November 4



Events

Up to 1900 
 1493 - Christopher Columbus lands on Guadeloupe.
 1501 - Catherine of Aragon meets Arthur Tudor, the brother of Henry VIII of England.
 1576 - Eighty Years' War: Spain captures Antwerp, Flanders.
 1677 – Future queen Mary II of England marries future king William III of England.
 1783 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 36 is performed for the first time in Linz, Austria.
 1786 - Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse lands on an island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which he names after Jacques Necker.
 1798 - Beginning of the Russo-Ottoman Siege of Corfu.
 1828 - Andrew Jackson is elected President of the United States.
 1847 - Scottish doctor James Young Simpson discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.
 1852 - Count Camillo Benso di Cavour becomes Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which later expands to become Italy.
 1856 - James Buchanan is elected President of the United States.
 1861 - The University of Washington is founded.
 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Johnson - Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars of material.
 1875 - Paddle steamer Pacific collides with Orpheus sailing boat off Cape Flattery, Washington, killing 273 people.
 1884 - Grover Cleveland is elected to his first term as President of the United States.
 1890 - London's deep-level railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.

1901  2000 
 1918 – World War I: Austria-Hungary surrenders to Italy.
 1921 – Prime Minister of Japan Hara Takashi is murdered.
 1921 - Italy's unknown soldier is buried in the Fatherland Altar in Rome.
 1922 – A team of archaeologists led by Howard Carter finds the tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt.
 1924 - Calvin Coolidge is elected to continue as President of the United States, after he had served out Warren G. Harding's term.
 1924 - Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first woman elected governor in a US State.
 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein - Disobeying a direct order from Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel leads his forces to a five-month retreat.
 1950 - European Convention on Human Rights is adopted.
 1952 - The United States Government creates the National Security Agency.
 1952 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President of the United States.
 1955 – The rebuilt Vienna State Opera is re-opened.
 1956 – Soviet troops crush the Hungarian Revolution. Thousands are killed.
 1960 - In Tanzania, Jane Goodall observes chimpanzees making tools, the first-ever such observation in non-humans.
 1966 - The Arno River in Florence, Italy floods at record levels, making thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books.
 1970 - Genie, aged 13, is found in Los Angeles, having been locked in her bedroom for most of her life until that point.
 1977 - The UN ends its weapons embargo on Apartheid-era South Africa.
 1979 - The Iran hostage crisis begins - A group of Iranians, mostly students, invades United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, and takes 90 people hostage, including 53 Americans.
 1980 – Ronald Reagan is elected President of the United States, defeating Jimmy Carter.
 1984 - French Pay-TV channel Canal+ starts transmission.
 1991 - Imelda Marcos, former First Lady of the Philippines, is given a Presidential pardon by Corazon Aquino.
 1993 - A China Airlines Boeing 747 overruns Runway 13 at Hong Kong's Kai Tak International Airport while landing  during a typhoon, injuring 22 people.
 1993 - Jean Chrétien becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
 1994 - The first conference focusing exclusively on the subject of the commercial potential of the World Wide Web is held in San Francisco, California.
 1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is murdered, being shot dead by Yigal Amir.
 1999 - Ilir Meta becomes Prime Minister of Albania.

