In a bold attack on the harbor of Tripoli, on September 4, 1804, Captain Richard Somers brought a volunteer crew of the USS Intrepid to destroy an enemy fleet in the dark by means of an explosives charge.

The mission was a tragic disaster when the USS Intrepid exploded before its intended target, resulting in the death of all crew with no survivors. The fatal mission, though ultimately unsuccessful, became a stark tribute to the bravery of Somers and his crew, standing as one of the republic’s earliest and most unsettling monuments to duty.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On September 4, 1888
George Eastman received a patent for his improvements of the camera. It was the advent of the roll film Kodak camera.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

A scene showing newspaper delivery boys with bicycles in Galveston, Texas in 1943

September 4th is Newspaper Carrier Day.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On September 4, 1972, The Price Is Right game show premiered on CBS.

Image: Bob Barker in 1975 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On September 4, 1958, Virginia women—well ahead of the holidays—pack Christmas boxes for families in need. A quiet act of generosity, tucked beneath the low ceiling of what appears to be a church basement.

Image from The Catholic Virginian via Wikimedia Commons. No known restrictions.

On September 4, 1941, the USS Greer, on patrol in the North Atlantic, communicated the location of a German submarine to nearby British aircraft. The German vessel then fired a torpedo at the US destroyer, prompting a depth charge attack. The “Greer incident” took place three months prior to the US entering WW2.

Image from US Navy via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.

The Southern 500, NASCAR’s first 500-mile race was run on September 4, 1950 in Darlington, South Carolina. For most of its history the race took place over Labor Day weekend. Shown here is a legendary Hudson Hornet from the early days of NASCAR.

Image from Jeffrey Hayes CCA 2.0 Generic via Wikimedia Commons

On September 4, 1886, Goyaale, known as Geronimo, leader of a group of Apache people, surrendered to General Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona Territory. He’s shown about a year earlier.

When dying in 1909 Geronimo stated to his nephew “I should have never surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man left alive.”

Image from NARA via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US

The first U.S. land victory during the War of 1812 began on September 4, 1812 just north of Terre Haute, Indiana.
Captain Zachary Taylor and a small group of men began their defense of Fort Harrison against hundreds of Native Americans from various tribes.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

U.S. Navy Civil War Veteran and inventor Lewis H. Latimer was born on September 4, 1848 in in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

At different times during his career, Latimer worked with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.

His inventions include an improved electric lamp (light bulb), an improved water closet (bathroom) for railroad cars and a predecessor to the air conditioner known as “an apparatus for cooling and disinfecting.”

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

First Lady of the United States Sarah Childress Polk was born on September 4, 1803 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
She married James Polk when she was twenty years old and they were married for twenty five years until James’s death.

Daguerreotype of Sarah and James Polk c. late 1840s via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

“People Are Strange” by The Doors was released on September 4, 1967.

Image of The Doors in 1968 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

A view of Los Angeles Plaza looking west from 1905

On September 4, 1781 the settlement that would become the city of Los Angeles was founded in present day California.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

The Kennedy Family at Hyannis Port

September 4, 1931

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

A captivating cabinet card photo of American stage and screen actress Jennie Lee from 1870.

Jennie was born on September 4, 1848 in Sacramento, California.

After years of acting on stage (she started at the age of 9), one of her earliest roles in a film was in 1913 when she appeared in D.W. Griffith’s short The Mothering Heart.
A copy of this silent film survives in the Museum of Modern Art’s film archive in New York City.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Dick York, who played the first role of Darrin Stephens on the TV sitcom Bewitched, was born on September 4, 1928 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On September 4, 1902, Absaroka National Forest in Montana was established.

Image Scenery and Landscape of Absaroka National Forest from 1905 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

September 4, 1976 — President Gerald R. Ford meets with senior advisers to discuss the 1978 federal budget—a blueprint that neither he nor his administration would oversee. The image captures the long arc of governance, where planning often outlasts the planners.

Image via Wikimedia Commons. No known restrictions.