Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou and The Beatles: 5 things that happened on April 4

From the serious to the entertaining, here is our daily list of things that happened around the world on this day

HBO documentary King in the Wilderness features Martin Luther King, Jr. during the final three years of his life and his monumental struggles for equality

Martin Luther King was assassinated, Maya Angelou was born and The Beatles made musical history – here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history.

Los Angeles was incorporated into the United States

Year: 1850

Los Angeles started its life as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles del Rio de la Porciuncula in 1781. Spanish Governor Felipe de Neve wanted to create a town that would provide food for southern California, so he recruited 46 people from northern Mexico to settle in the area. Beyond that, there weren't many takers. Ten years later, there were still only 139 residents in the town and even by 1820, the total population was a mere 650 inhabitants.

In 1848, gold was discovered in California, attracting an estimated 30,000 people from across the United States, and there was suddenly much demand for beef reared in the Los Angeles area.

In 1849, Mexico formally ceded California to the United States and on April 4, 1850, Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality. California went on to become the 30th state in the union the same year.

A groundbreaking author is born

Year: 1928

On April 4, 1928, Maya Angelou was born, in St Louis, Missouri. The American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet and civil rights activist is best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman. Angelou received several honours throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (non-fiction) category, in 2005 and 2009. She was also a college professor, a frequent fixture on the lecture circuit and the subject of a string of scholarly studies.

Angelou died on May 28, 2014. In a statement, President Obama said: “Today, Michelle and I join millions around the world in remembering one of the brightest lights of our time — a brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman … She inspired my own mother to name my sister Maya.”

The Beatles make musical history

Year: 1964

On this day in 1964, a British band made musical history in the United States, when the Beatles simultaneously secured the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Can't Buy Me Love raced in at number one, where it remained for the next five weeks. Twist and Shout settled in at number two, while She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand and Please Please Me secured the remaining spots in the top five. It is a feat that has yet to be matched.

Martin Luther King is murdered

Year: 1968

At 6.05pm on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee when a sniper’s bullet struck him in the neck. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was 39. King had led the civil rights movement since the mid 1950s, using non-violent protests to achieve advances in the rights of African Americans.

On March 10, 1969, a small-time criminal named James Earl Ray, pleaded guilty to King’s murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

A college dropout launches a trillion dollar company 

Year: 1975

A 19-year-old Bill Gates and his high-school friend Paul Allen launched Microsoft exactly 45 years ago today. At a time when most people were using typewriters, the duo had the novel idea to create software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer. They went on to change the world.

Gates dropped out of Harvard to launch what would go on to become a trillion-dollar brand. The company, which started out as Micro-Soft, was originally based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, relocating to Washington State in 1979. In 1987, Microsoft went public, and 31-year-old Gates became the world’s youngest billionaire.