On This Day in History - August 4th - Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 4, the 216th day of 2021 with 149 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include Pope Urban VII in 1521; English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1792; fashion designer Louis Vuitton in 1821; Queen Elizabeth, mother of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, in 1900; legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong in 1901; Swedish architect Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving 100,000 Jews from the Nazis during World War II, in 1912; longtime White House reporter Helen Thomas in 1920; actor Richard Belzer in 1944 (age 77); football Hall of Fame member John Riggins in 1949 (age 72); author Sapphire, born Ramona Lofton, in 1950 (age 71); actor Billy Bob Thornton in 1955 (age 66); actor/voice actor Lauren Tom in 1961 (age 60); actor Daniel Dae Kim in 1968 (age 53); former U.S. President Barack Obama in 1961 (age 60); race car driver Jeff Gordon in 1971 (age 50); dancer Kym Johnson in 1976 (age 45); Meghan Markle, duchess of Sussex, in 1981 (age 40); actor/filmmaker Greta Gerwig in 1983 (age 38); actor Dylan Spouse in 1992 (29); actor Cole Sprouse in 1992 (age 29).

On this date in history:

In 1735, the standard of truth as a defense against a claim of libel was established in the American colonies when John Peter Zenger, publisher of a New York City newspaper, was acquitted of libel charges.

In 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden, the elderly parents of Lizzie Borden, were found hacked to death with a hatchet. Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders at trial.

In 1914, Britain declared war on Germany. The United States initially declared itself neutral in World War I.

In 1944, acting on a tip from a Dutch informer, the Nazi Gestapo captured 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family in a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam, Netherlands, warehouse. She died less than a year later in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany.

In 1958, Billboard magazine introduced its "Hot 100" chart, covering the 100 most popular pop singles in the country. The first No. 1 was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool."

In 1964, the remains of three slain civil rights workers, whose disappearance on June 21 garnered national attention, were found buried in an earthen dam near Philadelphia, Miss. In 2005, A Mississippi judge sentenced ex-Klansman Edgar Ray Killen to 60 years in prison for killing James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The incident became the basis of the movie, Mississippi Burning.

In 1972, Arthur Bremer was found guilty of severely injuring Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who was campaigning for president. Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison.

In 1984, the African Republic of Upper Volta changed its named to Burkina Faso, which means "the land of upright men."

In 2007, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 755th career home run, tying Hank Aaron's all-time major league record. He broke the record three days later and finished the season at 762 home runs. His achievements were clouded by accusations of using performance-enhancing substances.

In 2014, James Brady, the White House press secretary who was paralyzed by a gunshot in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan and became a leading gun-control advocate, died in Alexandria, Va.; he was 73. Brady's death was ruled a homicide, resulting from the 1981 shootings, which also wounded the president and two other men.

In 2020, two explosions rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut, shattering windows for miles across the city. The blasts killed more than 200 people and injured thousands.

A thought for the day: "In reaffirming the greatness of our nation we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned." -- U.S. President Barack Obama