On October 4, 1957 “Leave It to Beaver” premiered on network TV. Hugh Beaumont, who played the role of Ward Cleaver, was an ordained Methodist minister in real life. Image of the main cast of Leave It to Beaver in 1959 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On October 4, 1905 Grace Anna Goodhue married Calvin Coolidge in Burlington, Vermont. Image c. 1915 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Silent film star Buster Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas. His real first name was Joseph (after his father) and was given the nickname “Buster” after stumbling down stairs as a child without being injured. Image of Buster Keaton c. 1897 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Eliza McCardle Johnson, wife of Andrew Johnson, was born on October 4, 1810 in Telford, Tennessee. “After Lincoln’s death, President and Mrs. Andrew Johnson entered the White House. They were half-orphans of pious widows, and were married (in their teens.) He was an illiterate tailor, and she became his evening teacher; was a very beautiful woman, and was at Washington inspiring his ablest Senate speech against secession, Jan., 1861. She returned to Tennessee., and lost her health by her persecutions within the Confederate lines, so that she was unable afterwards to officiate in the White House, but received her guests around her chair. She had two daughters (and 3 sons), Martha and Mary, who did the honors well. She died in 1876, and on their monument is carved an open Bible..” From: Our presidents’ mothers, wives and daughters by Thomas Nelson Haskell, published in 1900 https://archive.org/details/ourpresidentsmot01hask/page/n56/mode/ Source says no known restrictions Image: Engraving of Eliza McCardle Johnson, wife of Andrew Johnson via Wikimedia Commons, public domain https://heartfelthistory.com/first-ladies/

Just after the British occupied Philadelphia, American forces conduct a daring attack in Germantown on October 4, 1777. Over one hundred Redcoats were ordered to barricade Cliveden or Chew House (seen here) where nearly sixty Americans gave their lives storming the building. Among those who were wounded in the attack was John Marshall (born in Germantown, Virginia) who later became Chief Justice of The United States. Image via Shutterstock

WWII Veteran and American actor Charlton Heston was born on October 4, 1923 near Chicago, Illinois. Image: Heston in 1953 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On today’s date October 4, 1648: Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch leader of New Amsterdam (later became New York) delegated four fire wardens to patrol the colony. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

An advertisement for a Dick Tracy “Two-Way Wrist Radio” from the 1940s On October 4, 1931, Dick Tracy, the comic strip, made its debut in the Detroit Mirror. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Photograph of Abraham Lincoln by Samuel M. Fassett that was taken on October 4, 1859 in Chicago, IL Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Spine-Tingling History An American merchant vessel known as The Mary Celeste departed New York in the autumn of 1872. Bound for Genoa, Italy the ship was carrying the captain, his wife and daughter as well as seven other crew members. More than a month after she departed New York, she was discovered adrift in the Atlantic with no one onboard. The last journal entry, logged nine days before The Mary Celeste was found, stated that the boat was four hundred miles from the spot where she was discovered. The lifeboat was gone and everyone who was on board when the vessel departed New York was ever found.