By By UPI Staff
Publication Date: 2026-04-04 07:00:00
April 4 (UPI) — On this date in history:
In 1841, President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia after serving one month in office. He was the ninth President of the United States, and the first to die in office. He was succeeded by Vice President John Tyler, the first person to occupy the office without being elected to it.
In 1850, the city of Los Angeles was incorporated.
In 1887, Susanna Madora Salter was elected as the first female mayor in the United States — in Argonia, Kan.
In 1933, the USS Akron, a U.S. Navy airship, is destroyed during a major storm off the coast of New Jersey. The tragedy claimed the lives of 73 of the 76 crewmen and passengers.
In 1949, representatives of 12 nations gathered in Washington to sign the North Atlantic Treaty, creating the NATO alliance.
In 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tenn. He was 39.
In 1975, Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and…