What happened on this day in history: The ghastly ax murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, the unresolved death of Marilyn Monroe, and more important events from August 4th.
1693: Dom Pérignon Invents Champagne
Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon invents Champagne at his abbey in Hautvillers, France. According to legend, Pérignon supposedly called out, “Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!” when he first took a sip of his creation. Despite such mythology, the historical record shows that modern Champagne wasn’t invented until the mid-19th century, long after Pérignon’s death.
1892: The Ax Murders Of Andrew and Abby Borden
Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby, are hacked to death by an ax murderer inside their Fall River, Massachusetts home. Blame quickly fell on Borden’s 32-year-old daughter, Lizzie, who reportedly hated her stepmother. Lizzie Borden claimed that she was in the barn when the murders occurred and later found her father dead in the living room. The crime remains unsolved to this day.
1944: Anne Frank Is Captured By The Gestapo
The Nazis find Anne Frank and her family inside the secret rooms of an Amsterdam warehouse where they had been in hiding for more than two years. A Dutch informer had told authorities of the Franks’ whereabouts, and the Gestapo captured them along with the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer, who were in hiding with the Frank family. All were sent to concentration camps, though who betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis remains uncertain after eight decades.
1962: Marilyn Monroe Dies
Marilyn Monroe dies of acute barbiturate poisoning in her Los Angeles home. Her housekeeper noticed a light on beneath the locked door to Monroe’s room and called her psychiatrist, who broke into the room through a window and found her dead, surrounded by empty medicine bottles.
The coroner ruled Monroe’s death a suicide. Over the past 60 years, her death has become the subject of many conspiracy theories ranging from murder arranged by the Kennedy family to a mere accidental overdose.
1987: Carlina White Goes Missing
Carlina White goes missing from a Harlem hospital. After baby Carlina showed signs of an infection, her parents Joy White and Carl Tyson rushed her to the hospital. Hours later, a woman entered Carlina’s room and abducted her. Joy White and Carl Tyson would not see their child again for 23 years.
In 2005, Carlina, then going by the name Nejdra Nance, realized that her “mother” kidnapped her when she was a baby. Carlina was able to get in touch with her parents through an online missing children database and end the 23-year-long mystery.