October 4
Events
Pre-1600
- AD 23 - Rebels sack the Chinese capital Chang'an during a peasant rebellion.
- 1209 - Otto IV is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.
- 1302 - The Byzantine–Venetian War comes to an end.
- 1363 - Battle of Lake Poyang: In one of the largest naval battles in history, Zhu Yuanzhang's rebels defeat rival Chen Youliang.
- 1511 - Formation of the Holy League of Aragon, the Papal States and Venice against France.
- 1535 - The Coverdale Bible is printed, with translations into English by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.
- 1582 - The Gregorian Calendar is introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.
- 1597 - Governor Gonzalo Méndez de Canço begins to suppress a native uprising against his rule in what is now the US state of Georgia.
1601–1900
- 1602 - Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War: A fleet of Spanish galleys are defeated by English and Dutch galleons in the English Channel.
- 1636 - Thirty Years' War: The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.
- 1693 - Nine Years' War: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under William Howe.
- 1795 - Napoleon first rises to prominence by suppressing counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the National Convention.
- 1824 - Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.
- 1830 - The Belgian Revolution takes legal form when the provisional government secedes from the Netherlands.
- 1853 - The Crimean War begins when the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Russian Empire.
- 1862 - American Civil War: The two-day Second Battle of Corinth ends in a Union victory, with General William Rosecrans protecting the critical rail junction of Corinth, Mississippi from Confederate forces under General Earl Van Dorn.
- 1876 - The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas opens as the first public college in Texas.
- 1883 - First run of the Orient Express.
- 1883 - First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.
- 1895 - Horace Rawlins wins the first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship.
1901–present
- 1917 - World War I: The Battle of Broodseinde is fought between the British and German armies in Flanders.
- 1918 - World War I: An explosion kills more than 100 people and destroys a Shell Loading Plant in New Jersey.
- 1920 - The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, a Finnish non-governmental organization, is founded on the initiative of Sophie Mannerheim.
- 1925 - Great Syrian Revolt: Rebels led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji capture Hama from the French Mandate of Syria.
- 1925 - S2, a Finnish Sokol class torpedo boat, sinks during a fierce storm near the coast of Pori in the Gulf of Bothnia, taking with it the whole crew of 53.
- 1927 - Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.
- 1936 - The Metropolitan Police and various anti-fascist organizations violently clash in the Battle of Cable Street.
- 1941 - Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
- 1957 - Sputnik 1 becomes the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
- 1958 - The current constitution of France is adopted.
- 1960 - Eastern Airlines flight 375 crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 people of the 72 aboard.
- 1963 - Hurricane Flora kills 6,000 in Cuba and Haiti.
- 1965 - Pope Paul VI begins the first papal visit to the Americas.
- 1966 - Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.
- 1967 - Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son.
- 1983 - Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
- 1985 - The Free Software Foundation is founded.
- 1991 - The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is opened for signature.
- 1992 - The Rome General Peace Accords end a 16-year civil war in Mozambique.
- 1992 - El Al Flight 1862 crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.
- 1993 - Battle of Mogadishu occurs killing 18 U.S. Special Forces, two UN Peacekeepers and at least 600 Somalian militia men and civilians.
- 1993 - Tanks bombard the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Yeltsin rally outside.
- 1997 - The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs in North Carolina.
- 2001 - Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes after being struck by an errant Ukrainian missile. Seventy-eight people are killed.
- 2003 - The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Israel kills twenty-one Israelis, both Jews and Arabs.
- 2004 - SpaceShipOne wins the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
- 2006 - WikiLeaks is launched.
- 2010 - The Ajka plant accident in Hungary releases a million cubic metres of liquid alumina sludge, killing nine, injuring 122, and severely contaminating two major rivers.
- 2017 - Joint Nigerien-American Special Forces are ambushed by Islamic State militants outside the village of Tongo Tongo.
