This Day in History (Happy Ending Edition): June 4th

1989: Chinese Pro-Democracy Demonstration in Tiananmen Square.

In the wake of several other Communist regimes having toppled in the previous months, hundreds, if not thousands of Chinese nationals take to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to protest the current government.

For their part, the government totally hears every word the people say and agrees with them. President Deng Xiaoping appears on state-run television to immediately throw down the shackles of oppression, and adopt a representative republic based on fair courts, free elections, parliamentary assembly and human rights progress. As a measure of gratitude for having softened his heart and shown him the error of his ways, Deng also declares a national day of hugging, laughter, ice cream and rainbows.

This dude totally got a free puppy, too.

1984: Bruce Springsteen Releases Landmark "Born in the U.S.A." Album.


Of course, the title track is a celebration of the triumph of the inimitable American Spirit, and celebrates all of the glorious reasons why the United States is the greatest county ever. Hey, if that's the way politicians use it for personal gain, then that's the way it is and you don't get to argue.

It's also a totally well-written song with a complex, layered chorus, and a melodic structure partially inspired by (and playfully reminiscent of) the Romantic-movement compositions of noted Czech maestro Antonín Dvořák, whom Springsteen has repeatedly cited as a major influence.

1892: The Sierra Club is Founded in San Francisco.

Well-known conservationist and preservationist John Muir is instrumental in creating the grassroots environmental conservation org. He also serves as Sierra's first president, thus beginning his meteoric rise to prominence in America.

After successfully lobbying Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt to sign legislation creating a Constitutional Amendment protecting America's green space, air quality and waterways from pollution and over-development in perpetuity, Muir went on to narrowly defeat Warren G. Harding in the 1910 Presidential election, beginning his service of three terms in the Oval Office.

Once in power, Muir was able to achieve great leaps in balancing America's emerging industrial infrastructure with responsible environmental practice. The entire nation, and in fact, the whole world were subsequently inspired by his example. This gave rise to the ubiquitous, universally-undertaken and now-unquestioned practices of recycling, carbon-footprint reduction and pollution restraint that have kept the Earth's delicate ecosystems in complete harmonious balance ever since.