What happened on October 4? There are more than 300 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About October 4
October 4 is the 278th day of the year 2024. There are 88 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 40th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Monarch, Colorado 81227 sunrise occured at 07:03 AM and sunset occured at 06:43 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Libra. The modern birthstone for this month is Opal while the mystical birthstone is Jasper.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 117 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For October 4
- 610Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas and becomes Emperor.
- 1227Assassination of Caliph al-Adil.
- 1363End of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the Chinese rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang defeat that of his rival, Chen Youliang, in one of the largest naval battles in history.
- 1511Formation of the Holy League of Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Papal States and the Republic of Venice against France.
- 1535The first complete English-language Bible (the Coverdale Bible) is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.
- 1582Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.
- 1636The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.
- 1693Battle of Marsaglia: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.
- 1725Foundation of Rosario in Argentina.
- 1777Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.
- 1779The Fort Wilson Riot takes place.
- 1795Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence with a “Whiff of Grapeshot”, using cannon to suppress armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the French Legislature (National Convention).
- 1824Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.
- 1830Creation of the state of Belgium after separation from The Netherlands.
- 1853Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.
- 1876Texas A&M University opens as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, becoming the first public institution of higher education in Texas.
- 1883First meeting of the Boys’ Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.
- 1883First run of the Orient Express.
- 1895The first U.S. Open Men’s Golf Championship administered by the United States Golf Association is played at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island.
- 1918An explosion kills more than 100 and destroys the T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in Sayreville, New Jersey. Fires and explosions continue for three days forcing massive evacuations and spreading ordnance over a wide area, pieces of which were still being found as of 2007.
- 1927Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.
- 1940Meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini at the Brenner Pass.
- 1941Norman Rockwell’s Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
- 1943World War II: U.S. captures Solomon Islands.
- 1957Avro Arrow roll-out ceremony at Avro Canada plant in Malton, Ontario.
- 1957Leave It To Beaver premieres on CBS.
- 1957Space Race: Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
- 1957Sputnik 1 is launched by the Soviet Union.
- 1958Fifth Republic of France is established.
- 1960Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes after a bird strike on takeoff from Boston’s Logan International Airport, killing 62 of 72 on board.
- 1963Hurricane Flora, kills 6,000 in Cuba and Haiti.
- 1965Becoming the first Pope to ever visit the United States of America and the Western hemisphere, Pope Paul VI arrives in New York.
- 1966Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.
- 1967Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
- 1974Founding of the New Democracy party in Greece.
- 1976Official launch of the Intercity 125 High Speed Train (HST).
- 1983Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph (1,019 km/h), driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
- 1985Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, United States.
- 1988U.S. televangelist Jim Bakker is indicted for fraud.
- 1991The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is opened for signature.
- 1992El Al Flight 1862: an El Al Boeing 747-258F crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.
- 1992The Rome General Peace Accords ends a 16 year civil war in Mozambique.
- 1993Russian Constitutional Crisis: In Moscow, tanks bombard the White House, a government building that housed the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Boris Yeltsin rally outside.
- 1997The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Loomis, Fargo and Company. An FBI investigation eventually results in 24 convictions and the recovery of approximately 95% of the $17.3 million in cash which had been taken.
- 2001NATO confirms invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
- 2001Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.
- 2003Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel: 21 Israelis, Jews and Arabs, are killed, and 51 others wounded.
- 2004SpaceShipOne‘’wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight, by being the first private craft to fly into space.
- 2010The Ajka plant accident in western Hungary releases about a million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of liquid alumina sludge. Nine people are killed and 122 injured, and the Marcal and Danube rivers are severly contaminated.
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Who Were Born On October 4?