From 2001 
 2001 - Northern Ireland: The Police Service of Northern Ireland is created, replacing the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
 2005 – Nintendo's Game Boy Micro is released in Europe.
 2006 - A widespread power failure affects parts of Western Europe.
 2008 – Barack Obama wins the vote to become President of the United States, over Senator John McCain. Obama becomes the US' first African American President.
 2010 - Aero Caribbean Flight 883 crashes in central Cuba, killing all 68 people on board.
 2014 - US Mid-term elections are held, with the Republican Party reclaiming the majority it lost in the Senate in 2006.
 2015 - Justin Trudeau becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
 2015 - A cargo plane crashes near Juba International Airport in South Sudan, killing 37 people.
 2015 - A building collapses in Lahore, Pakistan, killing 45 people.
 2016 - The Paris climate change agreement enters into force.
 2018 - New Caledonia holds an independence referendum, where a smaller-than expected majority (56%) votes to remain an overseas territory of France.
 2019 - Sir Lindsay Hoyle is chosen to succeed John Bercow as Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1448 - King Alphonso II of Naples (d. 1495)
 1470 – Edward V, King of England (d. 1483?)
 1575 – Guido Reni, Italian painter (d. 1642)
 1592 - Gerard van Honthorst, Dutch painter (d. 1656)
 1618 - Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor (d. 1707)
 1631 – Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, daughter of Charles I of England, and mother of William III (d. 1660)
 1640 - Carlo Mannelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1697)
 1661 - Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1742)
 1732 - Thomas Johnson, Governor of Maryland (d. 1819)
 1765 - Pierre-Simon Girard, French mathematician (d. 1836)
 1766 - John Adams, English mutineer (d. 1829)
 1772 - François-Frédéric Lemot, French sculptor (d. 1827)
 1782 - John Branch, Governor of North Carolina and last territorial Governor of Florida (d. 1863)
 1783 - Gaspard Gourgaud, French historian (d. 1852)
 1787 - Edmund Kean, English actor (d. 1833)
 1836 - Charles B. Andrews, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1902)
 1840 - William Giblin, Australian politician, 13th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1887)
 1845 - Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary (d. 1883)
 1853 - Anna Baverova, Czech physician (d. 1924)
 1861 - Dimitrios Ioannou, Greek general (d. 1926)
 1868 - La Belle Otero, Spanish actress, singer and dancer (d. 1965)
 1872 - Barbu Stirbey, Romanian politician (d. 1946)
 1873 - G. E. Moore, English philosopher (d. 1958)
 1874 - Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (d. 1920)
 1874 - Charles Despiau, French sculptor (d. 1946)
 1879 – Will Rogers, American humorist (d. 1935)
 1883 - Nikolaos Plastiras, Greek general (d. 1953)
 1884 - Harry Ferguson, British aviator and inventor (d. 1960)
 1884 - George Underwood, American athlete (d. 1943)
 1887 - Alfred Lee Loomis, American physicist, philanthropist and scientific research patron (d. 1975)
 1890 - Klabund, German writer (d. 1928)
 1896 – Carlos P. Garcia, President of the Philippines (d. 1971)
 1897 - C. B. van Niel, Dutch microbiologist (d. 1985)
 1899 - Nicolas Frantz, Luxembourg cyclist (d. 1985)
 1900 - Lucretiu Patrascanu, Romanian Communist activist and sociologist (d. 1954)

1901  1950 
 1901 - Bangja, Crown Princess Euimin of Korea (d. 1989)
 1902 - Reg Dean, British supercentenarian (d. 2013)
 1904 - Tadeusz Zylinski, Polish technician and textilist (d. 1967)
 1906 - Sterling North, American writer (d. 1974)
 1907 - Draga Matkovic, German concert pianist
 1908 – Joseph Rotblat, Polish physicist (d. 2005)
 1908 - Stanley Cortez, American cinematographer (d. 1997)
 1909 – Bert Patenaude, American footballer (d. 1974)
 1909 - Skeeter Webb, American baseball player (d. 1986)
 1911 – Dixie Lee, American actress, dancer and singer (d. 1952)
 1912 - Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer (d. 1978)
 1913 - Gig Young, American actor (d. 1978)
 1916 – Walter Cronkite, American news reporter (d. 2009)
 1916 – Ruth Handler, American businesswoman, inventor of the Barbie doll (d. 2002)
 1918 – Art Carney, American actor (d. 2003)
 1919 - Oscar Holderer, German rocket scientist (d. 2015)
 1920 - Val Heim, American baseball player (d. 2019)
 1923 - Freddy Heineken, Dutch businessman (d. 2002)
 1923 - Gunnar Huseby, Icelandic athlete (d. 1995)
 1923 - Howie Meeker, Canadian ice hockey player
 1925 - Ritwik Ghatab, Bangladeshi-Indian filmmaker and scriptwriter (d. 1976)
 1925 - Doris Roberts, American actress (d. 2016)
 1928 - Larry Bunker, American jazz musician (d. 2005)
 1929 - Shakuntala Devi, Indian child prodigy and mental calculator (d. 2013)
 1929 - Leopold Gratz, Austrian politician (d. 2006)
 1929 - Athanasios of Albania, Greek-Albanian archbishop
 1930 - Dick Groat, American baseball and basketball player
 1930 - Dick MacPherson, American football coach (d. 2017)
 1931 - Bernard Francis Law, American cardinal and former Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2017)
 1932 – Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (d. 2004)
 1933 - Charles K. Kao, Chinese physicist (d. 2018)
 1933 - C. Odumegwu Ojukwu, Nigerian military leader and politician (d. 2011)
 1935 - Elgar Howarth, English conductor, composer and trumpeter
 1936 - Didier Ratsiraka, former President of Madagascar (d. 2021)
 1936 - C. K. Williams, American poet (d. 2015)
 1937 - Loretta Swit, American actress
 1938 - Jorge Manicera, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2012)
 1939 - Michael Meacher, British politician (d. 2015)
 1940 - Marlène Jobert, French actress
 1943 - Marilyn Ware, American diplomat and businesswoman (d. 2017)
 1944 - Scherrie Payne, American singer
 1944 - Linda Gary, American voice actress (d. 1995)
 1946 – Laura Bush, former First Lady of the United States
 1948 – Amadou Toumani Touré, President of Mali
 1948 - Alexis Hunter, New Zealand photographer and painter (d. 2014)

