August 4 in history — What Happened Today in History

The Japanese Red Army takes more than 50 hostages at the AIA Building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The hostages include the U.S. consul and the Swedish Chargé d'affaires. The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya.

A bomb explodes in the Italicus Express train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Italy, killing 12 people and wounding 22.

Ugandan President Idi Amin announces that Uganda is no longer responsible for the care of British subjects of Asian origin, beginning the expulsions of Ugandan Asians.

Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuân Thuỷ begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.

The Constitution of the Cook Islands comes into force, giving the Cook Islands self-governing status within New Zealand.

Civil rights movement: Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21.

Second Gulf of Tonkin Incident: U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy mistakenly report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.

The Supreme Court of Japan is established.

An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern Dominican Republic. One hundred are killed and 20,000 are left homeless.

The Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find and arrest Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and four others.

Under the state of emergency law, the Finnish Parliament elects Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim as the President of Finland to replace the resigned Risto Ryti.

Prime Minister of Greece Ioannis Metaxas suspends parliament and the Constitution and establishes the 4th of August Regime.

Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.

Enver Pasha dies in a skirmish between the Bolshevik Red Army and Basmachi troops, to whom he had defected earlier.

Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict: Mikhail Frunze declares victory over the Makhnovshchina.

World War I: The German 12th Army occupies Warsaw during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive and the Great Retreat of 1915.

World War I: In response to the German invasion of Belgium, Belgium and the British Empire declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.

The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. She will be tried and acquitted for the crimes a year later.

The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.

Granny, a sea anemone, died in Edinburgh after nearly 60 years in captivity. Her death was reported in The Scotsman and The New York Times.

American Indian Wars: While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the United States 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer clashes for the first time with the Cheyenne and Lakota people near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed.

Matica slovenská, Slovakia's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation, is established in Martin.

The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.

The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper.

War of 1812: The ultimately unsuccessful Siege of Fort Erie begins as British forces attempt to recapture the fort and drive American forces out of Canada.

French Revolutionary Wars: Napoleon leads the French Army of Italy to victory in the Battle of Lonato.

The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman–Habsburg wars.

A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard).

Leon Camier, English motorcycle racer

Cicinho, Brazilian footballer

Iosia Soliola, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player

David Williams, Australian rugby league player

Crystal Bowersox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Robbie Findley, American soccer player

Mark Milligan, Australian footballer

Ha Seung-jin, South Korean basketball player

Antonio Valencia, Ecuadorean footballer

Terry Campese, Australian rugby league player

Mardy Collins, American basketball player

Greta Gerwig, American actress, producer, and screenwriter

Marques Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

Keith H. Basso, American anthropologist and academic (born 1940)

Art Donovan, American football player and radio host (born 1925)

Olavi J. Mattila, Finnish engineer and politician, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1918)

Renato Ruggiero, Italian lawyer and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1930)

Tony Snell, English lieutenant and pilot (born 1922)

Sandy Woodward, English admiral (born 1932)

Johnnie Bassett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1935)

Brian Crozier, Australian-English journalist and historian (born 1918)

Bud Riley, American football player and coach (born 1925)

Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (born 1977)

Blake Snyder, American screenwriter and producer (born 1957)

Craig Jones, English motorcycle racer (born 1985)

Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1929)