On Aug. 4, 2009, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been detained for entering the country illegally, and ordered their release during a surprise visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
In 1790, the U.S. Coast Guard began as President George Washington signed a measure authorizing revenue cutters to enforce tariff and trade laws. In 1916, the U.S. agreed to purchase the Danish Virgin Islands for $25 million in gold.
In 1936, Jesse Owens won his second of four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics in the long jump. In 1944, Anne Frank and her family were arrested by the Gestapo after two years in hiding.
In 1960, Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta) declared independence from France. In 1964, the bodies of civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner were found in Mississippi. In 1977, President Carter signed the Department of Energy into existence.
In 2020, a massive ammonium nitrate explosion in Beirut killed over 200 people. In 2022, Brittney Griner was convicted in Russia on drug charges, later freed in a prisoner swap.
Source: bostonherald.com
