October 4

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 23 &ndash; Rebels capture the then-Chinese capital city Chang'an during a peasant rebellion. They kill and behead the Emperor, Wang Mang, two days later.
* 610 &ndash; Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, otherthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas and becomes Emperor.
* 1511 &ndash; Formation of a Holy League of Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Papal States, and the Republic of Venice against France.
* 1535 &ndash; The first complete English language Bible is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.
* 1582 &ndash; Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15, skipping over 10 days.
* 1636 &ndash; Thirty Years' War: The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.
* 1693 &ndash; Battle of Marsaglia: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.
* 1725 &ndash; The city of Rosario, Argentina is founded.
* 1744 &ndash; British sailing ship *Victory* is last seen, near the Channel Islands in the English Channel. During the night, it sinks, killing 1,150 people.
* 1777 &ndash; American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Germantown, troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.
* 1824 &ndash; Mexico becomes a republic.
* 1830 &ndash; Creation of the state of Belgium after separation from The Netherlands.
* 1853 &ndash; Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.
* 1883 &ndash; First run of the Orient Express
* 1883 &ndash; First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.
* 1895 &ndash; The first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship run by the United States Golf Association was played on a nine-hole course in Newport, Rhode Island.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1910 &ndash; Portugal becomes a republic. King Manuel II flees to Britain.
* 1917 &ndash; World War I: The Battle of Broadseinde is fought between British and German armies in Flanders.
* 1918 &ndash; An explosion kills more than 100 people and destroys the T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in Sayreville, New Jersey.
* 1927 &ndash; Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.
* 1943 &ndash; World War II: US forces re-capture the Solomon Islands.
* 1957 &ndash; Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
* 1958 &ndash; The Fifth Republic of France established.
* 1959 &ndash; The Soviet Union sends the Lunik 3 probe to the Moon.
* 1960 &ndash; An Eastern Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra flying from Boston crashes killing 62 people after a bird strike.
* 1963 &ndash; Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph, driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.
* 1965 &ndash; Pope Paul VI becomes the first Pope to visit the United States, as he arrives in New York City.
* 1966 &ndash; Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.
* 1967 &ndash; Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son, Hassanal Bolkiah.
* 1974 &ndash; Founding of the New Democracy political party in Greece.
* 1983 &ndash; Richard Noble sets a new land-speed record of 633.468 miles per hour (1,019 kilometres per hour), driving *Thrust 2* at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
* 1985 &ndash; The Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts.
* 1988 &ndash; Jim Bakker is indicted for fraud.
* 1991 &ndash; The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was opened for signature.
* 1992 &ndash; An El Al Boeing 747–200F crashes into 2 apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 38 on the ground. See Bijlmerramp.
* 1992 &ndash; The Rome General Peace Accords end the 16-year civil war in Mozambique.
* 1993 &ndash; At the climax of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders army tanks to begin the storming of the Russian parliament building.
* 1997 &ndash; The second-largest cash robbery in United States history takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina.
* 1998 &ndash; Leafie Mason of Hughes Springs, Texas is murdered by Angel Maturino Resendiz. She is Angel's second victim in his second incident.

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; A Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.
* 2003 &ndash; Maxim restaurant suicide bombing: A female Palestinian suicide bomber, Hanadi Jaradat, exploded inside the Maxim restaurant in Haifa. 21 Israelis, Jews and Arabs, were killed, and 51 others were wounded.
* 2004 &ndash; SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
* 2006 &ndash; WikiLeaks is launched by Julian Assange.
* 2006 &ndash; Lesotho changes its flag. 
* 2010 &ndash; Toxic red sludge escapes from the Ajka alumina plant in western Hungary, causing an environmental disaster and killing at least nine people.
* 2016 &ndash; Hurricane Matthew hits Haiti and the Dominican Republic, causing flooding, destroying homes and killing seven people.
* 2025 &ndash; Sanae Takaichi is elected as the first female president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

