George Washington becomes a Master Mason in his hometown of Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was twenty one years old. More
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What Happened Today in History on August 4
Explore the historical events that shaped our world on August 4th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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President Woodrow Wilson declared U.S. neutrality as World War erupts . The conflict eventually became a matter of principles: whether to uphold the freedom of the seas, to make the world safe for democracy in the face of autocracy, or to establish a new world order ensuring permanent peace and governed by rational law. The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. More
The United States signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement with Mexico. An executive order called the Mexican Farm Labor Program established the Bracero Program. This series of diplomatic accords between Mexico and the United States permitted millions of Mexican men to work legally in the United States on short-term labor contracts. The Bracero Program ended on December 31, 1964. More
Nelson Mandela, Apartheid opponent, was arrested by security police in South Africa. He was tried and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1964, he was retried for sabotage , high treason and conspiracy to overthrow the government. He was sentenced to life in prison.
A worldwide campaign to free him began in the 1980s and resulted in his release on February 11, 1990, at age 71 after 27 years in prison. In 1993, Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with South Africa's President F.W. de Klerk for their peaceful efforts to bring a nonracial democracy to South Africa. In April 1994, black South Africans voted for the first time in an election that brought Mandela the presidency of South Africa. More
The bodies of three lynched civil rights workers (James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman) were found in Neshoba County, Mississippi. They had been tortured and murdered by the KKK with help from the deputy sheriff near Philadelphia. M in .after disappearing more than a month before. More
The largest non-nuclear blast in modern history at the port of Beirut in Lebanon causes widespread devastation and loss of life after an estimated 2750 tons of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate exploded.
Mehr News Agency, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
