📜 This Day in History

October 4

• 1363Red Turban Rebellions: The rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang won the Battle of Lake Poyang by deploying ships intentionally set aflame when the emperor tried to escape.
• 1633Smolensk War: Forces from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth broke the Russian siege of Smolensk.
• 1876Texas A&M University opened as the first public institution of higher education in the U.S. state.
• 1918First World War: The Japanese merhant ship Hirano Maru was sunk by a German submarine in the Celtic Sea with the loss of 291 lives.
• 1927Gutzon Borglum and approximately 400 workers began sculpting Mount Rushmore.
• 1943World War II: Allied forces executed Operation Leader, an air raid against German shipping near Bodø, Norway.

Born on this day

• 1822Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (died 1893)
• 1895Buster Keaton, American film actor, director, and producer (died 1966)
• 1923Charlton Heston, American actor, director and gun rights activist (died 2008)
• 1946Susan Sarandon, American actress and activist