## Births 
### Up to 1850 
* 1160 &ndash; Alys, Countess of Vexin (died 1220)
* 1268 &ndash; King Eric II of Norway (died 1299)
* 1274 &ndash; Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria (died 1319)
* 1276 &ndash; Margaret of Brabant, Queen of Germany (died 1311)
* 1289 &ndash; King Louis X of France (died 1316)
* 1379 &ndash; King Henry III of Castile (died 1406)
* 1515 &ndash; Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (died 1586)
* 1542 &ndash; Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (died 1621)
* 1550 &ndash; King Charles IX of Sweden (died 1611)
* 1562 &ndash; Christian Sorensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (died 1647)
* 1585 &ndash; Anna of Tyrol, Empress Consort of the Holy Roman Empire (died 1618)
* 1625 &ndash; Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy and nun (died 1661)
* 1626 &ndash; Richard Cromwell, English politician (died 1712)
* 1633 &ndash; Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (died 1714)
* 1657 &ndash; Francesco Solimena, Italian painter (died 1747)
* 1687 &ndash; Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician (died 1768)
* 1720 &ndash; Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian painter (died 1778)
* 1759 &ndash; Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician (died 1803)
* 1787 &ndash; François Guizot, French statesman (died 1874)
* 1797 &ndash; Jeremias Gotthelf, Swiss writer (died 1854)
* 1808 &ndash; Giovanni Battista Pioda, Swiss politician and diplomat (died 1882)
* 1814 &ndash; Jean-François Millet, French painter (died 1875)
* 1819 &ndash; Francesco Crispi, Italian politician (died 1901)
* 1822 &ndash; Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States (died 1893)
* 1833 &ndash; John Anderson, Scottish zoologist (died 1900)
* 1835 &ndash; Grigory Potanin, Russian explorer (died 1920)
* 1836 &ndash; Juliette Adam, French writer and activist (died 1936)
* 1837 &ndash; Mary Elizabeth Braddon, English writer (died 1915)
* 1841 &ndash; Prudente José de Morais Barros, President of Brazil (died 1912)
* 1841 &ndash; Maria Sophie of Bavaria, Queen of the Two Sicilies (died 1925)
* 1843 &ndash; Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, Palestinian nun and saint (died 1927)

