April 4

## Events
### Up to 1900 
*1147 &ndash; First historic record of Moscow.
*1581 &ndash; Francis Drake is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I of England.
*1660 &ndash; Declaration of Breda by Charles II of England.
*1721 &ndash; Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
*1789 &ndash; The HMAV Bounty leaves Tahiti.
*1812 &ndash; US President James Madison creates a 90–day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.
*1814 &ndash; Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates as Emperor of France.
*1818 &ndash; United States Congress adopts a 13–stripe and 20–star national flag for the United States.
*1841 &ndash; William Henry Harrison dies, making him the shortest–serving President of the United States, with 31 days in office. John Tyler succeeds him.
*1850 &ndash; Los Angeles is incorporated as a city.
*1865 &ndash; American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln visits Confederate capital city Richmond, Virginia.
*1866 &ndash; Tsar Alexander II of Russia survives an assassination attempt in Kyiv.
*1873 &ndash; The British Kennel Club is founded, for the registry of purebred dogs.
*1884 &ndash; A peace treaty ends the War of the Pacific. Chile gains territory from Bolivia, which loses its coastline.
*1887 &ndash; Argonia, Kansas, elects Susanna M. Salter as its Mayor, becoming the first woman in the United States to take up this role.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
*1905 &ndash; An earthquake in Kangra, Northern India, kills around 20,000 people.
*1906 &ndash; Mount Vesuvius erupts.
*1917 &ndash; British passenger steamer *City of Paris* is sunk by a German U–boat off the Cote d'Azur, southern France, killing all 122 people on board.
*1925 &ndash; The Schutzstaffel (SS) is founded.
*1939 &ndash; Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.
*1944 &ndash; World War II: The first Anglo–American bombardment of Bucharest kills around 3,000 people.
*1945 &ndash; World War II: The Soviet Army takes control of Hungary.
*1945 &ndash; World War II: American troops capture Kassel.
*1949 &ndash; NATO is founded.
*1958 &ndash; The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time, in London.
*1960 &ndash; France agrees to the independence of Senegal and French Sudan (Mali).
*1964 &ndash; The Beatles occupy all of the top 5 places in the Billboard Hot 100. 
*1967 &ndash; Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers the *Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence* speech in protest against the Vietnam War.
*1968 &ndash; NASA launches Apollo 6.
*1968 &ndash; Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot dead in Memphis, Tennessee.
*1969 &ndash; Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.
*1973 &ndash; The World Trade Center in New York City is officially dedicated.
*1976 &ndash; Microsoft is founded by a partnership of Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
*1976 &ndash; Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia resigns and is placed under house arrest.
*1979 &ndash; Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is executed in Pakistan.
*1983 &ndash; The Space Shuttle Challenger makes its first space flight.
*1984 &ndash; Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.
*1988 &ndash; Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.
*1991 &ndash; Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo becomes President of Benin.
*1996 &ndash; Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter *Near Earth Rendezvous*.
*1998 &ndash; A landslide in Southwestern Iran kills around 120 people.

### From 2001 
*2002 &ndash; The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty, ending the Angolan Civil War.
*2003 &ndash; Voodoo becomes an official religion in Haiti.
*2003 &ndash; Iraq War: US bombing of Baghdad begins.
*2004 &ndash; Eddie Fenech Adami becomes President of Malta.
*2005 &ndash; From Moscow, where he fled to after a major uprising, Askar Akayev officially announces his resignation as President of Kyrgyzstan.
*2007 &ndash; Iran releases 15 Royal Navy personnel that were arrested 12 days earlier for allegedly trespassing in Iranian waters.
*2009 &ndash; Anders Fogh Rasmussen is announced to succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO Secretary–General. He takes up the post on August 1 of the same year.
*2009 &ndash; George Abela becomes President of Malta.
*2013 &ndash; Over 70 people are killed in a building collapse in Thane, India.
