| September 4 |
| 1260 |
|
At the Battle of Montaperto in Italy, the Tuscan Ghibellines, who support the emperor, defeat the Florentine Guelfs, who support papal power. |
| 1479 |
|
After four years of war, Spain agrees to allow a Portuguese monopoly of trade along Africa’s west coast and Portugal acknowledges Spain’s rights in the Canary Islands. |
| 1781 |
|
Los Angeles, first an Indian village Yangma, is founded by Spanish decree. |
| 1787 |
|
Louis XVI of France recalls parliament. |
| 1790 |
|
Jacques Necker is forced to resign as finance minister in France. |
| 1820 |
|
Czar Alexander declares that Russian influence in North America extends as far south as Oregon and closes Alaskan waters to foreigners. |
| 1862 |
|
Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army invades Maryland, starting the Antietam Campaign. |
| 1870 |
|
A republic is proclaimed in Paris and a government of national defense is formed. |
| 1881 |
|
The Edison electric lighting system goes into operation as a generator serving 85 paying customers is switched on. |
| 1886 |
|
Elusive Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Ariz. |
| 1893 |
|
Beatrix Potter sends a note to her governess’ son with the first drawing of Peter Rabbit, Cottontail and others. The Tale of Petter Rabbit is published eight years later. |
| 1915 |
|
The U.S. military places Haiti under martial law to quell a rebellion in its capital Port-au-Prince. |
| 1941 |
|
German submarine U-652 fires at the U.S. destroyer Greer off Iceland, beginning an undeclared shooting war. |
| 1942 |
|
Soviet planes bomb Budapest in the war’s first air raid on the Hungarian capital. |
| 1943 |
|
Allied troops capture Lae-Salamaua, in New Guinea. |
| 1944 |
|
British troops liberate Antwerp, Belgium. |
| 1945 |
|
The American flag is raised on Wake Island after surrender ceremonies there. |
| 1951 |
|
The first transcontinental television broadcast in America is carried by 94 stations. |
| 1957 |
|
Arkansas governor Orval Faubus calls out the National Guard to bar African-American students from entering a Little Rock high school. |
|
Born on September 4 |
| 1768 |
|
Vicomte François René de Chateaubriand, French writer and chef who gave his name to a style of steak. |
| 1846 |
|
Daniel Hudson Burnham, architect and city planner. |
| 1905 |
|
Mary Renault (Mary Challans), author who wrote about her wartime experiences in The Last of the Wine and The King Must Die. |
| 1908 |
|
Richard Wright, novelist best known for Native Son. |
| 1918 |
|
Paul Harvy, radio commentator. |
| 1920 |
|
Craig Claiborne, food critic and cookbook author. |
| 1920 |
|
Maggie Higgins, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize (1951) for international reporting for her work in Korean war zones. |
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