◆ On this day

September 4

4 sourced moments from September 4 in history: Rome's last Western emperor was deposed in 476 — or 480; Edison switched on the first commercial power station (1882); The Ford Edsel's $250 Million Flop (1957), plus 1 more.

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4 things happened on September 4

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1972 Sports · Olympics

Mark Spitz won a then-record seven golds at Munich 1972

At the 1972 Munich Olympics, American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals in eight days — and set a world record in every single race.

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1957 Society & Economy · Business & Markets

The Ford Edsel's $250 Million Flop

Ford spent a decade and a fortune building the Edsel, then watched its grand 1957 debut curdle into one of business history's most famous failures.

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1882 Technology · Energy

Edison switched on the first commercial power station

On September 4, 1882, Edison closed a switch in lower Manhattan and the world's first central power station hummed to life.

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476 History · Empires & Civilizations

Rome's last Western emperor was deposed in 476 — or 480

Odoacer toppled the boy-emperor Romulus Augustulus on 4 September 476, yet Constantinople kept recognising another Western emperor for four more years.

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