- 1160Alys, Countess of the Vexin, daughter of Louis VII of France (d. 1220)
- 1276Margaret of Brabant, Queen of Germany (d. 1311)
- 1289King Louis X of France (d. 1316)
- 1331James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormonde (d. 1382)
- 1379King Henry III of Castile (d. 1406)
- 1515Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (d. 1586)
- 1542Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (d. 1621)
- 1550King Charles IX of Sweden (d. 1611)
- 1562Christian Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (d. 1647)
- 1570Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal (d. 1637)
- 1585Anna of Tyrol, Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1618)
- 1625Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy (d. 1661)
- 1626Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland (d. 1712)
- 1657Francesco Solimena, Italian painter (d. 1747)
- 1720Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian artist (d. 1778)
- 1723Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German entomologist (d. 1798)
- 1759Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician (d. 1803)
- 1787François Guizot, French statesman (d. 1874)
- 1807Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, French Canadian politician (d. 1864)
- 1814Jean-François Millet, French painter (d. 1875)
- 1822Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States (d. 1893)
- 1836Juliette Adam, French writer (d. 1936)
- 1841Maria Sophie of Bavaria, queen of the Two Sicilies (d. 1925)
- 1841Prudente José de Morais Barros, President of Brazil (d. 1912)
- 1858Michael I. Pupin, Serbian-born telephone pioneer (d. 1935)
- 1861Frederic Remington, American painter (d. 1909)
- 1861Walter Rauschenbusch, Christian Theologian and Baptist Minister (d. 1918)
- 1862Edward Stratemeyer, American author (d. 1930)
- 1868Marcelo T. de Alvear, Argentine politician (d. 1942)
- 1876Hugh McCrae, Australian writer (d. 1958)
- 1877Razor Smith, English cricketer (d. 1946)
- 1880Damon Runyon, American writer (d. 1946)
- 1881Walther von Brauchitsch, German statesman (d. 1948)
- 1884Subramaniya Siva, Indian revolutionary figure (d. 1925)
- 1886Luis Alberni, Spanish actor (d. 1962)
- 1888Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1954)
- 1890Dr. Alan L. Hart, American transsexual, radiologist, and novelist (d. 1962)
- 1892Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian politician (d. 1934)
- 1892Hermann Glauert, British aerodynamicist (d. 1934)
- 1895Buster Keaton, American comedian (d. 1966)
- 1903Bona Arsenault, French Canadian politician, historian and genealogist (d. 1993)
- 1903Ernst Kaltenbrunner, German military officer and senior Nazi (d. 1946)
- 1903John Vincent Atanasoff, American computer pioneer (d. 1995)
- 1903Pierre Garbay, French army general and military governor of Paris (d. 1980)
- 1910Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1911Sir Michael Hordern, British actor (d. 1995)
- 1914Brendan Gill, American writer (d. 1997)
- 1914Jim Cairns, Australian politician (d. 2003)
- 1916George Sidney, American film director (d. 2002)
- 1916Jan Murray, American comedian (d. 2006)
- 1916Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 2009)
- 1917Violeta Parra, Chilean folklorist and visual artist (d. 1967)
- 1918Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
- 1922Malcolm Baldrige, 26th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1987)
- 1922Shin Kyuk-Ho, Japanese businessman
- 1923Charlton Heston, American actor (d. 2008)
- 1928Alvin Toffler, American writer
- 1928Torben Ulrich, Danish musician and filmmaker
- 1929Leroy Van Dyke, American singer
- 1929Scotty Beckett, American child actor (d. 1968)
- 1931Basil D'Oliveira CBE, South African born cricketer
- 1931Richard Rorty, American academic (d. 2007)
- 1931Sir Terence Conran, English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer
- 1932Milan Chvostek, Canadian television director
- 1934Dimosthenis Sofianos, Greek journalist
- 1934Sam Huff, American football player
- 1936Charlie Hurley, Irish footballer
- 1937Jackie Collins, British author
- 1937Jim Sillars, Scottish politician
- 1938Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1940Alberto Vilar, Cuban-American investor and philanthropist
- 1940Silvio Marzolini, Argentine footballer
- 1940Vic Hadfield, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1941Anne Rice, American writer
- 1941Karl Oppitzhauser, Austrian racing driver
- 1941Robert Wilson, American theatre director
- 1941Roy Blount, Jr., American writer
- 1942Bernice Johnson Reagon, American musician (Sweet Honey in the Rock)
