July 1900 - July 4, 1900 (Wednesday)

July 4, 1900 (Wednesday)

• During his lifetime, Louis Armstrong gave his birthdate as July 4, 1900. After the jazz musician died in 1972, however, author Gary Giddins located the birth certificate that showed Armstrong was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901.
• The latest addition to William Randolph Hearst's newspaper empire was the Chicago American, which published its first edition on this day. The paper lasted 74 years, changing its name to Chicago Today, and publishing its final issue on September 13, 1974.
• One of the worst streetcar accidents in American history occurred in Tacoma, Washington, when a car plunged 100 feet into a ravine, killing 43 people and injuring 65.
• A 1910 accident in Kingsland, Indiana, killed 41. The passengers were coming from Lakeview, Parkland, and other southern suburbs for Tacoma's Independence Day celebration. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., the car jumped the track at 26th and C Streets.
• The Standard Oil refinery in Bayonne, New Jersey, was destroyed. A lightning strike set fire to three of the 40,000-gallon tanks, which then spread to explode seven others. Windows were shattered in the Hook Village section of town, and the bay itself was set on fire. The fire, which caused $2.5 million in damage, was brought under control by July 7.
• Born: Robert Desnos, surrealist French poet, in Paris; died in 1945 of typhoid fever contracted while in German concentration camp.