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-Francois de Galaup, comte de Laperouse 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 Chretien 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 - Francois-Frederic 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 - Marlene 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 Toure, 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 - Luis 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 Faure, 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 - Rene 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