- 1942Christopher Stone, American actor (d. 1995)
- 1942Johanna Sigurdardottir, Prime Minister of Iceland
- 1942Karl W. Richter, American aviator (d. 1967)
- 1943Dietmar Mürdter, German footballer
- 1943Florian Pittiş, Romanian artist (d. 2007)
- 1943H. Rap Brown, American civil rights activist
- 1943Jimy Williams, American baseball manager
- 1943Margaret Pemberton, English writer
- 1944Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (d. 2006)
- 1944Tony La Russa, American baseball manager
- 1945Clifton Davis, American actor
- 1946Bridget St John, English singer/songwriter and guitarist
- 1946Chuck Hagel, American politician
- 1946Michael Mullen, American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- 1946Susan Sarandon, American actress and activist
- 1947Ann Widdecombe, British politician
- 1947Jim Fielder, American bassist (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
- 1947Julien Clerc, French singer
- 1948Linda McMahon, CEO of WWE
- 1949Armand Assante, American actor
- 1949Marion Pruett, American spree killer (d. 1999)
- 1949Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director
- 1950Meg Bennett, American writer and actress
- 1951Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov, Kazakh poet
- 1953Tchéky Karyo, Turkish-French actor
- 1955Jorge Valdano, Argentine footballer
- 1956Christoph Waltz, Austrian actor
- 1957Alexander Tkachyov, Soviet gymnast
- 1957Bill Fagerbakke, American actor
- 1957Kyra Schon, American actress
- 1957Russell Simmons, American entrepreneur
- 1958Anneka Rice, British television presenter
- 1959Chris Lowe, British musician (Pet Shop Boys)
- 1959Tony Meo, English snooker player
- 1960Joe Boever, American baseball player
- 1961Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author
- 1961Philippe Russo, French singer
- 1962Carlos Carsolio, Mexican alpinist
- 1962Jon Secada, Cuban singer and songwriter
- 1963A. C. Green, American basketball player
- 1963Koji Ishikawa, Japanese children’s author
- 1965Micky Ward, American boxer
- 1965Olaf Backasch, German footballer
- 1965Skip Heller, American musician
- 1967Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin, Hong Kong actor and Cantopop singer
- 1967Liev Schreiber, American actor
- 1967Marcus Bentley, British voice actor
- 1968Richard Hancox, English footballer
- 1968Tim Wise, American writer and activist
- 1969Abraham Benrubi, American actor
- 1971Darren Middleton, Australian guitarist
- 1971Friderika Bayer, Hungarian singer
- 1972Kurt Thomas, American basketball player
- 1973Chris Parks, American wrestler
- 1974Paco León, Spanish actor
- 1975Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian football player
- 1975Daniella Deutscher, American actress
- 1976Alicia Silverstone, American actress
- 1976Mauro Camoranesi, Argentine-Italian footballer
- 1976Santiago, Brazilian footballer
- 1977Cabral Ibacka, Romanian actor and television presenter
- 1977Richard Parry, Canadian musician and composer (Arcade Fire)
- 1978Ko Soo, South Korean television and movie actor
- 1978Kyle Lohse, American baseball player
- 1978Phillip Glasser, American actor and producer
- 1979Adam Voges, Australian cricketer
- 1979Bjorn Phau, German tennis player
- 1979Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress
- 1979Stefan Booth, British actor
- 1980James Jones, American basketball player
- 1980Kristina Lenko, Canadian ice skater
- 1980Me'Lisa Barber, American athlete
- 1980Mellisa Hollingsworth, Canadian skeleton racer
- 1980Sarah Fisher, American IndyCar driver and team owner
- 1980Tim Peper, American actor
- 1980Tomáš Rosický, Czech footballer
- 1981Juka, Japanese singer
- 1981Justin Williams, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981Scott Hammond, American photographer
- 1982Jered Weaver, American baseball player
- 1982Tony Gwynn Jr., American baseball player
- 1983Chansi Stuckey, American football player
- 1983Dan Clarke, British racing driver
- 1983Kurt Suzuki, American baseball player
- 1983Marios Nicolaou, Greek-Cypriot footballer
- 1983Risa Kudo, Japanese gravure idol
- 1983Ueda Tatsuya, Japanese boy band singer (KAT-TUN)
- 1984Álvaro Parente, Portuguese racing driver
- 1984Lena Katina, Russian singer (t.A.T.u.)
- 1985Shontelle, Barbadian singer
- 1985Thorsten Wiedemann, German rugby player
- 1986Yuridia, Mexican singer
- 1987Rawez Lawan, Swedish footballer
- 1987Will Puddy, English footballer
- 1988Derrick Rose, American basketball player
- 1989Dakota Johnson, American actress
- 1989Lil Mama, American rapper
- 1989Stacey Solomon, English singer
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Who Died On October 4?
