4th of August

It is the 216th day of the year with 149 days remaining until the new year.

1327 - During the First War of Scottish Independence, James Douglas leads a raid into Weardale and almost kills Edward III of England.

1790 - A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service, a forerunner to the United States Coast Guard.

1821 - Atkinson and Alexander publish the Saturday Evening Post for the first time as a weekly newspaper.

1854 - The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.  It is most commonly referred to as the "sun disc" or "rising sun."

1873 - While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the famed 7th Cavalry under command of George A. Custer, clashes for the first time with the Sioux Indians near the Tongue River.

1901 - Famed American jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong is born.

1914 - Germany invades Belgium, and in response, the United Kingdom declares war on Germany.  The United States still maintains its neutrality.

1944 - A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in Amsterdam.  They visit a warehouse, where they find and arrest Anne Frank, her family, and four others.

1958 - The Billboard Hot 100 chart is founded, to display the music industry's standard singles and popularity.

1961 - 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama celebrates being born today.

1962 - American baseball pitcher and seven Cy Young Award winner, Roger Clemens is born.

1969 - At the apartment of a French intermediary in Paris, Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese Xuan Thuy begin secret peace negotiations.  The secret conference and its contents will ultimately fail.

1987 - The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues in a "fair" viewpoint.

1997 - Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian, the world's oldest human on record, passes away at the age of 122 years and 164 days.

2007 - NASA's spaceship Phoenix is launched.  The mission is a space exploration to scout the planet of Mars.