### 1851 &ndash; 1900 
* 1858 &ndash; Michael Pupin, telephone pioneer, Pulitzer Prize winning writer (died 1935)
* 1861 &ndash; Frederic Remington, American painter (died 1909)
* 1862 &ndash; Edward Stratemeyer, American writer (died 1930)
* 1863 &ndash; Samuel Prescott Bush, American industrialist (died 1948)
* 1868 &ndash; Marcelo T. de Alvear, Argentine politician (died 1942)
* 1876 &ndash; Hugh McCrae, Australian writer (died 1958)
* 1877 &ndash; Razor Smith, English cricketer (died 1946)
* 1880 &ndash; Damon Runyon, writer (died 1946)
* 1881 &ndash; Walther von Brauchitsch, German Commander-in-Chief (died 1948)
* 1886 &ndash; Erich Fellgiebel, German military officer and Resistance activist (died 1944)
* 1888 &ndash; Friedrich Olbricht, German general and Resistance activist (died 1944)
* 1892 &ndash; Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian politician (died 1934)
* 1895 &ndash; Buster Keaton, American comedian, producer and actor (died 1966)
* 1895 &ndash; Richard Sorge, German-Soviet spy (died 1944)
* 1899 &ndash; Franz Jonas, President of Austria (died 1974)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1903 &ndash; John Vincent Atanasoff, American computer pioneer (died 1995)
* 1903 &ndash; Ernst Kaltenbrunner, German military officer (died 1946)
* 1913 &ndash; Martial Celestin, Prime Minister of Haiti (died 2011)
* 1914 &ndash; Jim Cairns, Australian politician (died 2003)
* 1916 &ndash; Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist (died 2009)
* 1916 &ndash; Jan Murray, American comedian, actor and game show host (died 2006)
* 1916 &ndash; George Sidney, American director (died 2002)
* 1917 &ndash; Luis Carniglia, Argentine footballer (died 2001)
* 1917 &ndash; Jan Murray, American comedienne (died 2006)
* 1918 &ndash; Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist (died 1998)
* 1918 &ndash; Giovanni Cheli, Italian cardinal (died 2013)
* 1921 &ndash; Francisco Morales-Bermúdez, former President of Peru (died 2022)
* 1922 &ndash; Malcolm Baldridge, American politician (died 1987)
* 1922 &ndash; Don Lenhardt, American baseball player (died 2014)
* 1923 &ndash; Charlton Heston, American actor (died 2008)
* 1927 &ndash; Virginia Luque, Argentine actress and singer (died 2014)
* 1928 &ndash; Alvin Toffler, American writer and futurist (died 2016)
* 1930 &ndash; Svava Jakobsdóttir, Icelandic writer and politician (died 2004)
* 1931 &ndash; Richard Rorty, American philosopher and academic (died 2007)
* 1931 &ndash; Basil D'Oliveira, South African-born cricketer (died 2011)
* 1931 &ndash; Terence Conran, English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer
* 1931 &ndash; Thane Baker, American athlete
* 1933 &ndash; German Moreno, Filipino television host, actor and comedian (died 2016)
* 1934 &ndash; Sam Huff, American football player
* 1936 &ndash; Cynthia McLeod, Surinamese writer, daughter of Johan Ferrier
* 1937 &ndash; Franz Vranitzky, former Chancellor of Austria
* 1937 &ndash; Jackie Collins, English writer (died 2015)
* 1937 &ndash; Jim Sillars, Scottish politician
* 1938 &ndash; Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
* 1939 &ndash; Ivan Mauger, New Zealand speedway rider (died 2018)
* 1940 &ndash; Silvio Marzolini, Argentine footballer
* 1941 &ndash; Anne Rice, American writer
* 1942 &ndash; Johanna Sigurdardottir, former Prime Minister of Iceland
* 1942 &ndash; Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (died 1967)
* 1943 &ndash; H. Rap Brown (Jamil Al-Amin), American civil rights activist
* 1943 &ndash; Buddy Roemer, former Governor of Louisiana (d. 2021)
* 1943 &ndash; Owen Davidson, Australian tennis player
* 1946 &ndash; Susan Sarandon, American actress
* 1946 &ndash; Chuck Hagel, American politician
* 1946 &ndash; Bridget St. John, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1947 &ndash; Jim Fielder, American bass player
* 1947 &ndash; Julien Clerc, French singer
* 1947 &ndash; Ann Widdecombe, British politician
* 1949 &ndash; Antonello Cuccureddu, Italian footballer and coach
* 1949 &ndash; Armand Assante, actor
* 1949 &ndash; Ally Hunter, Scottish footballer

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1953 &ndash; Tchéky Karyo, actor
* 1955 &ndash; John Rutherford, Scottish rugby player
* 1955 &ndash; Andy Pichler, Austrian footballer
* 1955 &ndash; Jorge Valdano, Argentine footballer
* 1956 &ndash; Christoph Waltz, Austrian actor
* 1958 &ndash; Yevgeny Bushmin, Russian politician (died 2019)
* 1958 &ndash; Anneka Rice, Welsh television and radio presenter
* 1959 &ndash; Chris Lowe, English musician (Pet Shop Boys)
* 1959 &ndash; Tony Meo, English snooker player
* 1960 &ndash; Henry Worsley, English explorer (died 2016)
* 1961 &ndash; Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese writer and artist
* 1961 &ndash; Philippe Russo, French singer-songwriter
* 1962 &ndash; Jon Secada, Cuban-American singer
* 1962 &ndash; Marc Minkowski, French conductor
* 1963 &ndash; A.C. Green, American basketball player
* 1963 &ndash; Mark Powley, English actor
* 1964 &ndash; Francis Magalona, Filipino entertainer (died 2009)
* 1964 &ndash; Sarah Lancashire, English actress
* 1964 &ndash; Yvonne Murray, Scottish athlete
* 1967 &ndash; Liev Schreiber, actor
* 1967 &ndash; Marcus Bentley, British voice actor
* 1968 &ndash; Beverley Allitt, British nurse and serial killer
* 1975 &ndash; Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian footballer

