Lizzie Borden took an axe…

Year
1892
Month Day
August 04

Andrew and Abby Borden, elderly residents of Fall River, Massachusetts, are found bludgeoned to death in their home. Lying in a pool of blood on the living room couch, Andrew’s face had been nearly split in two. Abby, Lizzie’s stepmother, was found upstairs with her head smashed to pieces.

The Bordens, who were considerably wealthy, lived with their two unmarried daughters, Emma and Lizzie. Since Lizzie was the only other person besides the housekeeper who was present when the bodies were found, suspicion soon fell upon her. Because of the sensational nature of the murders, the trial attracted attention from around the nation.

Despite the fact that fingerprint testing was already becoming commonplace in Europe at the time, the police were wary of its reliability, and refused to test for prints on the murder weapon—a hatchet—found in the Borden’s basement. The prosecution tried to prove that Lizzie had burned a dress similar to the one she was wearing on the day of the murders and had purchased a small axe the day before. But Lizzie was a sweet-looking Christian woman and the jury took only 90 minutes to decide that she could never commit such a heinous crime.

Although she was now an orphaned heiress rather than a convicted murderess, the media continued to portray Lizzie as the perpetrator. Her story is still remembered today mostly because of the infamous rhyme:

Lizzie Borden took an axe,And gave her mother forty whacks;When she saw what she had done,She gave her father forty-one.

Ignoring the taunts, Lizzie lived the high life until her death in 1927. She was buried in the family plot next to her parents.

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“Talladega Nights” released in theaters

Year
2006
Month Day
August 04

“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” an irreverent comedy based in the outlandish (fictionalized) world of American stock car racing, premieres in movie theaters around the United States on August 4, 2006.

The comedian Will Ferrell (who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Adam McKay and served as an executive producer) starred as Ricky Bobby, a leading driver on the National Association for Stock Auto Car Racing (NASCAR) circuit. Macho and arrogant, Ricky Bobby is known for his motto “If you’re not first, you’re last!” and has no problems with the fact that his winning record is based on the willingness of his loyal friend and fellow driver, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly) to always come in second to Ricky’s first. This arrangement is upset by the arrival of Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), a flamboyant French star of Europe’s Formula One racing. After a devastating crash, Ricky Bobby loses his job and his wife (both to Cal) and is forced to work his way back up in the NASCAR world. The climactic scene–featuring an explosive kiss in the middle of the track–takes place during the famous Talladega 500 race at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway.

“Talladega Nights”offered an unapologetically exaggerated version of the NASCAR world, repeatedly poking fun at the stereotypical image of car-loving “good old boys” from the American South, in the style of shows like “The Dukes of Hazzard.” It also satirized NASCAR’s affection for product placement: The cars in the movie are covered with advertisements for brands such as Wonder Bread and Old Spice and the characters are constantly singing the praises of Domino’s Pizza, PowerAde and other products.

On the more authentic side, the vehicles used in “Talladega Nights”were made with the cooperation of NASCAR, and the movie was partially filmed at the Talladega Superspeedway, known to fans of stock car racing as the largest, fastest and most competitive speedway in the world. Opened in 1969, the complex was built on an expanse of farmland next to two abandoned airport runways; it has the capacity to accommodate more than 143,000 seated spectators, with thousands more packed into the 212-acre infield. Talladega is also home to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum.

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U.S. proclaims neutrality in World War I

Year
1914
Month Day
August 04

As World War I erupts in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson formally proclaims the neutrality of the United States, a position that a vast majority of Americans favored, on August 4, 1914.

Wilson’s initial hope that America could be “impartial in thought as well as in action” was soon compromised by Germany’s attempted quarantine of the British Isles. Britain was one of America’s closest trading partners, and tension arose between the United States and Germany when several U.S. ships traveling to Britain were damaged or sunk by German mines.

In February 1915, Germany announced unrestricted warfare against all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain. One month later, Germany announced that a German cruiser had sunk the William P. Frye, a private American vessel that was transporting grain to England when it disappeared. President Wilson was outraged, but the German government apologized and called the attack an unfortunate mistake.

READ MORE: US Entry into World War I

In early May 1915, several New York newspapers published a warning by the German embassy in Washington that Americans traveling on British or Allied ships in war zones did so at their own risk. The announcement was placed on the same page as an advertisement for the imminent sailing of the British-owned Lusitania ocean liner from New York to Liverpool. On May 7, the Lusitania was torpedoed without warning by a German submarine just off the coast of Ireland. Of the nearly 2,000 passengers, 1,201 were killed, including 128 Americans.

It was revealed that the Lusitania was carrying about 173 tons of war munitions for Britain, which the Germans cited as further justification for the attack. The United States eventually sent three notes to Berlin protesting the action, and Germany apologized and pledged to end unrestricted submarine warfare. In November, however, a U-boat sunk an Italian liner without warning, killing 272 people, including 27 Americans. Public opinion in the United States began to turn irrevocably against Germany.

In late March, Germany sank four more U.S. merchant ships, and on April 2, President Wilson appeared before Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany. On April 4, the Senate voted 82 to six to declare war against Germany. Two days later, the House of Representatives endorsed the declaration by a vote of 373 to 50, and America formally entered World War I.

On June 26, the first 14,000 U.S. infantry troops landed in France to begin training for combat. After four years of bloody stalemate along the Western Front, the entrance of America’s well-supplied forces into the conflict was a major turning point in the war. By the time the war finally ended on November 11, 1918, more than 2 million American soldiers had served on the battlefields of Western Europe, and some 50,000 of these men had lost their lives.

READ MORE: Should the US Have Entered World War I?

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