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 
 Saint Charles Borromeo Feast Day
 Flag Day (Panama)
 National Unity and Armed Forces Day (Italy)
 Unity Day (Russia)

November 04