*2014 &ndash; Marie Louise Coleiro Preca becomes President of Malta.
*2017 &ndash; A chemical gas attack in Khan Shaykhun, Syria, kills at least 74 people.
*2018 &ndash; The 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, begin.
*2019 &ndash; George Vella becomes President of Malta.

## Births
### Up to 1900 
* 188 &ndash; Caracalla, Roman Emperor (d. 217)
* 1179 &ndash; Farid-ud-din Ganj Shakar, Islamic saint in South Asia (d. 1266)
* 1492 &ndash; Ambrosius Blarer, German–Swiss theologian and reformer (d. 1564)
* 1572 &ndash; William Strachey, English writer (d. 1621)
* 1593 &ndash; Edward Nicholas, English statesman (d. 1669)
* 1614 &ndash; Henry II, Duke of Guise (d. 1664)
* 1640 &ndash; Gaspar Sanz, Aragonese composer, guitarist, organist and priest (d. 1710)
* 1646 &ndash; Antoine Galland, French archaeologist (d. 1715)
* 1648 &ndash; Grinling Gibbons, Dutch woodcarver (d. 1721)
* 1676 &ndash; Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, Italian composer (d. 1760)
* 1688 &ndash; Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer (d. 1768)
* 1752 &ndash; Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli, Italian composer (d. 1837)
* 1759 &ndash; Israel Smith, Governor of Vermont (d. 1810)
* 1760 &ndash; Juan Manuel Olivares, Venezuelan composer (d. 1797)
* 1773 &ndash; Etienne Maurice Gerard, French general and statesman (d. 1852)
* 1785 &ndash; Bettina von Arnim, German writer (d. 1859)
* 1792 &ndash; Thaddeus Stevens, American lawyer and politician (d. 1868)
* 1802 &ndash; Dorothea Dix, American social activist (d. 1887)
* 1806 &ndash; Claiborne Fox Jackson, Governor of Missouri (d. 1862)
* 1809 &ndash; Benjamin Peirce, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1880)
* 1819 &ndash; Queen Maria II of Portugal (d. 1853)
* 1821 &ndash; Linus Yale, Jr., American inventor and manufacturer (d. 1868)
* 1826 &ndash; Zenobe Gramme, Belgian engineer (d. 1901)
* 1828 &ndash; Margaret Oliphant, Scottish novelist (d. 1897)
* 1835 &ndash; John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist (d. 1911)
* 1842 &ndash; Edouard Lucas, French mathematician (d. 1891)
* 1843 &ndash; William Henry Jackson, American painter (d. 1942)
* 1848 &ndash; Artruro Prat, Chilean naval hero (d. 1879)
* 1858 &ndash; Remy de Gourmont, French writer, poet and critic (d. 1915) 
* 1869 &ndash; Mary Jane Cotter, American architect (d. 1958)
* 1875 &ndash; Pierre Monteux, French conductor (d. 1964)
* 1876 &ndash; Maurice de Vlaminck, French painter (d. 1958)
* 1878 &ndash; Stylianos Lykoudis, Greek admiral (d. 1958)
* 1884 &ndash; Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese naval commander (d. 1943)
* 1889 &ndash; Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Indian Hindi language poet (d. 1968)
* 1895 &ndash; Arthur Murray, American dancer and educator (d. 1991)
* 1896 &ndash; Robert E. Sherwood, American playwright, editor and screenwriter (d. 1955)
* 1897 &ndash; Dina Manfredini, Italian–born American supercentenarian (d. 2012)
* 1897 &ndash; Pierre Fresnay, French actor (d. 1975)
* 1898 &ndash; Agnes Ayres, American actress (d. 1940)
* 1899 &ndash; Hillel Oppenheimer, German–Israeli botanist (d. 1971)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1905 &ndash; Dougie Gray, Scottish footballer (d. 1972)
* 1905 &ndash; George Stevenson, Scottish footballer (d. 1990)
* 1905 &ndash; Shojiro Sugimura, Japanese footballer (d. 1975)