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Alicia Silverstone, American actress
* 1976 &ndash; Mauro Camoranesi, Argentine-Italian footballer
* 1976 &ndash; Ueli Steck, Swiss climber (died 2017)
* 1977 &ndash; Richard Parry, Canadian musician and songwriter
* 1978 &ndash; Kei Horie, Japanese actor, director, producer and screenwriter
* 1979 &ndash; Björn Phau, German tennis player
* 1979 &ndash; Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress and model
* 1980 &ndash; Tomas Rosicky, Czech footballer
* 1982 &ndash; Kasia Madera, British television journalist
* 1982 &ndash; Ilhan Omar, Somali-born American politician
* 1984 &ndash; Elena Sergeyevna Katina, Russian musician (t.A.T.u.)
* 1985 &ndash; Shontelle, Barbadian singer-songwriter
* 1985 &ndash; Thorsten Wiedemann, German rugby player
* 1986 &ndash; Sara Forestier, French actress
* 1986 &ndash; Yuridia, Mexican singer
* 1987 &ndash; Juan Pablo García, Mexican racing driver
* 1987 &ndash; Marina Weisband, German politician
* 1988 &ndash; Evgeni Krasnopolski, Israeli figure skater
* 1988 &ndash; Melissa Benoist, American actress and singer
* 1988 &ndash; Derrick Rose, American basketball player
* 1988 &ndash; Magdaléna Rybáriková, Slovakian tennis player
* 1989 &ndash; Kimmie Meissner, American figure skater
* 1989 &ndash; Lil Mama, American singer and rapper
* 1989 &ndash; Stacey Solomon, English singer
* 1989 &ndash; Dakota Johnson, American model and actress
* 1991 &ndash; Leigh-Anne Pinnock, English singer (Little Mix)
* 1994 &ndash; Ignazio Boschetto, Italian singer (Il Volo)
* 1995 &ndash; Mikolas Josef, Czech singer, musician and model
* 1997 &ndash; Yuju, South Korean singer
* 2005 &ndash; Prince Emmanuel of Belgium

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 1052 &ndash; Vladimir of Novgorod (born 1020)
* 1250 &ndash; Herman VI, Margrave of Baden (born 1226)
* 1305 &ndash; Emperor Kameyama of Japan (born 1249)
* 1582 &ndash; Teresa of Avila, Spanish saint (born 1515)
* 1597 &ndash; Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (born 1550)
* 1661 &ndash; Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy and nun (born 1625)
* 1669 &ndash; Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch painter (born 1606)
* 1680 &ndash; Pierre-Paul Riquet, French engineer (born 1609)
* 1747 &ndash; Amaro Pargo, Spanish pirate (born 1678)
* 1785 &ndash; David Brearly, American statesman (born 1703)
* 1821 &ndash; John Rennie the Elder, Scottish engineer (born 1761)
* 1851 &ndash; Manuel de Godoy, Prince of Peace, Spanish politician (born 1767)
* 1852 &ndash; James Whitcomb, 8th Governor of Indiana (born 1795)
* 1859 &ndash; Karl Baedeker, German publisher (born 1801)
* 1890 &ndash; Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army (born 1829)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1903 &ndash; Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher (born 1880)
* 1904 &ndash; Karl Bayer, Austrian chemist (born 1847)
* 1904 &ndash; Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor (born 1834)
* 1910 &ndash; Sergey Muromtsev, Russian lawyer and politician (born 1850)
* 1915 &ndash; Karl Staaff, 11th Prime Minister of Sweden (born 1860)
* 1943 &ndash; Irena Illakowicz, Polish lieutenant and intelligence agent (born 1906)
* 1944 &ndash; Al Smith, American politician (born 1873)
* 1946 &ndash; Barney Oldfield, American automobile pioneer (born 1878)
* 1947 &ndash; Max Planck, German physicist (born 1858)
* 1951 &ndash; Henrietta Lacks, American medical patient (born 1920)
* 1955 &ndash; Alexander Papagos, Greek general and political leader (born 1883)
* 1970 &ndash; Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (born 1943)
* 1974 &ndash; Anne Sexton, American poet (born 1928)
* 1981 &ndash; Freddie Lindstrom, American baseball player (born 1905)
* 1982 &ndash; Stefanos Stefanopoulos, Greek politician (born 1898)
* 1982 &ndash; Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist (born 1932)
* 1989 &ndash; Graham Chapman, British comedian, writer, doctor (born 1941)
* 1989 &ndash; Secretariat, Triple Crown–winning race horse (born 1970)
* 1991 &ndash; J. Frank Wilson, American singer (born 1941)
* 1992 &ndash; Denny Hulme, New Zealand racing driver (born 1936)
* 1996 &ndash; Silvio Piola, Italian footballer (born 1913)
* 1997 &ndash; Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese game developer (born 1941)
* 2000 &ndash; Michael Smith, biochemist (born 1932)
* 2000 &ndash; Yu Kwo-hwa, Taiwanese Premier (born 1914)