Births
Pre-1600
- 1160 - Alys, Countess of the Vexin, daughter of Louis VII of France
- 1274 - Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria
- 1276 - Margaret of Brabant
- 1289 - Louis X of France
- 1331 - James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, Irish politician, Lord Justice of Ireland
- 1379 - Henry III of Castile
- 1507 - Francis Bigod, English noble
- 1515 - Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter
- 1522 - Gabriele Paleotti, Catholic cardinal
- 1524 - Francisco Vallés, Spanish physician
- 1532 - Francisco de Toledo, Catholic cardinal
- 1542 - Robert Bellarmine, Italian cardinal and saint
- 1550 - Charles IX of Sweden
- 1562 - Christen Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer and author
- 1570 - Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal and philosopher
- 1579 - Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal
- 1585 - Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress
1601–1900
- 1625 - Jacqueline Pascal, French nun and composer
- 1626 - Richard Cromwell, English academic and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain
- 1633 - Bernardino Ramazzini, Italian physician
- 1657 - Francesco Solimena, Italian painter and illustrator
- 1694 - Lord George Murray, Scottish Jacobite General
- 1720 - Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian sculptor and illustrator
- 1723 - Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German entomologist and author
- 1759 - Louis François Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician and academic
- 1768 - Francisco José de Caldas, Colombian naturalist, executed by royalists in the war of independence
- 1787 - François Guizot, French historian and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of France
- 1793 - Charles Pearson, English lawyer and politician
- 1807 - Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Canada East
- 1814 - Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator
- 1822 - Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States
- 1835 - Jenny Twitchell Kempton, American opera singer and educator
- 1836 - Juliette Adam, French author
- 1837 - Auguste-Réal Angers, Canadian judge and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
- 1841 - Prudente de Morais, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Brazil
- 1841 - Maria Sophie of Bavaria
- 1843 - Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, Palestinian nun and Catholic Saint
- 1858 - Léon Serpollet, French businessman
- 1861 - Walter Rauschenbusch, American pastor and theologian
- 1861 - Frederic Remington, American painter, sculptor, and illustrator
- 1862 - Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, who is credited with promoting his posthumous fame.
- 1862 - Edward Stratemeyer, American author and publisher
- 1868 - Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 20th President of Argentina
- 1874 - John Ellis, English executioner
- 1876 - Florence Eliza Allen, American mathematician and suffrage activist
- 1877 - Razor Smith, English cricketer
- 1879 - Robert Edwards, American artist, musician, and writer
- 1880 - Damon Runyon, American newspaperman and short story writer.
- 1881 - Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal
- 1884 - Ramchandra Shukla, Indian historian and author
- 1888 - Lucy Tayiah Eads, American tribal chief
- 1888 - Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater
- 1890 - Alan L. Hart, American physician and author
- 1890 - Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish writer and journalist
- 1892 - Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian soldier and politician, 14th Federal Chancellor of Austria
- 1892 - Hermann Glauert, English aerodynamicist and author
- 1892 - Robert Lawson, American author and illustrator
- 1895 - Buster Keaton, American film actor, director, and producer
- 1895 - Richard Sorge, German journalist and spy
- 1896 - Dorothy Lawrence, English reporter, who secretly posed as a man to become a soldier during World War I
- 1900 - August Mälk, Estonian author and playwright
1901–present
- 1903 - Bona Arsenault, Canadian genealogist, historian, and politician
- 1903 - John Vincent Atanasoff, American physicist and academic, invented the Atanasoff-Berry computer
- 1903 - Pierre Garbay, French general
- 1903 - Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Austrian-German lawyer and general, convicted Nuremberg war criminal
- 1906 - Mary Celine Fasenmyer, American mathematician
- 1907 - Alain Daniélou, French-Swiss historian and academic
- 1910 - Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach
- 1910 - Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Turkish poet and author
- 1911 - Mary Two-Axe Earley, Canadian indigenous women's rights activist
- 1913 - Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti
- 1914 - Jim Cairns, Australian economist and politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
- 1914 - Brendan Gill, American journalist and essayist
- 1916 - Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1916 - Jan Murray, American comedian, actor, and game show host
- 1916 - George Sidney, American director and producer
- 1916 - Ken Wood, inventor of the Kenwood Chef food mixer
- 1917 - Violeta Parra, Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1918 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1921 - Stella Pevsner, American children's author
- 1922 - Malcolm Baldrige Jr., American businessman and politician, 26th United States Secretary of Commerce
- 1922 - Shin Kyuk-ho, South Korean-Japanese businessman, founded Lotte Group