* 1906 &ndash; Yasuo Haruyama, Japanese footballer (d. 1987)
* 1906 &ndash; Bea Benaderet, American actress (d. 1968)
* 1906 &ndash; John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (d. 1995)
* 1907 &ndash; Robert Askin, Premier of New South Wales (d. 1981)
* 1910 &ndash; Barthélemy Boganda, Central African politician (d. 1959)
* 1910 &ndash; Dang Van Ngu, Vietnamese physician (d. 1967)
* 1911 &ndash; Max Dupain, Australian photographer (d. 1992)
* 1913 &ndash; Rosemary Lane, American actress and singer (d. 1974)
* 1913 &ndash; Frances Langford, American actress and singer (d. 2005)
* 1913 &ndash; Jules Léger, Canadian diplomat and Governor General of Canada (d. 1980)
* 1914 &ndash; Marguerite Duras, French writer (d. 1996)
* 1914 &ndash; Richard Coogan, American actor (d. 2014)
* 1915 &ndash; Muddy Waters, American musician (d. 1983)
* 1916 &ndash; Nikola Ljubicic, Yugoslavian general and politician (d. 2005)
* 1920 &ndash; Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch (d. 2012)
* 1920 &ndash; Eric Rohmer, French movie director (d. 2010)
* 1921 &ndash; Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (d. 2015)
* 1921 &ndash; Orunamamu, American–Canadian storyteller (d. 2014)
* 1922 &ndash; Elmer Bernstein, American movie composer (d. 2004)
* 1923 &ndash; Peter Vaughan, English actor (d. 2016)
* 1924 &ndash; Gil Hodges, American baseball player and manager (d. 1972)
* 1925 &ndash; Gene Reynolds, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
* 1925 &ndash; Dettmar Cramer, German footballer and coach (d. 2015)
* 1925 &ndash; Frank Truitt, American sports coach (d. 2014)
* 1926 &ndash; Ronnie Masterson, Irish actress (d. 2014)
* 1928 &ndash; Maya Angelou, American writer and poet (d. 2014)
* 1928 &ndash; Elina Bystritskaya, Russian actress (d. 2019)
* 1931 &ndash; Catherine Tizard, 16th Governor-General of New Zealand 
* 1931 &ndash; Bobby Ray Inman, American admiral and intelligence director
* 1932 &ndash; Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet movie maker (d. 1986)
* 1932 &ndash; Anthony Perkins, American actor (d. 1993)
* 1932 &ndash; Richard Lugar, American politician (d. 2019)
* 1932 &ndash; Clive Davis, American music manager and producer
* 1935 &ndash; Kenneth Mars, American actor (d. 2011)
* 1935 &ndash; Trevor Griffiths, English playwright
* 1938 &ndash; A. Bartlett Giamatti, 7th Commissioner of Major League Baseball (d. 1989)
* 1938 &ndash; Norro Wilson, American country music singer–songwriter and record producer (d. 2017)
* 1939 &ndash; Ragnhild Queseth Haarstad, Norwegian politician (d. 2017)
* 1939 &ndash; Hugh Masekela, South African musician (d. 2018)
* 1939 &ndash; Ernie Terrell, American boxer and singer (d. 2014)
* 1942 &ndash; Jim Fregosi, American baseball player and manager
* 1942 &ndash; Kitty Kelley, American actress
* 1942 &ndash; Michel Fourniret, French serial killer
* 1944 &ndash; Ann-Louise Hanson, Swedish singer
* 1944 &ndash; Craig T. Nelson, American actor
* 1945 &ndash; Daniel Cohn-Bendit, French–German political activist
* 1945 &ndash; Katherine Neville, American writer
* 1946 &ndash; Katsuaki Sato, Japanese martial artist
* 1946 &ndash; Dave Hill, English musician (Slade)
* 1948 &ndash; Abdullah Ocalan, Kurdish activist
* 1948 &ndash; Berry Oakley, American musician (d. 1997)
* 1948 &ndash; Pick Withers, British musician
