What Happened On This Day – August 4
1984 The Republic of Upper Volta is Renamed Burkina Faso
The West African country was first created in 1958 as a self-governing French colony. It gained its independence from the French in 1960. Between then and 1983, several coups dotted its political landscape. In 1983, a military coup installed Captain Thomas Sankara as the country's president. He changed the name of the country to Burkina Faso a year later on the coup's anniversary.
1983 The Military Stages a Coup in Upper Volta
A military coup in Upper Volta installed Thomas Sankara, a captain in the Upper Volta Army as its president. A year later, he changed the name of Upper Volta to Burkina Faso.
1944 Anne Frank is captured
One of the most well-known figures of the 20th century and a victim of the Holocaust, 14-year old Frank and her family were captured and arrested by the Germans from their hiding place in Amsterdam.
1914 Britain declares war on Germany
Seen by many as the decision that began the first World War, Britain declared war on Germany after Germany refused to accept its ultimatum of getting out of Belgium.
1892 Abby and Andrew Borden are murdered
The bloody murders of the two Fall River, Massachusetts residents in their own home gained media and public attention in the United States because their daughter Lizzie Borden was accused of the crime.
Births On This Day – August 4
1961 Barack Obama
American politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate
1955 Alberto Gonzales
American politician, 80th United States Attorney General
1912 Raoul Wallenberg
Swedish diplomat
1901 Louis Armstrong
American trumpeter, singer
1900 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Deaths On This Day – August 4
2007 Raul Hilberg
Austrian/American political scientist, historian
1922 Enver Pasha
Ottoman military officer
1875 Hans Christian Andersen
Danish author, poet
1792 John Burgoyne
English general
1598 William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
English statesman