April 4Birthdays & History

On this day: April 4 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 503 BCRoman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.Europe
2. 190Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.Asia
3. 611Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico.Latin America
4. 619The Bijapur-Mumbai inscription is issued by Pulakeshin II, describing the Battle of Narmada.Asia
5. 801King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months.Europe
6. 1268A five-year Byzantine–Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.Europe
7. 1423Death of the Venetian Doge Tommaso Mocenigo, under whose rule victories were achieved against the Kingdom of Hungary and against the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Gallipoli (1416).EuropeMiddle East
8. 1581Francis Drake is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I for completing a circumnavigation of the world.Europe
9. 1609Moriscos are expelled from the Kingdom of Valencia.Europe
10. 1660Declaration of Breda by King Charles II of Great Britain promises, among other things, a general pardon to all royalists and opponents of the monarchy for crimes committed during the English Civil War and the Interregnum.Europe
11. 1796Georges Cuvier delivers the first paleontological lecture.Europe
12. 1814Napoleon abdicates (conditionally) for the first time and names his son Napoleon II as Emperor of the French, followed by unconditional abdication two days later.Europe
13. 1818The United States Congress, affirming the Second Continental Congress, adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (20 at that time).North America
14. 1841William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and setting the record for the briefest administration. Vice President John Tyler succeeds Harrison as President.North America
15. 1860The declaration on the introduction of the Finnish markka as an official currency is read in different parts of the Grand Duchy of Finland.Europe
16. 1865American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.North America
17. 1866Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Dmitry Karakozov in the city of Saint Petersburg.Europe
18. 1887Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.North America
19. 1894Foyot bombing by the Russian or French state during the Ère des attentats.Europe
20. 1904Two Ms ~7.1 earthquakes, among the largest in Europe, strike Bulgaria, killing over 200 people and causing destruction.Europe
21. 1905In India, an earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, killing 20,000, and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.Asia
22. 1913First Balkan War: Greek aviator Emmanouil Argyropoulos becomes the first pilot to die in the Hellenic Air Force when his plane crashes.Europe
23. 1920The four-day Nebi Musa riots commence.Middle East
24. 1925The Schutzstaffel (SS) is founded under Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party in Germany.Europe
25. 1933U.S. Navy airship USS Akron is wrecked off the New Jersey coast due to severe weather.North America
26. 1944World War II: First bombardment of oil refineries in Bucharest by Anglo-American forces kills 3,000 civilians.North America
27. 1945World War II: United States Army troops liberate Ohrdruf forced labor camp in Germany.North AmericaEurope
28. 1945World War II: United States Army troops capture Kassel.North America
29. 1945World War II: Soviet Red Army troops liberate Hungary from German occupation.Europe
30. 1946Greek judge and archeologist Panagiotis Poulitsas is appointed Prime Minister of Greece in the midst of the Greek Civil War.Europe
31. 1949Cold War: Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.North AmericaEurope
32. 1958The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London.Europe
33. 1960France agrees to grant independence to the Mali Federation, a union of Senegal and French Sudan.EuropeAfrica
34. 1963Bye Bye Birdie, a musical romantic comedy film directed by George Sidney, was released.North America
35. 1964The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.North America
36. 1967Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech in New York City's Riverside Church.AsiaNorth America
37. 1968Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.North America
38. 1968Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 6.North America
39. 1969Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.North America
40. 1973The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are officially dedicated.North America
41. 1973A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, makes the last flight of Operation Homecoming.Asia
42. 1975Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.North AmericaLatin America
43. 1975Vietnam War: A United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transporting orphans, crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, killing 172 people.AsiaNorth America
44. 1977Southern Airways Flight 242 crashes in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, killing 72.North America
45. 1979Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.Asia
46. 1981Iran–Iraq War: The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force mounts an attack on H-3 Airbase and destroys about 50 Iraqi aircraft.Middle East
47. 1983Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space on STS-6.North America
48. 1984President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.North America
49. 1987Garuda Indonesia Flight 032 crashes at Medan Airport, killing 23.Asia
50. 1988Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.North America
51. 1990The current flag of Hong Kong is adopted for post-colonial Hong Kong during the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress.AsiaNorth America
52. 1991Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their airplane over an elementary school in Merion, Pennsylvania.North America
53. 1991Forty-one people are taken hostage inside a Good Guys! Electronics store in Sacramento, California. Three of the hostage takers and three hostages are killed.North America
54. 1994Three people are killed when KLM Cityhopper Flight 433 crashes at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.Europe
55. 1996Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.North America
56. 1997Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-83. However, the mission is later cut short due to a fuel cell problem.North America
57. 2002The MPLA government of Angola and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.Africa
58. 2009France announces its return to full participation of its military forces within NATO.Europe
59. 2010A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits south of the Mexico-USA border, killing at least two and damaging buildings across the two countries.Latin AmericaNorth America
60. 2011Georgian Airways Flight 834 crashes at N'djili Airport in Kinshasa, killing 32.Africa
61. 2013Seventy-four people are killed in a building collapse in Thane, India.Asia
62. 2017Syria conducts an air strike on Khan Shaykhun using chemical weapons, killing 89 civilians.Middle East
63. 2020China holds a national day of mourning for martyrs who died in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease outbreak.Asia
64. 2023Finland becomes a member of NATO after Turkey accepts its membership request.EuropeMiddle East
65. 2024Russo-Ukrainian war: The Battle of Chasiv Yar begins.Europe
66. 2025The impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea in response to his declaration of martial law is unanimously upheld by the country's Constitutional Court, ending his presidency.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "April 4" / CC BY-SA 4.0