March 4

Saint Casimir's Day
(Poland and Lithuania)

Events
1861 – The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Stars and Bars") is adopted.
1865 – The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.
1882 – Britain's first electric trams run in east London.
1899 – Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.
1918 – The first case of Spanish flu occurs, the start of a devastating worldwide pandemic.
1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
1960 – The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba killing 100.
1966 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.
1970 – French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.
1974 – People magazine is published for the first time.
1976 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.
1977 – The 1977 Vrancea Earthquake in southern and eastern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in the seriously damaged Bucharest in Romania.
1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
1986 – The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley's Comet and the first images of its nucleus.
1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, US, causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
1998 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
2007 – Estonian parliamentary election, 2007: Approximately 30,000 voters take advantage of electronic voting in Estonia, the world's first nationwide voting where part of the votecasting is allowed in the form of remote electronic voting via the Internet.

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