Today in history
On June 4, 1917, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded. Herbert Bayard Swope of the New York World was recognized for a series of articles, "Inside the German Empire"; the New York Tribune for an editorial on the one-year anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania; Jean Jules Jusserand for his book "With Americans of Past and Present Days"; Laura E. Richards, Maude Howe Elliott and Florence Howe Hall for their biography about Julia Ward Howe.
In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers first publicly demonstrated their hot-air balloon, which did not carry any passengers, over Annonay, France.
In 1812, the Louisiana Territory was renamed the Missouri Territory, to avoid confusion with the recently admitted state of Louisiana. The U.S. House of Representatives approved, 7949, a declaration of war against Britain.
In 1937, one of the first, if not the first, shopping carts was introduced by supermarket chain owner Sylvan Goldman in Oklahoma City.
In 1939, the German ocean liner MS St. Louis, carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany, was turned away from the Florida coast by U.S. officials.
In 1940, during World War II, the Allied military evacuation of some 338,000 troops from Dunkirk, France, ended. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
In 1942, the World War II Battle of Midway began, resulting in a decisive American victory against Japan and marking the turning point of the war in the Pacific. The wartime drama "Mrs. Miniver," an MGM production starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, premiered in New York.
In 1947, the Christmastime tale "Miracle on 34th Street," a
20th Century Fox production, opened in New York.
In 1954, French Premier Joseph Laniel and Vietnamese Premier Buu Loc signed treaties in Paris according "complete independence" to Vietnam.
In 1967, in the second air disaster to strike a British carrier in as many days, a British Midland Airways jetliner crashed in Stockport, England, killing
72 of the 84 people aboard. (A day earlier, a British charter crashed in France, killing 88.) "Mission: Impossible" won outstanding dramatic series, "The Monkees" outstanding comedy series at the 19th Primetime Emmy Awards.
In 1977, the VHS home videocassette recorder was introduced to North America by JVC during a press conference in Chicago.
“Reputation is a bubble which a man bursts when he tries to blow it for himself.” — Emma Carleton, American journalist (1850-1925).