* 1949 &ndash; Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican musician (d. 1999)
* 1950 &ndash; Christine Lahti, American actress

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia
* 1952 &ndash; Gary Moore, Northern Irish musician (d. 2011)
* 1952 &ndash; Rosemarie Ackermann, German athlete
* 1952 &ndash; Karen Magnussen, Canadian figure skater
* 1952 &ndash; Cherie Lunghi, English actress
* 1953 &ndash; Chen Yi, Chinese composer and violinist
* 1953 &ndash; Henry Fotheringham, South African cricketer
* 1954 &ndash; Michel Camilo, Dominican pianist
* 1954 &ndash; Dave Ulliott, English poker player (d. 2015)
* 1956 &ndash; David E. Kelley, American writer and television producer
* 1957 &ndash; Aki Kaurismaki, Finnish director
* 1957 &ndash; Graeme Kelling, Scottish guitarist (Deacon Blue) (d. 2004)
* 1958 &ndash; Cazuza, Brazilian composer and singer (d. 1990)
* 1958 &ndash; Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Thai businessman (d. 2018)
* 1960 &ndash; Hugo Weaving, Australian actor
* 1960 &ndash; Jonathan Agnew, English cricketer
* 1962 &ndash; Craig Adams, English bass player and songwriter
* 1963 &ndash; Graham Norton, Irish television host
* 1963 &ndash; A. Michael Baldwin, American actor, producer and screenwriter
* 1963 &ndash; Jane McDonald, English singer and actress
* 1964 &ndash; Branco, Brazilian footballer
* 1965 &ndash; Robert Downey Jr., American actor
* 1966 &ndash; Mike Starr, American musician (d. 2011)
* 1966 &ndash; Stefan Mappus, German politician
* 1967 &ndash; Edith Masai, Kenyan runner
* 1969 &ndash; Karren Brady, British sports executive and broadcaster
* 1970 &ndash; Georgius Amanatidis, Greek footballer
* 1970 &ndash; Greg Garcia, American director, producer and screenwriter
* 1970 &ndash; Yelena Yelesina, Russian high jumper
* 1972 &ndash; Magnus Sveningsson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)
* 1972 &ndash; Jill Scott, American singer and actress
* 1972 &ndash; Xenia Seeberg, German actress
* 1973 &ndash; David Blaine, American illusionist and magician
* 1973 &ndash; Chris McCormack, Australian athlete
* 1974 &ndash; Dave Mirra, American BMX rider (d. 2016)
* 1975 &ndash; Thobias Fredriksson, Swedish cross–country skier
* 1975 &ndash; Carl Ruiz, American chef and television personality (d. 2019)

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Emerson, Brazilian footballer
* 1977 &ndash; Adam Dutkiewicz, American guitarist and producer
* 1977 &ndash; Stephen Mulhern, English magician
* 1978 &ndash; Lemar, English singer
* 1978 &ndash; Irene Skliva, Greek model
* 1978 &ndash; Sam Moran, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
* 1979 &ndash; Heath Ledger, Australian actor (d. 2008)
* 1980 &ndash; Johnny Borrell, English singer (Razorlight)
* 1980 &ndash; Trevor Moore, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
* 1981 &ndash; Anna Pyatykh, Russian triple jumper
* 1981 &ndash; Ned Vizzini, American writer (d. 2013)
* 1983 &ndash; Amanda Righetti, American actress
* 1983 &ndash; Evgeny Artyukhin, Russian ice hockey player
* 1984 &ndash; Sean May, American basketball player
* 1985 &ndash; Rudy Fernandez, Spanish basketball player
* 1986 &ndash; Eunhyuk, South Korean singer
* 1986 &ndash; Rachel Korine, American actress
* 1986 &ndash; Aiden McGeady, Scottish–Irish footballer
* 1987 &ndash; Devon Anderson, English actor