- 1052Vladimir of Novgorod (b. 1020)
- 1221William III Talvas, Count of Ponthieu (b. 1179)
- 1250Herman VI, Margrave of Baden (b. 1226)
- 1305Emperor Kameyama of Japan (b. 1249)
- 1582Teresa of Avila, Spanish saint (b. 1515)
- 1597Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1550)
- 1646Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English statesman (b. 1586)
- 1660Francesco Albani, Italian painter (b. 1578)
- 1661Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy (b. 1625)
- 1669Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Dutch painter (b. 1606)
- 1680Pierre-Paul Riquet, French engineer
- 1743John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish soldier (b. 1678)
- 1749Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (b. 1711)
- 1754Tanacharison, Catawba Indian chief
- 1785David Brearly, American statesman (b. 1703)
- 1821John Rennie, Scottish engineer (b. 1761)
- 1827Grigorios Zalykis, Greek diplomat and lexicographer (b. 1785)
- 1851Manuel de Godoy, Spanish statesman (b. 1767)
- 1852James Whitcomb, American politician (b. 1795)
- 1859Karl Baedeker, German publisher (b. 1801)
- 1864Joseph Montferrand, French Canadian logger and strong man (b. 1802)
- 1867Francis Xavier Seelos German-American Roman Catholic priest (b. 1819)
- 1871Sarel Cilliers Voortrekker leader and preacher (b. 1801)
- 1890Catherine Booth, the Mother of The Salvation Army (b. 1829)
- 1903Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher (b. 1880)
- 1904Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist (b. 1847)
- 1904Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor (b. 1834)
- 1910Sergey Muromtsev, Russian lawyer and politician, and President of the First Imperial Duma (b. 1850)
- 1935Jean Béraud, French painter (b. 1849)
- 1935Marie Gutheil-Schoder, German soprano (b. 1874)
- 1943Irena Iłłakowicz, Polish intelligence agent (b. 1906)
- 1944Al Smith, American politician (b. 1873)
- 1946Barney Oldfield, American automobile pioneer (b. 1878)
- 1947Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1858)
- 1951Henrietta Lacks, HeLa cells derived from her cervical cancer (b. 1920)
- 1951Willie Moretti, American gangster (b. 1894)
- 1955Alexander Papagos, Greek general and political leader (b. 1883)
- 1958Ida Wüst, German actress, (b. 1884)
- 1961Metropolitan Benjamin (Fedchenkov), Orthodox missionary and writer, Exarch of Russian Church in North America (b. 1880)
- 1969Natalino Otto, Italian singer (b. 1912)
- 1970Janis Joplin, American singer (b. 1943)
- 1974Anne Sexton, American poet (b. 1928)
- 1975Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress (b. 1903)
- 1977José Ber Gelbard, Argentine activist and politician (b. 1917).
- 1981Freddie Lindstrom, Major League Baseball Hall of famer (b. 1905)
- 1982Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist (b. 1932)
- 1982Stefanos Stefanopoulos, Greek politician, 165th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1898)
- 1982The Amazing Criswell, American psychic and actor (b. 1907)
- 1989Graham Chapman, British comedian (b. 1941)
- 1989Secretariat, American race horse (b. 1970)
- 1990Alyn Ainsworth, British bandleader (b. 1924)
- 1990Avis Bunnage, English actress (b. 1923)
- 1991J. Frank Wilson, American singer (J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers) (b. 1941)
- 1992Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver and 1967 Formula One world champion (b. 1936)
- 1994Danny Gatton, American guitar virtuoso (b. 1945)
- 1996Larry Gene Bell, American child murderer (executed by electric chair) (b. 1949)
- 1997Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese game developer (b. 1941)
- 1999Art Farmer, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1928)
- 1999Bernard Buffet, French painter (b. 1928)
- 1999Erik Brødreskift (aka Grim), Norwegian black metal musician (b. 1969)
- 2000Michael Smith, biochemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1932)
- 2000Yu Kuo-hwa, former Premier of Taiwan (b. 1914)
- 2001Ahron Soloveichik, Orthodox Jewish rabbi (b. 1917)
- 2001Blaise Alexander, American race car driver (b. 1976)
- 2002Alphonse Chapanis, founder of ergonomics (b. 1917)
- 2002André Delvaux, Belgian film director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2003Sid McMath, American politician (b. 1912)
- 2004Gordon Cooper, American astronaut (b. 1927)
- 2004Rio Diaz, Filipino actress & TV host (b. 1959)
- 2005Stanley K. Hathaway, American politician (b. 1924)
- 2006Tom Bell, English actor (b. 1933)
- 2007Qassem Al-Nasser, Jordanian General (b. 1925)
- 2009Günther Rall, German fighter ace (b. 1918)
- 2009Mercedes Sosa, Argentine singer (b. 1935)
- 2010Sir Norman Wisdom, English comedian, singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1915)
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