TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, SEPT. 4, the 248th day of 2020. There are 118 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1781, Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers under the leadership of Governor Felipe de Neve.
In 1888, George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film box camera, and registered his trademark: “Kodak.”
In 1944, during World War II, British troops liberated Antwerp, Belgium.
In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus used Arkansas National Guardsmen to prevent nine Black students from entering all-white Central High School in Little Rock. Ford Motor Co. began selling its ill-fated Edsel.
In 1962, The Beatles, with new drummer Ringo Starr, recorded “Love Me Do” at EMI Studios in London. (The more familiar version with substitute drummer Andy White and Starr on tambourine was recorded a week later.)
In 1969, the Food and Drug Administration issued a report calling birth control pills “safe,” despite a slight risk of fatal blood-clotting disorders linked to the pills.
In 1971, an Alaska Airlines jet crashed near Juneau, killing all 111 people on board.
In 1974, the United States established diplomatic relations with East Germany.
In 1998, internet services company Google filed for incorporation in California.
In 1999, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed a breakthrough land-forsecurity agreement during a ceremony in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
In 2006, “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, 44, died after a stingray’s barb pierced his chest.
In 2014, comedian Joan Rivers died at a New York hospital at age 81, a week after going into cardiac arrest in a doctor’s office during a routine medical procedure.
In 2018, Amazon became the second publicly traded company to reach $1 trillion in market value, following closely behind Apple. Comic actor Bill Daily, the sidekick to leading men on TV’s “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Bob Newhart Show,” died in New Mexico at the age of 91.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Mitzi Gaynor is 89. Soul singer Sonny Charles is 80. Actor Kenneth Kimmins is 79. Singer Merald “Bubba” Knight (Gladys Knight & The Pips), TV personality and veterinarian Dr. Jan Pol (TV: “The Incredible Dr. Pol”) and World Golf Hall-of-Famer Raymond Floyd are 78. Rhythm-and-blues musician Ronald LaPread is 70. Actor Judith Ivey and rock musician Martin Chambers (The Pretenders) are 69. Actor Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs is 67. Actor Khandi Alexander is 63. Actorcomedian Damon Wayans Sr. and rock musician Kim Thayil are 60. Actors Richard Speight Jr. and Noah Taylor are 51. Actor Ione Skye is 50. Actorsinger James Monroe Iglehart is 46. Pop-rock singer-DJ-musician-producer Mark Ronson and rhythm-and-blues singer Richard Wingo (Jagged Edge) are 45. Rock musician Ian Grushka (New Found Glory) is 43. Actor Wes Bentley is 42. Actor Max Greenfield and country singer Granger Smith are 41. Singer Dan Miller (O Town) is 40. Singer Beyonce Knowles and country singermusician Tom Gossin (Gloriana) are 39. Actor-comedian Whitney Cummings is 38. Pop-rock singer-songwriter James Bay is 30. Actor Carter Jenkins is 29. Actor Trevor Gagnon is 25.