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; John Collins, American jazz guitarist (born 1913)
* 2003 &ndash; Sid McMath, 34th Governor of Arkansas (born 1912)
* 2004 &ndash; Gordon Cooper, American astronaut (born 1927)
* 2005 &ndash; Stanley K. Hathaway, Governor of Wyoming (born 1924)
* 2009 &ndash; Shoichi Nakagawa, Japanese politician (born 1953)
* 2009 &ndash; Mercedes Sosa, Argentine singer (born 1935)
* 2009 &ndash; Günther Rall, German fighter ace (born 1918)
* 2010 &ndash; Norman Wisdom, British actor and comedian (born 1915)
* 2011 &ndash; Yelena Chernykh, Russian theatre actress (born 1979)
* 2013 &ndash; Vo Nguyen Giap, Vietnamese general and politician (born 1911)
* 2013 &ndash; Nicholas Oresko, American sergeant (born 1917)
* 2014 &ndash; Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc), President of Haiti (born 1951) 
* 2014 &ndash; Paul Revere, American musician (Paul Revere and the Raiders) (b. 1938)
* 2014 &ndash; Hugo Carvana, Brazilian actor (born 1937)
* 2014 &ndash; Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer (born 1959)
* 2015 &ndash; José Eduardo Dutra, Brazilian businessman and politician (born 1957)
* 2015 &ndash; J. Whyatt Mondesire, American journalist and activist (born 1949)
* 2016 &ndash; Mario Almada, Mexican actor (born 1922)
* 2016 &ndash; Brigitte Hamann, German-Austrian historian and writer (born 1940)
* 2017 &ndash; Davoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian politician (born 1950)
* 2017 &ndash; Liam Cosgrave, Irish politician, Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland (born 1920)
* 2017 &ndash; John R. Miller, American politician and activist (born 1938)
* 2017 &ndash; Jesús Mosterín, Spanish anthropologist and philosopher (born 1941)
* 2018 &ndash; Dave Anderson, American sports writer (born 1929)
* 2018 &ndash; Jeanne Ashworth, American speed skater (born 1938)
* 2018 &ndash; Hamiet Bluiett, American jazz saxophonist (born 1940)
* 2018 &ndash; Kurt Malangré, German politician (born 1934)
* 2018 &ndash; José Sacal, Mexican sculptor (born 1944)
* 2018 &ndash; Will Vinton, American animator (born 1947)
* 2019 &ndash; Mikhail Biryukov, Russian tennis player (born 1992)
* 2019 &ndash; Diahann Carroll, American actress and singer (born 1935)
* 2019 &ndash; Bill McKnight, Canadian politician (born 1940)

## Observances 
* Independence Day (Lesotho)
* Day of Peace and Reconciliation (Mozambique)
* World Animal Day
* Saint Francis of Assisi (Roman Catholicism)
* BB Founder's Day (The Boys’ Brigade)