Sunday · September 27, 2026
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American history, reported as it happened
Made for the 250th
On this day › September 4

What happened on September 4 in American history

September 4 is the 247th day of the year (the 248th in leap years). Patriot Compass has published 6 stories from September 4 spanning 1812 to 1998. Among them: in 1812, Fort Harrison burns, but Taylor's fifteen sick men hold the line; and in 1862, Lee marches north; Confederate columns wade the Potomac into Maryland.

1812Member story · 1776 Club

Fort Harrison burns, but Taylor's fifteen sick men hold the line

A whiskey-stocked blockhouse goes up in flames as 600 warriors close in on the Wabash.
1862

Lee marches north; Confederate columns wade the Potomac into Maryland

The Army of Northern Virginia carries the war onto Union soil for the first time.
1888Member story · 1776 Club

Eastman patents a camera that needs no darkroom skill at all

The same day, he registers a made-up word, Kodak, that means nothing in any language.
1941

A German submarine fires on an American destroyer; the Greer answers with depth charges

The United States is still officially neutral, but off Iceland its warships are now trading fire with Germany's navy.
1951Member story · 1776 Club

Live television crosses the country for the first time, carrying a peace conference into American homes

Delegates from 48 nations gather in San Francisco as engineers send the signal east in real time.
1998

Two Stanford dropouts-in-waiting file the papers; Google is now a company

A hundred-thousand-dollar check written to a firm that didn't legally exist yet just cleared.