Beijing, China. June 4 has been marked by a series of significant events spanning politics, conflict, monarchy and social change across several countries. The date includes milestones from the introduction of supermarket trolleys in the United States to elections in Peru and the 1989 crackdown in Beijing.
Events on June 4
In 1937, the first supermarket trolleys were introduced in Oklahoma City.
In 1941, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the ninth king of Prussia and third German emperor from 1888 to 1918, died in exile in the Netherlands.
In 1943, Argentine President Ramon Castillo was overthrown in an army coup.
In 1988, Pope John Paul rode in a Ferrari Montial.
In 1989, hundreds of Chinese student dissidents were killed in Beijing when the army moved in to remove them from Tiananmen Square. Some estimates put the death toll in the thousands.
In 1994, Bangladesh ordered the arrest of feminist writer Taslima Nasreen after she told an Indian newspaper that the Koran should be “thoroughly revised”.
In 1998, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.
In 2002, a flypast by Royal Airforce Red Arrows signaled the end of Golden Jubilee celebrations in London marking 50 years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
In 2006, former president Alan Garcia defeated Ollanta Humala in Peru’s election, completing a political comeback after his 1980s government ended amid economic ruin, rebel violence and accusations of rights abuses.