Today in History - onthisday.com

 

                                                                      Sept 4

476 Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor, abdicates after forces led by Odoacer invade Rome, the traditional date for the end of the Western Roman Empire 

1609 Navigator Henry Hudson is the first European to discover the island of Manhattan [or September 11] 

1781 Los Angeles is founded by 44 Spanish-speaking mestizos in the Bahía de las Fumas (Bay of Smokes) 

1862 General Lee begins the Maryland Campaign, invading the North with 50,000 Confederate troops (U.S. Civil War)

1888 George Eastman patents the first roll-film camera and registers the brand name "Kodak"

1936 RKO Radio Pictures releases "Swing Time," directed by George Stevens and starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

1965 The Beatles' single "Help!" goes to #1 and stays #1 for three weeks

1957 Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, calls out the National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering Little Rock Central High School

1972 US 4 x 100 m medley relay team of Mike Stamm, Tom Bruce, Mark Spitz, and Jerry Heidenreich sets a world record of 3:48.16 to win gold at the Munich Olympics; Mark Spitz becomes the first athlete to win seven Olympic gold medals at a single Games

2012 A "magic carpet" that can help prevent falls among the elderly by warning them of unusual footsteps is developed by researchers at the University of Manchester