June 4

1246 When blonde and blue-eyed Isabella of Gloucester married King John of England in 1200, she was already renowned  for her beauty. Isabella eventually produced five children, including two sons (Henry and Richard), Joan, Isabella and Eleanor. In 1220, four years after John's death, Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, by whom she had another nine children. Isabella died on June 4, 1246, having outlived her royal husband by 30 years.

Isabella of Angoulême, tomb in the church of Fontevraud Abbey (France)

1411 Roquefort is a sheep milk blue cheese from the south of France. King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon on June 4, 1411, as they had been doing so for centuries.

1561 The original St Paul's was built in AD 604 by Mellitus, the first bishop of the East Saxons, as his seat. In 962 and 1087 the cathedral burnt down and was built again. A further fire in 1136 disrupted work on the third St Paul's, and the new cathedral was not consecrated until 1240. The spire of London's Old St Paul's Cathedral was destroyed by fire on June 4, 1561, probably caused by lightning.

Reconstructed image of Old St Paul's before 1561, with intact spire

1738 George III of the United Kingdom was born at Norfolk House, London on June 4, 1738. He was the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. As Prince George was born two months premature and was thought unlikely to survive, he was baptized the same day. George succeeded to the throne when his grandfather, George II, died suddenly on October 25, 1760. He reigned for 59 years and 2 months, which was longer than any other British monarch before him.

1774  In the early 1770s, Thomas Paine was living above the tobacco and snuff shop of Samuel and Ester Ollive in Lewes, Sussex. On March 26, 1771, at the age of 34, Paine married Elizabeth Ollive, his landlord's daughter. By 1774, Paine and Elizabeth weren't getting along and on June 4, 1774 Thomas formally separated from his wife and moved to London. He had with him £45 from his separation settlement.

1784 French opera singer Élisabeth Thible was the first woman to fly in an un-tethered hot air balloon. Her flight on June 4, 1784 covered four kilometres (2.5 miles) in 45 minutes, and reached an estimated 1,500 metres altitude. It was witnessed by King Gustav III of Sweden in whose honor the balloon was named.

1789 In 1786  King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette's eldest son The Dauphin Louis-Joséph began suffering from fevers. By early 1787 the fevers had grown more frequent and the Royal Physicians informed the Queen Louis-Joséph, was terminally ill with consumption. The child's condition deteriorated and Marie-Antoinette spent most of her time nursing him during his last agonizing months. On June 4, 1789, Louis-Joséph died at the age of seven.

1896 Henry Ford gave his Quadricycle, the first automobile he ever designed, its first test run on June 4, 1896. He drove it round the streets of Dearborn and Detroit. Fascinated crowds gathered during his journey while terrified horses galloped away in panic. A small one-cylinder gasoline model, which was capable of 25mph, the Quadricycle had four wire wheels that looked like heavy bicycle wheels, was steered with a tiller like a boat, and had only two forward speeds with no reverse.

1901 A Norwegian patent office manager, Johan Vaaler, has erroneously been identified as the inventor of the paper clip.  Vaaler's paperclip design emerged after the Gem paperclip had already gained popularity across Europe. Though Vaaler's design was less effective and practical as it lacked the final turn of the wire, he did receive patents in the United States on June 4, 1901, and in Germany two days thereafter.

1913 On June 4, 1913 Emily Davison, a suffragette, ran out in front of King George V's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby. She was trampled, never regained consciousness and died a few days later. Anmer's jockey, Herbert Jones, was concussed but raced Anmer at Ascot two weeks later.

1920 The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement of 1920 signed in Paris to formally end World War I between most of the Allies of World War I and the Kingdom of Hungary. The treaty regulated the status of an independent Hungarian state and defined its borders as one of the successor states to defeated Austria-Hungary. Hungary lost 71% of its territory and 63% of its population, in the treaty.

1922 Samuel L. Gravely Jr, the first African American in the U.S. Navy to serve aboard a fighting ship as an officer was born on June 4, 1922. In 1967 he became the first African American to reach the rank of captain, and in 1971 the first to reach rear admiral. 

Vice Adm. Samuel L. Gravely, Jr.

1923 On June 4, 1923 Frank Hayes rode a 20-1 outsider called Sweet Kiss in a steeplechase at Belmont Park in New York State, USA. Hayes suffered a fatal heart attack somewhere in the middle of the race, but his body remained in the saddle throughout. Sweet Kiss eventually crossed the finish line, by a head with Hayes technically still atop her back, making him the first, and thus far only, deceased jockey to win a race.

1937 Sylvan N. Goldman, the manager of a small supermarket in Oklahoma, developed the shopping cart after he realized that if customers could carry more shopping, they would buy more. When Sylvan Goldman first introduced the shopping cart on June 4, 1937 people were hesitant to use it. Men thought it 'effeminate,' and women felt it demeaned their ability to carry a shopping basket. After a while shopping carts became extremely popular and Goldman became a multimillionaire.

1940 Pal, the star of Lassie Come Home and six other Lassie films was born on June 4, 1940.
Lassie Come Home starring Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor was filmed by MGM in 1943. . Altogether, 298 dogs were auditioned for the title role, a male Rough Collie called Pal was chosen to play the female dog. He would star in six more Lassie films and died in 1958 at the grand old age of 18.

1943 President Theodore Roosevelt's second son Kermit Roosevelt struggled with depression for most of his life. He first experienced symptoms of depression as a teenager, and his condition worsened during World War II. This ultimately led to his suicide on June 4, 1943, while serving in the U.S. Army in Alaska, 

Kermit Roosevelt in 1926

1984 Bruce Springsteen released his Born In The USA LP on June 4, 1984. The album produced a record-tying string of seven Top 10 singles in the USA and was the best-selling LP of 1985. It proved to be the best-selling record of Springsteen's career. The "Born in the U.S.A." title track isn't a song about American pride, but a shameful look at how America treated its Vietnam War vets.

1986 On June 4, 1986, professional wrestler Kerry Von Erich was in a motorcycle accident that nearly ended his life. Doctors were unable to save his right foot, eventually amputating it. He continued wrestling while secretly wearing a prosthetic - even showering in his boots so no one would know. Erich's injury wasn't public knowledge until his death from suicide seven years later.

1989 The pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests ended on June 4, 1989 with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the government and the shooting of several hundred, or possibly thousands, of civilians by soldiers. Official figures of the dead ranged from 200 to 300.

1990 Dr. Jack Kevorkian used his suicide machine for the first time on June 4, 1990 when Alzheimer's patient Janet Adkins gave herself a fatal injection by pressing a button on the euthanasia proponent's death machine.

1991 One of the 26 known copies of the United States’ Declaration of Independence was purchased for $2.48. The man purchased an ugly painting for the frame at an Adamstown, Pennsylvania flea market in 1989 and found the declaration behind the painting. He sold it at auction for $2.42 million on June 4, 1991. It was later sold in 2000 for $8.14 million.

1992 The current flag of Kazakhstan was adopted on June 4, 1992, replacing the flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. It consists of a light blue background with a golden sun in the upper hoist-side corner and a soaring golden steppe eagle beneath it. The sun represents wealth and abundance, while the eagle symbolizes freedom and independence. 

2017 Joey Chestnut is a professional competitive eater who has won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest a record 15 times. On June 4, 2017, he set a world record for eating ice cream sandwiches by consuming 25 1/4 in six minutes at the Baked Bear World Ice Cream Sandwich Eating Championship in San Diego. He beat the previous record of 23 set by Matt Stonie in 2016.