- 1922 - Don Lenhardt, American baseball player and coach
- 1923 - Charlton Heston, American actor, director and gun rights activist
- 1924 - Donald J. Sobol, American soldier and author
- 1925 - Roger Wood, Belgian-American journalist
- 1926 - Raymond Watson, American businessman
- 1927 - Wolf Kahn, American painter and academic
- 1928 - Alvin Toffler, German-American journalist and author
- 1928 - Torben Ulrich, Danish-American tennis player
- 1929 - Scotty Beckett, American actor and singer
- 1929 - John E. Mack, American psychiatrist and author
- 1929 - Leroy Van Dyke, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1931 - Terence Conran, English designer and businessman
- 1931 - Basil D'Oliveira, South African-English cricketer and footballer
- 1931 - Richard Rorty, American philosopher and author
- 1932 - Felicia Farr, American actress and model
- 1933 - German Moreno, Filipino television host and actor
- 1933 - Ann Thwaite, English author
- 1934 - Sam Huff, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1935 - Jimmy Orr, American football player
- 1936 - Charlie Hurley, Irish footballer and manager
- 1936 - Giles Radice, Baron Radice, English politician
- 1937 - Jackie Collins, English-American author and actress
- 1937 - David Crocker, American philosopher and academic
- 1937 - Gail Gilmore, Canadian-American actress and dancer
- 1937 - Lloyd Green, American steel guitar player
- 1937 - Jim Sillars, Scottish lawyer and politician
- 1938 - Norman D. Wilson, American actor
- 1938 - Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1939 - Ivan Mauger, New Zealand speedway rider
- 1940 - Vic Hadfield, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1940 - Silvio Marzolini, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1940 - Steve Swallow, American bass player and composer
- 1940 - Alberto Vilar, American businessman and philanthropist
- 1941 - Roy Blount Jr., American humorist and journalist
- 1941 - Karen Cushman, American author
- 1941 - Karl Oppitzhauser, Austrian race car driver
- 1941 - Anne Rice, American author
- 1941 - Frank Stagg, died on hunger strike
- 1941 - Robert Wilson, American director and playwright
- 1942 - Bernice Johnson Reagon, American singer-songwriter
- 1942 - Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot
- 1942 - Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Icelandic politician, 24th Prime Minister of Iceland
- 1942 - Christopher Stone, American actor and screenwriter
- 1943 - H. Rap Brown, American activist
- 1943 - Owen Davidson, Australian tennis player
- 1943 - Karl-Gustav Kaisla, Finnish ice hockey player and referee
- 1943 - Dietmar Mürdter, German footballer
- 1943 - Jimy Williams, American baseball player and manager
- 1944 - Colin Bundy, South African-English historian and academic
- 1944 - Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress
- 1944 - Tony La Russa, American baseball player and manager
- 1944 - John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith, Scottish educator and politician
- 1945 - Clifton Davis, American singer-songwriter, actor, and minister
- 1946 - Larry Clapp, American lawyer and politician
- 1946 - Chuck Hagel, American sergeant and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Defense
- 1946 - Michael Mullen, American admiral
- 1946 - Susan Sarandon, American actress and activist
- 1947 - Julien Clerc, French singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1947 - Jim Fielder, American bass player
- 1947 - Ann Widdecombe, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
- 1948 - Iain Hewitson, New Zealand-Australian chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality
- 1948 - Linda McMahon, American businesswoman and politician
- 1948 - Duke Robillard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1949 - Armand Assante, American actor and producer
- 1949 - Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1950 - Alan Rosenberg, American actor
- 1951 - Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov, Kazakh poet and author
- 1951 - Truck Robinson, American basketball player and coach
- 1952 - Anita DeFrantz, American rower and sports administrator
- 1952 - Jody Stephens, American rock drummer
- 1952 - Zinha Vaz, Bissau-Guinean women's rights activist and politician
- 1953 - Gil Moore, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
- 1953 - Andreas Vollenweider, Swiss harp player
- 1955 - John Rutherford, Scottish rugby player
- 1955 - Jorge Valdano, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
- 1956 - Lesley Glaister, English author and playwright
- 1956 - Charlie Leibrandt, American baseball player
- 1956 - Sherri Turner, American golfer
- 1956 - Christoph Waltz, Austrian-German actor
- 1957 - Bill Fagerbakke, American actor
- 1957 - Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter
- 1957 - Russell Simmons, American businessman, founded Def Jam Recordings and Phat Farm
- 1958 - Barbara Kooyman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1958 - Wendy Makkena, American actress
- 1958 - Anneka Rice, Welsh radio and television host
- 1959 - Chris Lowe, English singer and keyboard player
- 1959 - Tony Meo, English snooker player
- 1959 - Hitonari Tsuji, Japanese author, composer, and director
- 1960 - Joe Boever, American baseball player
- 1960 - Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer
- 1961 - Philippe Russo, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1961 - Jon Secada, Cuban-American singer-songwriter
- 1961 - Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author and illustrator, created Yu-Gi-Oh!