* 1987 &ndash; Sami Khedira, German footballer
* 1988 &ndash; Nadine Kessler, German footballer
* 1991 &ndash; Jamie Lynn Spears, American singer and actress
* 1992 &ndash; Alexa Nikolas, American actress
* 1992 &ndash; Lucy Mae Barker, English actress and singer
* 1992 &ndash; Christina Metaxa, Cypriot singer-songwriter
* 1996 &ndash; Austin Mahone, American singer
* 1999 &ndash; Miki Nishino, Japanese singer, dancer and actress (AKB48)
* 2012 &ndash; Grumpy Cat, famous American cat and internet celebrity (d. 2019)

## Deaths
### Up to 1900 
*397 &ndash; Saint Ambrose of Milan (b. 338)
*636 &ndash; Isidore of Seville, Spanish archbishop and saint (b. 560)
*896 &ndash; Pope Formosus
*968 &ndash; Abu Firas al-Hamdani, Arab prince, general and poet (b. 932)
*1284 &ndash; Alfonso X of Castile (b. 1221)
*1292 &ndash; Pope Nicholas IV (b. 1227)
*1305 &ndash; Jeanne of Navarre, Queen of France (b. 1273)
*1406 &ndash; King Robert III of Scotland (b. 1337)
*1459 &ndash; Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark (b. 1382)
*1536 &ndash; Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b. 1460)
*1588 &ndash; King Frederick II of Denmark (b. 1534)
*1617 &ndash; John Napier, Scottish mathematician (b. 1550)
*1761 &ndash; Theodore Gardell, Swiss painter and enameler (b. 1722)
*1774 &ndash; Oliver Goldsmith, Irish writer (b. 1728)
*1807 &ndash; Joseph Jerome Lefrancais de Lalande, French astronomer (b. 1732)
*1817 &ndash; Andre Massena, Marshal of France (b. 1758)
*1841 &ndash; William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States (b. 1773)
*1846 &ndash; Solomon Sibley, United States Senator (b. 1769)
*1861 &ndash; John McLean, 6th United States Postmaster General (b. 1785)
*1863 &ndash; Ludwig Emil Grimm, German painter and engraver (b. 1790)
*1870 &ndash; Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (b. 1802)
*1874 &ndash; Charles Ernest Beulé, French archaeologist and politician (b. 1826)
*1875 &ndash; Karl Mauch, German explorer (b. 1837)
*1879 &ndash; Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, German physicist (b. 1803)
*1883 &ndash; Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1791)
*1890 &ndash; Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, 1st Premier of Quebec (b. 1820)
*1890 &ndash; Edmond Hébert, French geologist (b. 1812)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
*1912 &ndash; Charles Brantley Aycock, 50th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1859)
*1919 &ndash; Francisco Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1908)
*1923 &ndash; John Venn, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1834)
*1929 &ndash; Karl Benz, German automobile designer and inventor (b. 1844)
*1931 &ndash; André Michelin, French industrialist (b. 1853)
*1932 &ndash; Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist (b. 1853)
*1933 &ndash; Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American writer (b. 1842)
*1939 &ndash; King Ghazi of Iraq (b. 1912)
*1951 &ndash; George Albert Smith, American Mormon leader (b. 1870)
*1953 &ndash; King Carol II of Romania (b. 1893)
*1961 &ndash; Simeon Stoilow, Romanian mathematician (b. 1873)
*1962 &ndash; James Hanratty, British murderer (b. 1936)
*1967 &ndash; Al Lewis, American songwriter (b. 1901)
*1967 &ndash; Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1898)
*1968 &ndash; Martin Luther King, Jr., American civil rights activist (b. 1929)
