Events on September 4 47
Year 476
Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself "King of Italy", thus ending the Western Roman Empire.
Year 626
Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne over the Tang dynasty of China.
Year 929
Battle of Lenzen: Slavic forces (the Redarii and the Obotrites) are defeated by a Saxon army near the fortified stronghold of Lenzen in Brandenburg.
Year 1260
The Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of Manfred, King of Sicily, defeat the Florentine Guelphs at Montaperti.
Year 1479
The Treaty of Alcáçovas is signed by the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince John of Portugal.
Year 1774
New Caledonia is first sighted by Europeans, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook.
Year 1781
Los Angeles is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola) by 44 Spanish settlers.
Year 1800
The French garrison in Valletta surrenders to British troops who had been called at the invitation of the Maltese. The islands of Malta and Gozo become the Malta Protectorate.
Year 1862
American Civil War Maryland Campaign: General Robert E. Lee takes the Army of Northern Virginia, and the war, into the North.
Year 1882
Thomas Edison flips the switch to the first commercial electrical power plant in history, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan. This is considered by many as the day that began the electrical age.
Year 1886
American Indian Wars: After almost 30 years of fighting, Apache leader Geronimo, with his remaining warriors, surrenders to General Nelson Miles in Arizona.
Year 1888
George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.
Year 1912
Albanian rebels succeed in their revolt when the Ottoman Empire agrees to fulfill their demands
Year 1919
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Turkey, gathers a congress in Sivas to make decisions as to the future of Anatolia and Thrace.
Year 1939
World War II: A Bristol Blenheim is the first British aircraft to cross the German coast following the declaration of war and German ships are bombed.
Year 1941
World War II: A German submarine makes the first attack against a United States ship, the USS Greer.
Year 1944
World War II: The British 11th Armoured Division liberates the Belgian city of Antwerp.
Year 1950
Darlington Raceway is the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the first 500-mile NASCAR race.
Year 1951
The first live transcontinental television broadcast takes place in San Francisco, from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
Year 1957
American Civil Rights Movement: Little Rock Crisis: Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas, calls out the National Guard to prevent African American students from enrolling in Central High School.
Year 1963
Swissair Flight 306 crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board.
Year 1967
Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins when U.S. Marines engage the North Vietnamese in battle in the Que Son Valley.
Year 1971
Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.
Year 1972
Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.
Year 1989
In Leipzig, East Germany, the first of weekly demonstration for the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms takes place.
Year 1996
War on Drugs: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare in which at least 130 Colombians are killed.
Year 1998
Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.
Year 2001
Tokyo DisneySea opens to the public as part of the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan.
Year 2002
The Oakland Athletics win their 20th consecutive game, an American League record.
Year 2007
Three terrorists suspected to be a part of Al-Qaeda are arrested in Germany after allegedly planning attacks on both the Frankfurt International airport and US military installations.
Year 2010
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes the South Island of New Zealand causing widespread damage and several power outages.