- 1962 - Carlos Carsolio, Mexican mountaineer
- 1963 - A. C. Green, American basketball player
- 1963 - Koji Ishikawa, Japanese author and illustrator
- 1964 - Francis Magalona, Filipino rapper, producer, and actor
- 1964 - Yvonne Murray, Scottish runner
- 1965 - Olaf Backasch, German footballer
- 1965 - Skip Heller, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1965 - Steve Olin, American baseball player
- 1965 - Micky Ward, American boxer
- 1967 - Vicky Bullett, American basketball player and coach
- 1967 - Nick Green, Australian rower
- 1967 - Liev Schreiber, American actor and director
- 1968 - Richard Hancox, English footballer and manager
- 1968 - Tim Wise, American activist and author
- 1969 - Abraham Benrubi, American actor
- 1971 - Darren Middleton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1973 - M. Ward, American singer-songwriter
- 1974 - Paco León, Spanish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1975 - Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian footballer and manager
- 1976 - Mauro Camoranesi, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager
- 1976 - Alicia Silverstone, American actress, producer, and author
- 1976 - Ueli Steck, Swiss mountaineer and rock climber
- 1977 - Richard Reed Parry, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1978 - Dana Davis, American actress and author
- 1978 - Kyle Lohse, American baseball player
- 1979 - Caitríona Balfe, Irish actress
- 1979 - Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress
- 1979 - Adam Voges, Australian cricketer
- 1980 - Sarah Fisher, American race car driver
- 1980 - James Jones, American basketball player
- 1980 - Tomáš Rosický, Czech footballer
- 1981 - Justin Williams, Canadian-American ice hockey player
- 1982 - Tony Gwynn Jr., American baseball player
- 1982 - Ilhan Omar, American politician
- 1982 - Jered Weaver, American baseball player
- 1983 - Vicky Krieps, Luxembourgish actress
- 1983 - Kurt Suzuki, American baseball player
- 1984 - Lena Katina, Russian singer-songwriter
- 1984 - Petri Kontiola, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1984 - Karolina Tymińska, Polish heptathlete
- 1985 - Shontelle, Barbadian singer-songwriter
- 1985 - Thorsten Wiedemann, German rugby player
- 1987 - Marina Weisband, German politician
- 1988 - Melissa Benoist, American actress and singer
- 1988 - Lonnie Chisenhall, American baseball player
- 1988 - Caner Erkin, Turkish footballer
- 1988 - Evgeni Krasnopolski, Israeli figure skater
- 1988 - Derrick Rose, American basketball player
- 1989 - Dakota Johnson, American actress
- 1990 - Signy Aarna, Estonian footballer
- 1990 - Saki, Japanese guitarist and songwriter
- 1990 - Sergey Shubenkov, Russian hurdler
- 1991 - Leigh-Anne Pinnock, English singer and songwriter
- 1993 - Mitchell Swepson, Australian cricketer
- 1994 - Mike Williams, American football player
- 1995 - Jeonghan, South Korean singer
- 1995 - Kenny Clark, American football player
- 1995 - Mikolas Josef, Czech singer and songwriter
- 1996 - Ella Balinska, English actress
- 1997 - Rishabh Pant, Indian cricketer
- 1997 - Yuju, South Korean singer