1951  1975 
 1951 – Traian Basescu, President of Romania
 1952 - Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, Coptic Church leader
 1953 - Tina Theune, German footballer
 1953 - Carlos Gutierrez, American politician
 1953 - Derek Johnstone, Scottish footballer
 1953 - Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian racing driver
 1953 - Peter Lord, English animator, film producer and director
 1954 - Aleksandr Aksinin, Russian athlete
 1954 - Chris Difford, rock music singer
 1955 – Matti Vanhanen, former Prime Minister of Finland
 1956 - James Honeyman-Scott, English musician (d. 1982)
 1956 - Igor Talkov, Russian singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
 1957 – Tony Abbott, 28th Prime Minister of Australia
 1958 - Lee Jasper, English activist and politician
 1960 - Kathy Griffin, American comedienne
 1961 – Ralph Macchio, American actor
 1961 – Nigel Worthington, Northern Irish footballer
 1962 - Arvo Volmer, Estonian conductor
 1963 – Lena Zavaroni, Scottish singer (d. 1999)
 1963 – Horacio Elizondo, Argentine  football referee
 1963 - Rosario Flores, Spanish singer and actress
 1963 - Michel Therrien, Canadian ice hockey player
 1964 - Yuko Mizutani, Japanese voice actress and singer (d. 2016)
 1965 - Malandra Burrows, English actress and singer
 1965 - Wayne Static, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
 1969 – Sean Combs (P-Diddy), American rapper and producer
 1969 – Matthew McConaughey, American actor
 1969 - Samantha Smith, American actress
 1970 - Malena Ernman, Swedish singer
 1970 - Tony Sly, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
 1971 - Perry Moore, American writer and movie producer (d. 2011)
 1972 – Luís Figo, Portuguese footballer
 1972 - Myles Pollard, Australian actor
 1974 - Louise Redknapp, English television personality
 1975 - Heather Tom, American actress

From 1976 
 1976 - Daniel Bahr, German politician
 1976 – Mario Melchiot, Dutch footballer
 1976 - Alexander Popp, German tennis player
 1979 - Trishelle Cannatella, American model and actress
 1980 - Jerry Collins, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2015)
 1981 - Guy Martin, English motorcycle racer
 1982 - Kamila Skolimowska, Polish hammer thrower (d. 2009)
 1983 - Anton Buslov, Russian astrophysicist and blogger (d. 2014)
 1984 - Dustin Brown, American ice hockey player
 1985 – Marcell Jansen, German footballer
 1986 - Alexz Johnson, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer and actress
 1986 - Szymon Pawlowski, Polish footballer
 1986 - Adrian Zaugg, South African racing driver
 1987 - T.O.P, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
 1989 - Enner Valencia, Ecuadorean footballer
 1991 - Lesley Kerkhove, Dutch tennis player
 1998 - Darcy Rose Byrnes, American actress and singer

Deaths

Up to 1950 
 1411 - Khalil Sultan, Timurid ruler (b. 1384)
 1652 - Jean-Claude de la Faille, Flemish mathematician (b. 1597)
 1669 - Johannes Cocceius, Dutch theologian (b. 1603)
 1698 - Rasmus Bartholin, Danish physician and mathematician (b. 1625)
 1801 - William Shippen, American physician and Continental Congressman (b. 1712)
 1847 - Thieu Tri, Emperor of Vietnam (b. 1807)
 1847 – Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (b. 1809)
 1893 - Pierre Tirard, Prime Minister of France (b. 1827)
 1906 - John H. Ketcham, American general and politician (b. 1832)
 1918 – Wilfred Owen, English poet (b. 1893)
 1921 – Hara Takashi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1865)
 1924 - Gabriel Fauré, French composer (b. 1845)
 1931 - Luigi Galleani, Italian activist (b. 1861)
 1932 - Belle Bennett, American actress (b. 1891)
 1950 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (b. 1887)

