This Day in History: August 4

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This Day In History: August 4

Take a look at all of the important historical events that took place on August 4.

2004: Former teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, convicted of having sex with a sixth-grade pupil, is released from a Washington state prison after 7 1/2 years behind bars. (Letourneau died July 7, 2020, from cancer.)

Also on this day:

• 1790: The U.S. Coast Guard has its beginnings as President George Washington signs a measure authorizing a group of revenue cutters to enforce tariff and trade laws and prevent smuggling.
• 1830: Plans for the city of Chicago are laid out.
• 1936: Jesse Owens wins the second of his four gold medals for the United States at the Berlin Olympics as he prevails in the long jump over German Luz Long, who is the first to congratulate him.
• 1944: Anne Frank is arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. (Anne and her sister, Margot, would die at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.)
• 1964:The bodies of missing civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.
• 1972: Arthur Bremer is convicted and sentenced in Upper Marlboro, Md., to 63 years in prison for his attempt on the life of Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace.

• 1975: The Swedish pop group ABBA begins recording their hit single "Dancing Queen" at Glen Studio outside Stockholm.
• 1977: President Jimmy Carter signs a measure establishing the Department of Energy.
• 1987: The Federal Communications Commission votes 4-0 to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which requires radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues.

• 1993: A federal judge sentences Los Angeles police officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Rodney King's civil rights.
• 1997: Teamsters go on a 15-day strike against United Parcel Service after talks break down with the nation's largest package delivery service.
• 2009: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardons American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee for entering the country illegally and orders their release during a surprise visit by former President Bill Clinton.

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• 2019: Nine people are killed and dozens hurt when a suspect wearing body armor opens fire outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio – hours after another mass shooting left 20 people dead in El Paso, Texas.