October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years. There are 88 days remaining until the end of the year. (Photo: Sputnik I becomes the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, October 4, 1957.)

Today in History

• The Gregorian calendar goes into effect: in Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, the following day is October 15 (1582)
• The Orient Express makes its first run (1883)
• Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore (1927)
• Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, is launched (1957)
• Leave it to Beaver premiers on CBS (1957)
• Televangelist Jim Bakker is indicted for fraud (1988)
• SpaceShipOne wins the Ansari X Prize as the first private craft to fly into space (2004)

Birthdays

• Richard “Tumbledown Dick” Cromwell, Lord Protector (1626)
• Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th US President (1822)
• Frederic Remington, painter (1861)
• Edward Stratemeyer, creator of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew (1862)
• Damon Runyon, author (1880)
• Buster Keaton, silent actor (1895)
• Jan Murray, game show host (1916)
• Charlton Heston, actor (1923)
• Alvin Toffler, futurist (1928)
• Sam Huff, football player (1934)
• Jackie Collins, novelist (1937)
• Roy Blount, Jr., writer (1941)
• Anne Rice, author (1941)
• Robert Wilson, playwright (1941)
• H. Rap Brown, civil rights activist (1943)
• Tony La Russa, baseball manager (1944)
• Clifton Davis, actor and songwriter (1945)
• Chuck Hagel, senator and defense secretary (1946)
• Susan Sarandon, actress (1946)
• Linda McMahon, wrestling promoter (1948)
• Armand Assante, actor (1949)
• Russell Simmons, hip hop businessman (1957)
• Jon Secada, singer/songwriter (1962)
• A. C. Green, basketball player (1963)
• Micky Ward, boxer (1965)
• Alicia Silverstone, actress (1976)
• Rachael Leigh Cook, actress (1979)

Deaths

• Rembrandt, painter (1669)
• Karl Baedeker, guidebook publisher (1859)
• Catherine Booth, Salvation Army co-founder (1890)
• Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Statue of Liberty designer (1904)
• Al Smith, first Catholic US presidential candidate (1944)
• Barney Oldfield, racing driver (1946)
• Max Planck, physicist (1947)
• Janis Joplin, singer (1970)
• The Amazing Criswell, psychic (1982)
• Glenn Gould, pianist (1982)
• Secretariat, Triple Crown winner (1989)
• 横井 軍平 (Gunpei Yokoi), created Game Boy (1997)
• Art Farmer, trumpeter (1999)
• Gordon Cooper, astronaut (2004)
• Günther Rall, fighter ace (2009)

Holidays

• Day of Peace and Reconciliation (Mozambique)
• Feast of Francis of Assisi (Christianity)
• Kanelbullens Dag (Cinnamon Roll Day) (Sweden)
• National Taco Day (US)
• Ten-Four Day (CB radio enthusiasts)
• World Animal Day (International)
• First day of World Space Week (International)