1721 – Sir Robert Walpole takes office as the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom under King George I.
1768 – In London, England, Great Britain, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus.
1812 – U.S. President James Madison enacts a ninety-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.
1814 – Napoleon abdicates for the first time and names his son Napoleon II as Emperor of the French.
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).
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.
1850 – Los Angeles, California is incorporated as a city.
1865 – American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.
1887 – Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.
1949 – Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
1958 – The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London.
1964 – The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
1967 – Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech in New York City’s Riverside Church.
1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Robert F. Kennedy’s speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
1973 – The World Trade Center in New York is officially dedicated.
1975 – Vietnam War: Operation Baby Lift – A United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transporting orphans, crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff; 172 die.
1984 – President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.
1994 – Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark found Netscape Communications Corporation under the name “Mosaic Communications Corporation”.
Notable Births:
1926 – Cloris Leachman, Des Moines Iowa, actress (MTM Show, Phyllis, High Anxiety)
1928 – Maya Angelou, [Marguerite Johnson], St Louis, poet/actress (Nyo-Roots)
1932 – Anthony Perkins, NYC, actor (Psycho, Fear Strikes Out, Pretty Poison)
1932 – Clive Davis, American record producer
1938 – A Bartlett Giamatti, Boston, pres of Yale/baseball commish (1989)(Father of Actor and Bonesman Paul Giamatti)
1942 – Kitty Kelley, author (Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra)
1944 – Craig T. Nelson, Spokane, Wash, actor (Poltergeist, Hayden Fox-Coach)
1951 – Steve Gatlin, Olney Tx, country singer (Gatlin Bros-Broken Lady)
1952 – Dave Hill, England, rock guitarist (Slade-Coz I Love You)
1952 – Gary Moore, Irish rock guitarist ( Thin Lizzy, Skid Row-Oh Pretty Woman)
1955 – Mick Mars, (Guitarist – Motley Crue)
1956 – Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, Suk Giuma Libya, Alleged bomber (Pan Am Flight 103)
1964 – Robbie Rist, California, actor (Oliver-Brady Bunch)
1965 – Robert Downey Jr, NYC, comedian (SNL, Less than Zero, Back to School, Iron Man)
1970 – Michael Schwartz, American turntablist, known as Mix Master Mike, DJ for the Beastie Boys
1973 – David Blaine, American illusionist
1979 – Heath Ledger, Australian/American Actor. (d.2008)
More Here: http://www.historyorb.com/birthdays/april/4
———– (SINCE WE DONT DO SUNDAY HISTORY)
SUNDAY APRIL 6TH — 1965 – Black Francis, (Frank Black) [Charles Thompson], US singer/songwriter (Pixies)
RIP
1958 – Johnny Stompanato, American organized crime figure (b. 1925) – bodyguard and enforcer for gangster Mickey Cohen. In 1958, after a tumultuous relationship with actress Lana Turner, he was stabbed to death by Turner’s daughter, Cheryl Crane.
1963 – Jason Robards Sr, actor (Acapulco), dies at 70
1980 – Red Sovine, American country music singer (b. 1917)
1983 – Gloria Swanson, actress ( Sunset Boulevard / Airport 1975,), dies of a heart ailment at 84
1991 – John Heinz, (Sen-R-Pa, Skull & Bones, Heir to Heinz fortune, husband of Teresa Heinz, “friend” of John Kerry), dies in a plane crash, dies at 52
2001 – Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, American custom car designer (b. 1932)
2004 – Casey Sheehan, American soldier, son of Cindy Sheehan (b. 1979)
More here - http://www.historyorb.com/deaths/april/4