TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – OCT 4
1537 The first complete English-language Bible (the Matthew Bible) is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.
1648 The first volunteer fire department was established in New York by Peter Stuyvesant.
1777 At Germantown, Pa., British General Sir William Howe repels George Washington’s last attempt to retake Philadelphia, compelling Washington to spend the winter at Valley Forge.
1795 General Napoleon Bonaparte leads the rout of counterrevolutionaries in the streets of Paris, beginning his rise to power.
1893 The first professional football contract was signed by Grant Dibert for the Pittsburgh AC.
1915 The Dinosaur National Monument was established. The area covered part of Utah and Colorado.
1927 Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting the heads of 4 US presidents on Mount Rushmore.
1933 Seven new states will hold referendums in the next month including Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky for repeal of the 18th Amendment to change from dry states to wet states which will allow alcohol to be sold once again, it is believed the majority will vote in favor of repealing the law.
1942 The chairman of the Finance Committee told the Senate today that the American people would have to pay a total of $36,500,000,000 in taxes to pay for the war effort and demands for a sales tax to finance this are gathering pace.
1957 Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite, is launched, beginning the “space race.” The satellite, built by Valentin Glushko, weighed 184 pounds and was launched by a converted Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Sputnik orbited the earth every 96 minutes at a maximum height of 584 miles. In 1958, it reentered the earth’s atmosphere and burned up.
1965 Pope Paul VI made the first visit to the Western Hemisphere by a reigning pope. He came to New York to address the UN General Assembly.
1970 A presidential task force that looked into the Ohio National Guard’s fatal shooting of four students and wounding of nine others at Kent State University last May 4th have said that the National Guard’s 61 shots within a 13-second period was a serious error.
1987 NFL owners used replacement personnel to play games despite the player’s strike.
1993 Russia’s constitutional crisis over President Boris Yeltsin’s attempts to dissolve the legislature: the army violently arrests civilian protesters occupying government buildings.
2001 Authorities confirmed a tabloid editor in Florida had contracted anthrax. He died the next day.
2002 John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban,” received a 20-year sentence.
2006 A group of Wiccans decided to sue the United States government over the right to place their religious symbol on graves in military cemeteries. The religion, Wicca, is recognized by the military but unlike other religions the followers are not allowed to have their symbols on gravestones.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
