This Day in History Quiz: August 4

Question: Who established the Revenue Marine Service (which later became the U.S. Coast Guard) on August 4, 1790?

Answer: The U.S. Coast Guard was established on August 4, 1790, by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton as the Revenue Marine Service. It later became the Revenue Cutter Service and, in 1915, was combined with the U.S. Lifesaving Service to become the Coast Guard. 

Question: The U.S. space probe Phoenix was launched on August 4, 2007. What was its destination?

Answer: NASA launched the space probe Phoenix on August 4, 2007, and it landed on its destination, Mars, on May 25, 2008. Among its discoveries was evidence of the existence of water ice beneath the planet’s surface.

Question: What did Britain take control of on August 4, 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession?

Answer: On August 4, 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Sir George Rooke captured Gibraltar for Great Britain. Spain formally ceded it to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Question: What country entered World War I on August 4, 1914, in response to Germany’s invasion of Belgium?

Answer: German forces invaded Belgium on the night of August 3–4, 1914; Great Britain, committed to defending Belgium, declared war on Germany on August 4, thereby further expanding World War I.

Question: Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901. What instrument did he play?

Answer: Jazz great Louis Armstrong, born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901, played the trumpet. As Britannica’s biography of him explains: “his swing-style trumpet playing influenced virtually all jazz horn players who followed him, and the swing and rhythmic suppleness of his vocal style were important influences on singers from Billie Holiday to Bing Crosby.”