Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

April 4

2004
Iraq War: Cindy Sheehan's son Casey Sheehan is killed by enemy action. Cindy would go on to become a peace activist, camping out at President Bush's Crawford ranch.

2003
500 Club: Sammy Sosa hits his 500th home run.

1993
Mario Andretti, age 53, becomes the oldest person to win an Indy-car race, by winning the Valvoline 200. This also made him the first driver to win in four different decades.

1987
The Revised New Testament of the American Bible is authorized for use by Roman Catholics.

1983
First launch of the second space shuttle, Challenger.

1976
Mike Conners stars in the TV movie The Killer Who Wouldn't Die as Kirk Ohanian. His real name is Krekor Ohanian.

1974
Hank Aaron: The baseball legend hits his 714th home run, tying Babe Ruth's record. He hit number 715 four days later.

1964
The Beatles take the top five positions on the Billboard list.

1958
Nuclear weapons: Soviet Premier Khrushchev asks the U.S. and Great Britain to follow the Soviet Union in banning nuclear weapons testing.

1958
Lana Turner: While the movie star's gangster boyfriend was beating her in her Beverly Hills bedroom, her 14-year-old daughter rushed in and fatally stabbed him with a carving knife.

1887
First woman U.S. mayor: Susanna Madora Salter is elected by Argonia, Kansas.

1841
First U.S. President to die in office: William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia.

1973
David Blaine, American magician. Known for his close-up street magic, levitations, and life-threatening endurance stunts.

1965
Robert Downey Jr., American comedian. TV: Saturday Night Live.

1946
Craig T. Nelson, American actor. TV: Coach (Hayden Fox) and The District (Chief Jack Mannion). Film: Flesh Gordon (1974, The Monster), Poltergeist (1982), and The Incredibles (2004, Mr. Incredible).

1928
Maya Angelou (Marguerite Ann Johnson), African-American poet, civil rights activist. Writings: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969).

1925
Elizabeth Wilson, American Tony-winning actress. Stage: Sticks and Bones (1972, Tony). Film: The Addams Family (1991, Abigail).

1916     d. 2005
Mickey Owen (Arnold Malcolm Owen), American baseball catcher. He hit the first pinch-hit home run in an All-Star game (1942). He dropped a third strike in the 1941 World Series that allowed the Yankees to win the game and they went on to beat the Dodgers in the series. That same season he had set the record for most errorless chances by a catcher with 508 perfect attempts.

1915     d. 1983
Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield), American blues musician, "The Father of Chicago Blues."

1906     d. 1995
John Cameron Swayze, American actor, TV personality, and Timex pitchman ("Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.").

1906     d. 1968
Bea Benaderet, American actress, voice of Betty Ruble on The Flintstones, Blanche Morton of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, and Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate Bradley of Petticoat Junction.

1895     d. 1991
Arthur Murray (Moses Teichman), American ballroom dance instructor.

1830     d. 1904
Eadweard James Muybridge (Edward James Muggeridge), English-born pioneer in motion photography. His photographic studies of animal motion laid the foundation for modern motion pictures.

1802     d. 1887
Dorothea Lynde Dix, American philanthropist and prison reformer. She also helped establish over 30 hospitals for the mentally ill.

1792     d. 1868
Thaddeus Stevens, American political leader. He introduced the 14th Amendment and the Reconstruction Act of Feb. 6, 1867.

2004     b. 1979
Casey Austin Sheehan, American soldier. His death by enemy action in Iraq caused his mother, Cindy Sheehan, to become a peace activist.

1993     b. 1899
Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect, inventor of the game Scrabble (1932).

1983     b. 1899
Gloria Swanson (Gloria Svensson), American actress, sex symbol of the 1920s. Film: Sunset Boulevard (1950).

1979     b. 1903
Edgar Buchanan, American actor. TV: Petticoat Junction (Uncle Joe) and Green Acres (Uncle Joe).

1968     b. 1929
Martin Luther King Jr., American Nobel Peace Prize-winning civil-rights leader. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee by escaped convict James Earl Ray.

1958     b. 1925
Johnny Stompanato, Jr. American murder victim. While fighting with his movie star girlfriend, Lana Turner, Turner's 14-year-old daughter rushed in and fatally stabbed him with a carving knife.

1919     b. 1908
Francisco Marto.  He was one of the three children who claim to have seen the Virgin Mary near Fátima, Portugal (1917).

1912     b. 1839
Isaac Kauffman Funk, American publisher, co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls Company (1891), which first published its famous dictionary in 1912.

1883     b. 1791
Peter Cooper, American inventor. He built the first US steam locomotive (1830, the Tom Thumb) and also invented a washing machine which was powered by the tides.

1841     b. 1773
William Henry Harrison, 9th U.S. President (Mar. 4 - Apr. 4, 1841). He died of pneumonia 31 days after taking office, making him the first U.S. president to die in office.

1831     b. 1749
Isaiah Thomas, American printer. He published the first U.S. novel written by an American (1789, The Power of Sympathy).

1774     b. 1728
Oliver Goldsmith, Irish poet, author. Writings: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), The Deserted Village (1770), and She Stoops to Conquer (1773, one of the greatest comedies in English literature).

1292     b. ????
Nicholas V, religious leader, 191st Pope (1288-92).

1284     b. 1221
Alfonso X, called "Alfonso the Wise," King of Le¢n and Castile (1252-82).

896     b. ????
Formosus, religious leader, 111th Pope (891-896).

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