4. August 2024
© 2017-09-23
1704
A British fleet occupied Gibraltar during the War of the Spanish Succession. From 1713 onwards, the rocky peninsula in the Mediterranean belonged to Great Britain.
1789
The French nobility loses its class privileges.
1894
After the electrification of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, freight train operations begin for the first time.
1909
The American aviation pioneer Orville Wright conducts demonstration flights on the Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin, during which he achieves, among other things, a world altitude record of 172 meters.
1914
An English ultimatum is tantamount to a declaration of war by Great Britain on Germany. US President Wilson proclaims the neutrality of the USA.
1919
Romanian troops occupy Budapest.
1939
The film “The Disgust” starring Hans Moser premieres in Berlin.
1944
In Amsterdam, 14-year-old Anne Frank and seven other Jews are discovered by the police in their hiding place.
1949
- In the Eisleben Bloody Sunday trial, the main defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment, 28 defendants receive sentences of between three and twelve years, and two are acquitted.
- Yugoslavia publishes three memoranda with demands to Austria and demands restitution for stolen assets.
1954
Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” starring Grace Kelly and James Stewart celebrates its world premiere in New York.
1974
Right-wing extremists carry out a bomb attack on the Rome-Munich Express near Bologna: twelve dead, 48 injured.
1984
The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso (“Land of the Incorruptible”)
1999
- British Defence Minister George Robertson will succeed Spaniard Javier Solana as the new NATO Secretary General.
- A statement by Chancellor Viktor Klima, quoted by the German magazine “Stern”, according to which the increase in the Austrian population from seven to eight million was “not due to the strength of Austrian loins, but exclusively due to immigrants from the Balkans”, is causing a stir.
Name days
Johannes M.V., Rainer, Reinhard
Birthdays
Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer; NP 1920(1859-1952)
Witold Gombrowicz, Polish writer (1904-1969)
Otto Steiger, Swiss writer (1909-2005)
Yasser Arafat, Palestinian politician (1929-2004) (naA 24. or 27.8.)
Death days
Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney, French Catholic priest, patron of priests (1786-1859)
Carl Frh. Auer v. Welsbach, Austrian chemist (1858-1929)
Harald Paulsen, German actor (1895-1954)
Friedrich Meznik, Austrian lawyer/journalist (1908-1989)
Giovanni Spadolini, Italian politician (1925-1994)
Only “round” anniversaries are listed