*1972 &ndash; Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., American politician (b. 1908)
*1976 &ndash; Harry Nyquist, Swedish contributor to Information Theory (b. 1889)
*1979 &ndash; Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani politician (b. 1928)
*1983 &ndash; Gloria Swanson, American actress (b. 1899)
*1984 &ndash; Oleg Antonov, Russian airplane designer (b. 1906)
*1991 &ndash; Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (b. 1920)
*1991 &ndash; H. John Heinz III, US Senator (b. 1938)
*1991 &ndash; Max Frisch, Swiss writer (b. 1911)
*1993 &ndash; Alfred Mosher-Butts, American inventor of Scrabble (b. 1899)
*1995 &ndash; Kenny Everett, British entertainer (b. 1944)
*1995 &ndash; Priscilla Lane, American singer and actress (b. 1915)
*1996 &ndash; Barney Ewell, American runner (b. 1918)
*1999 &ndash; Faith Domergue, American actor (b. 1924)

### From 2001 
*2003 &ndash; Anthony Caruso, American actor (b. 1916)
*2004 &ndash; Alberic Schotte, Belgian cyclist (b. 1919)
*2007 &ndash; Bob Clark, American director (b. 1941)
*2007 &ndash; Karen Sparck Jones, British computer scientist (b. 1935)
*2009 &ndash; Gonzalo Olave, Chilean actor (b. 1983)
*2012 &ndash; Claude Miller, French movie director (b. 1942)
*2013 &ndash; Roger Ebert, American movie critic and writer (b. 1942)
*2013 &ndash; Carmine Infantino, American illustrator (b. 1925)
*2014 &ndash; Margo MacDonald, Scottish politician, member of the Scottish Parliament (b. 1943)
*2014 &ndash; Kumba Iala, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1953)
*2014 &ndash; Anja Niedringhaus, German journalist (b. 1965)
*2014 &ndash; José Aguilar, Cuban boxer (b. 1958)
*2015 &ndash; Elmer Lach, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1918)
*2015 &ndash; Jamaluddin Jarjis, Malaysian politician (b. 1951)
*2015 &ndash; Klaus Rifbjerg, Danish writer (b. 1931)
*2015 &ndash; Donald N. Levine, American sociologist (b. 1931)
*2015 &ndash; Ira Lewis, American actor and playwright (b. 1932)
*2016 &ndash; Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress (b. 1930)
*2016 &ndash; Getatchew Mekurya, Ethiopian jazz saxophonist (b. 1935)
*2016 &ndash; Royston Nash, English conductor (b. 1933)
*2016 &ndash; George Radosevich, American football player (b. 1928)
*2016 &ndash; Mike Sandlock, American baseball player (b. 1915)
*2016 &ndash; Abe Segal, South African tennis player (b. 1930)
*2017 &ndash; Samir Farid, Egyptian film critic and historian (b. 1943)
*2017 &ndash; Giovanni Sartori, Italian political scientist and journalist (b. 1924)
*2018 &ndash; Andres Ammas, Estonian politician (b. 1956)
*2018 &ndash; Soon-Tek Oh, South Korean–American actor (b. 1932)
*2018 &ndash; Johnny Valiant, American professional wrestler (b. 1946)
*2018 &ndash; Ray Wilkins, English footballer and manager (b. 1956)
*2018 &ndash; Leonid Sokov, Russian artist and sculptor (b. 1941)
*2019 &ndash; Alberto Cortez, Argentine singer and songwriter (b. 1940)
*2019 &ndash; Georgiy Daneliya, Russian film director and screenwriter (b. 1930)
*2019 &ndash; Barry Malkin, American film editor (b. 1938)
*2019 &ndash; Marilyn Mason, American concert organist and academic (b. 1925)

## Holidays and Observances
* Independence Day in Senegal
* International Day for Landmine Awareness and Assistance
* Peace Day (Angola)
* Children's Day (Republic of China and Hong Kong)