Ricardo Montalbán, premiered in theaters.
1984 – Bruce Springsteen released his “Born in the U.S.A.” album. It spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts and yielded seven Top 10 singles.
1984 – For the first time in 32 years, Arnold Palmer failed to make the cut for the U.S. Open golf tournament.
1985 – The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling striking down an Alabama law that provided for a daily minute of silence in public schools.
1986 – The California Supreme Court approved a law that limited the liability of manufacturers and other wealthy defendants. It was known as the “deep pockets law.”
1992 – The U.S. Postal Service announced that the “young Elvis” stamp beat out the older “Vegas Elvis” stamp in a contest in which more than a million votes were tallied.
1998 – Actor Bob Denver, the star of TV’s “Gilligan’s Island”, was busted for marijuana possession in West Virginia after receiving pot in the mail.
1998 – Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
1998 – George and Ira Gershwin got a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2003 – Martha Stewart was indicted for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and securities fraud from the December 2001 sale of shares in ImClone Systems.
2003 – Amazon.com announced that it had received more than 1 million orders for the book “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” The released date was planned for June 21.
2008 – The United Kingdom and Canada became the first countries to be able to buy and rent films at the iTunes Store.
2008 – Johnny Carson’s sidekick Ed McMahon began a fight to avoid foreclosure on his Beverly Hills estate after falling $644,000 behind in mortgage payments.
2008 – Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy led thousands of people in a march on Washington, D.C. to bring awareness to the impact that vaccines may have on autism.
2010 – Falcon 9 Flight 1 was the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.
2018 – In an effort to promote their hamburgers, IHOP changed their name temporarily to IHOB.
2019 – Professional gambler James Holzhauer’s 32-game winning streak came to an end on the TV game show “Jeopardy!”. His streak was just short of Ken Jennings’ record $2.52 million.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON JUNE 4:
Bruce Dern – 90 years old (1936) – Actor
Mortimer Zuckerman – 89 years old (1937) – Canadian-American businessman and publisher, founded Boston Properties
Art Mahaffey – 88 years old (1938) – Baseball player
Louis Reichardt – 84 years old (1942) – Mountaineer
Sandra Haynie – 83 years old (1943) – Golfer
Michelle Phillips – 82 years old (1944) – Singer-songwriter and actress
Anthony Braxton – 81 years old (1945) – Saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
Paquito D'Rivera – 78 years old (1948) – Cuban-American Grammy Award-winning musician
Mark B. Cohen – 77 years old (1949) – Lawyer and politician
Linda Lingle – 73 years old (1953) – Journalist and politician, 6th Governor of Hawaii
Mary Testa – 71 years old (1955) – Singer and actress
Keith David – 70 years old (1956) – Actor
John Hockenberry – 70 years old (1956) – Journalist and author
Terry Kennedy – 70 years old (1956) – Baseball player and manager
Joyce Sidman – 70 years old (1956) – Author and poet
Tinsley Ellis – 69 years old (1957) – Electric blues guitarist and singer
El DeBarge – 65 years old (1961) – Singer-songwriter and producer
Xavier McDaniel – 63 years old (1963) – Basketball player and coach
Andrea Jaeger – 61 years old (1965) – Tennis player and preacher
Svetlana Jitomirskaya – 60 years old (1966) – Mathematician
Robert S. Kimbrough – 59 years old (1967) – Colonel and astronaut
Al B. Sure! – 58 years old (1968) – R&B singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
Scott Wolf – 58 years old (1968) – Actor
Horatio Sanz – 57 years old (1969) – Chilean-American actor and comedian
Mike Lee – 55 years old (1971) – Lawyer and politician
Noah Wyle – 55 years old (1971) – Actor and producer
Derian Hatcher – 54 years old (1972) – Ice hockey defenseman
Rob Huebel – 54 years old (1972) – Comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
Mikey Whipwreck – 53 years old (1973) – Wrestler and trainer
Darin Erstad – 52 years old (1974) – Baseball player and coach
Buddy Wakefield – 52 years old (1974) – Poet and author
Henry Burris – 51 years old (1975) – Football player
Angelina Jolie – 51 years old (1975) – Actress, filmmaker, humanitarian, and activist
Roland G. Fryer Jr. – 49 years old (1977) – Economist and professor
T.J. Miller – 45 years old (1981) – Actor and comedian
Evan Lysacek – 41 years old (1985) – Figure skater
Matt Bartkowski – 38 years old (1988) – Ice hockey defenseman
Evan Spiegel – 36 years old (1990) – Internet entrepreneur
Aaron Nola – 33 years old (1993) – Baseball player
Annika Taylor – 33 years old (1993) – British-American cross-country skier
Mackenzie Ziegler – 22 years old (2004) – Child actress , dancer, and recording artist
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR JUNE 4:
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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.
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