1951  2000 
 1951 - Ernesto Ambrosini, Italian athlete (b. 1894)
 1955 – Cy Young, American baseball player (b. 1867)
 1968 - Michel Kikoine, Belarusian painter (b. 1892)
 1969 - Carlos Marighella, Brazilian revolutionary (b. 1911)
 1969 - Frank G. Clement, Governor of Tennessee (b. 1920)
 1969 - Ernest W. Gibson, Governor of Vermont (b. 1901)
 1974 – Bert Patenaude, American footballer (b. 1909)
 1982 - Jacques Tati, French actor and director (b. 1907)
 1986 - Kurt Hirsch, German mathematician (b. 1906)
 1988 - Kleanthis Vikelidis, Greek footballer (b. 1916)
 1990 - David Stirling, British founder of the SAS (b. 1915)
 1992 - George Klein, Canadian inventor (b. 1904)
 1994 – Sam Francis, American painter (b. 1923)
 1995 – Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher (b. 1925)
 1995 – Yitzhak Rabin, 5th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1922)
 1997 - Richard Hooker, American writer (b. 1924)
 1998 - Marion Donovan, American architect and inventor (b. 1917)

From 2001 
 2008 – Michael Crichton, American writer (b. 1942)
 2009 - Hubertus Brandenburg, German-born Swedish Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1923)
 2010 – Eugenie Blanchard, French-Caribbean supercentenarian (b. 1896)
 2010 - Sparky Anderson, American baseball manager (b. 1934)
 2011 - Alfonso Cano, Colombian FARC leader (b. 1948)
 2011 - Andy Rooney, American journalist (b. 1919)
 2011 - Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr., American physicist (b. 1915)
 2012 - Ted Curson, American trumpeter (b. 1935)
 2013 - Hans von Borsody, Austrian-German actor (b. 1929)
 2014 - Jeremy Dale, American comic book artist (b. 1979)
 2014 - Enrique Olivera, Argentine politician (b. 1940)
 2014 - Richard Schaal, American actor (b. 1928)
 2014 - Eddie Stuart, South African footballer (b. 1931)
 2015 - René Girard, French-American historian, literary critic and philosopher of social science (b. 1923)
 2015 - Melissa Mathison, American screenwriter (b. 1950)
 2015 - Piotr Domaradzki, Polish-American journalist (b. 1946)
 2015 - Ole Knapp, Norwegian politician (b. 1931)
 2016 - Jean-Jacques Perrey, French electronic music producer (b. 1929)
 2016 - Mansour Pourheidari, Iranian footballer (b. 1946)
 2017 - Michael Augustine, Indian Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1933)
 2017 - Anna Diggs Taylor, American judge (b. 1932)
 2017 - Dudley Simpson, Australian composer and conductor (b. 1922)
 2017 - Tamara Natalie Madden, Jamaican-American artist (b. 1975)
 2018 - Karl-Heinz Adler, German artist (b. 1927)
 2018 - Manohar Prahlad Awati, Indian vice-admiral (b. 1927)
 2018 - Donna Axum, American model (b. 1942)
 2018 - Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, Italian architect (b. 1934)
 2018 - Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, American Zen Buddhist monk (b. 1939)
 2018 - Jeremy Heywood, British economist and civil servant (b. 1961)
 2018 - Harris Hines, American judge (b. 1943)
 2018 - Vince Manuwai, American football player (b. 1980)
 2018 - Grant R. Osborne, American theologian (b. 1942)
 2018 - Wolfgang Zuckermann, German-American harpsichord maker and activist (b. 1922)
 2019 - Gay Byrne, Irish broadcaster (b. 1934)
 2019 - Jacques Dupont, French racing cyclist (b. 1928)
 2019 - Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1952)
 2019 - Virginia Leith, American actress (b. 1925)

Observances 
 Flag Day (Panama)
 National Unity and Armed Forces Day (Italy)
 Unity Day (Russia)

November 04