Today's Highlights in History
On Oct. 4, 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into orbit. (Go to article.)
On Oct. 4, 1895, Buster Keaton, the American comic actor of silent films, was born. Following his death on Feb. 1, 1966, his obituary appeared in The Times.
On October 4, 1862, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about General George B. McClellan and the Battle of Antietam.
On this date in:
1822 Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, was born in Delaware, Ohio.
1895 The first U.S. Open golf tournament was held, at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.
1923 Actor Charlton Heston was born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Ill.
1931 The comic strip "Dick Tracy" by Chester Gould made its debut.
1957 Jimmy Hoffa was elected president of the Teamsters Union.
1957 "Leave It to Beaver" premiered on CBS.
1970 Rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead of an accidental heroin overdose.
1990 German lawmakers held the first meeting of the reunified country's parliament in the Reichstag in Berlin.
1993 Dozens of cheering, dancing Somalis dragged the body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu.
2001 Authorities said a man in Boca Raton, Fla., had contracted the inhaled form of anthrax; he died the following day.
2002 John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban," was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal judge in Alexandria, Va.
2002 Richard Reid pleaded guilty in a federal court to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.
Current Birthdays
Actress Susan Sarandon turns 64 years old today.
76 Sam Huff
Football Hall of Famer
75 Eddie Applegate
Actor ("The Patty Duke Show")
73 Jackie Collins
Author
69 Roy Blount Jr.
Author
69 Anne Rice
Author
65 Clifton Davis
Actor
64 Chuck Hagel
Former U.S. senator, R-Neb.
61 Lee Blessing
Playwright
61 Armand Assante
Actor
49 David W. Harper
Actor ("The Waltons")
49 Jon Secada
Singer
43 Liev Schreiber
Actor
34 Alicia Silverstone
Actress ("Clueless")
31 Rachael Leigh Cook
Actress
Historic Birthdays
Buster Keaton
10/4/1895 - 2/1/1966
American actor
(Go to obit.)
26 Louis X
10/4/1289 - 6/5/1316
King of Navarre (1305-14) and king of France (1314-16)
61 Charles IX
10/4/1550 - 10/30/1611
King of Sweden (1604-11)
85 Lord Richard Cromwell
10/4/1626 - 7/12/1712
English lord protector (1658-9)
60 Jean Francois Millet
10/4/1814 - 1/20/1875
French painter
70 Rutherford Birchard Hayes
10/4/1822 - 1/17/1893
19th president of the United States (1877-81)
48 Frederic Remington
10/4/1861 - 12/26/1909
American artist; specialized in western themes
67 Edward L. Stratemeyer
10/4/1862 -
/1930
American writer
62 Damon Runyon
10/4/1884 - 12/10/1946
American writer
69 John Kelly
10/4/1890 - 6/20/1960
American oarsman
