September 4 Dateline

Birthdays

1768 - François-Auguste-René, Viscomte de Chateaubriand, French author and diplomat, one of his country’s first Romantic writers. He was the preeminent literary figure in France in the early 19th century and had a profound influence on the youth of his day.

1824 - Anton Bruckner, Austrian Romantic Composer, famous for his Seventh Symphony and Te Deum. (video: Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 conducted by Claudio Abbado, Lucerne Festival Orchestra. YouTube, uploaded by Bohemian Brass. Accessed September 4, 2018.)

1892 - Darius Milhaud, French Composer, member of "Les Six" group of French composers.(Video: Pianists Martha Argerich and Evgeny Kissin interpret Milhaud's "Scaramouche."  YouTube, uploaded by Facconti. Accessed September 4, 2018)

1917 - Henry Ford II, American Car manufacturer, sometimes known as "HF2" or "Hank the Deuce", was a businessman in the automotive industry. He was the eldest son of Edsel Ford and eldest grandson of Henry Ford.

1928 - Dick York (born Richard Allen York), American radio, stage, film, and television Actor. He is best remembered for his role as the first Darrin Stephens on the ABC fantasy sitcom Bewitched. His best-known motion-picture role was as teacher Bertram Cates in the film Inherit the Wind.

1931 - Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber), American Actress, Singer, and Dancer. Her notable films include There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), which featured Irving Berlin's music and also starred Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, and Johnnie Ray; and South Pacific, the 1958 motion picture adaptation of the stage musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein.('I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy' from another Rodgers & Hammerstein musical masterpiece South Pacific. Uploaded by Project Unleash. Accessed September 4, 2014.)

1937 - Dawn Fraser, AC, MBE, Australian freestyle champion Swimmer and former Politician. She is one of only three swimmers to have won the same Olympic individual event three times – in her case the women's 100-metre freestyle. Within Australia, she is often known for her controversial behaviour as much as for her athletic ability.

1969 - Noah George Taylor, British-Australian Actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in Shine, Locke in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Darby Sabini in the BBC One series Peaky Blinders, Mr. Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Danny in the Australian cult film He Died with a Felafel in His Hand. Taylor also starred as Adolf Hitler in Max and Preacher. 

1980 - David Garrett (born David Christian Bongartz), German classical and crossover violinist and recording artist. He's a violin virtuoso that blur the lines between Mozart and Metallica. At 13 y.o., Garrett had recorded two full-length CDs of violin music and was regular fixture on TV across Europe. He studied Musicology and composition at the Juilliard School of Music, and composed a fugue in the style of JS Bach which won the school's 2003 composition prize. Among his lauded instructors was the legendary violinist Itzhak Perlmann. His first proper album from 2007, Free, recording set out his stall as a crossover artist, tackling repertoire as diverse as Paganini's Caprice No. 24 to Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters'. (The Best of David Garrett. YouTube, uploaded  by Tony. Accessed September 4, 2025.)

Leftie:
Henry Ford II, Automobile manufacturer

 

More birthdays and historical events, September 4 - On This Day

 

Historical Events

476 - The Western Roman Empire falls when Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor, is forced to abdicate by eastern rival Odoacer, who proclaims himself King of Italy. In turn, he is later murdered by the real king, Theodoric the Great.

1781 - Los Angeles City in California is founded as El pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula - the City of Our Lady, the queen of the Angels of the Little Portion - by a group of 44 Spanish settlers.

September 3 Dateline

Birthdays

1695 - Pietro Locatelli, Italian Baroque Composer and Violinist. Not much is known about his childhood. In his early youth he was the third violinist and held the title of virtuoso in the cappella musicale (musical establishment) of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. In autumn 1711 Locatelli went to Rome to seek greater recognition.

1849 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American novelist, short story writer and poet, one of New England's foremost regional writers.

1899 - Sir Frank MacFarlane Burnet, OM, AK, KBE, FRS, FAA, FRSNZ, Australian biologist and Nobel Laureate, usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was a virologist best known for his contributions to immunology. He won a Nobel Prize in 1960 for predicting acquired immune tolerance and was best known for developing the theory of clonal selection.

1938 - Ryoji Noyori, Japanese chemist and Nobel Laureate. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001, shared a half of the prize with William S. Knowles for the study of chirally catalyzed hydrogenations; the second half of the prize went to K. Barry Sharpless for his study in chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions.

1965 - Charlie Sheen (Carlos Irwin Estévez), American actor. He has appeared in films such as Platoon, Wall Street, Young Guns, The Rookie, The Three Musketeers, and The Arrival.  When Sheen replaced Michael J. Fox as the star of ABC's Spin City, his portrayal of Charlie Crawford earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He then starred as Charlie Harper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, for which he received multiple Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations, and as Dr. Charles "Charlie" Goodson on the FX series Anger Management.  In 2010, Sheen was the highest-paid actor on television, earning US$1.8 million per episode of Two and a Half Men.

 

Lefties:
None known

 

More birthdays and historical events, September 3 - On This Day

 

Feature:

 
Pietro Antonio Locatelli's Violin Concertos, with Igor Ruhadze (violin) and Ensemble Violini Capricciosi  YouTube, uploaded by Brilliant Classics. Accessed September 3, 2023. 

Historical Events

1609 - Henry Hudson, an English explorer, sailing for the Dutch Kingdom, discovers the island of Manhattan. Later the Dutch claim the area and set up the colony of New Amsterdam, now New York.  

 

1783 - The American War of Independence ends after eight years of fighting with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by the U.S., Spain, France, and Great Britain, and American independence is recognised by the British.