Date·Lore

On This Day · The 94th day of the year

April 4

April 4 carries 10 recorded events spanning between -503 and 2023. Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.

♈ZodiacAries ◈BirthstoneDiamond ❀Birth flowerDaisy

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on April 4?

April 4 is the 94th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between -503 and 2023. Famous people born on April 4 include Andrei Tarkovsky, Caracalla and Graham Norton.

The shape of the day

Few dates reach as far back as April 4: its recorded history runs unusually deep, stretching to 503 BC. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

Aries is the sign for April 4 — read more on the Aries page, or see April's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on April 4

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • TV Daemons of the Shadow Realm

2024

  • Game Beat Slayer

2023

  • Game Meet Your Maker
  • Game Road 96: Mile 0

2022

  • TV Chiikawa

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. -503

    Roman consul

    Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.

  2. 1814

    Napoleon

    Napoleon abdicates (conditionally) for the first time and names his son Napoleon II as Emperor of the French, followed by unconditional abdication two days later.

  3. 1841

    William Henry Harrison

    William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and setting the record for the briefest administration. Vice President John Tyler succeeds Harrison as President.

  4. 1905

    1905 Kangra earthquake

    In India, an earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, killing 20,000, and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.

  5. 1973

    Lockheed C-141 Starlifter

    A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, makes the last flight of Operation Homecoming.

  6. 1975

    Vietnam War

    Vietnam War: A United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transporting orphans, crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, killing 172 people.

  7. 1990

    Flag of Hong Kong

    The current flag of Hong Kong is adopted for post-colonial Hong Kong during the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress.

  8. 2011

    Georgian Airways Flight 834

    Georgian Airways Flight 834 crashes at N'djili Airport in Kinshasa, killing 32.

  9. 2013

    2013 Thane building collapse

    Seventy-four people are killed in a building collapse in Thane, India.

  10. 2023

    Finland

    Finland becomes a member of NATO after Turkey accepts its membership request.

Famous birthday twins

Born on April 4

Andrei Tarkovsky

b. 1932

Russian director and producer

Caracalla

b. 188

Roman emperor

Graham Norton

b. 1963

Irish actor and talk show host

Maya Angelou

b. 1928

American memoirist and poet

Greg Garcia (producer)

b. 1970

American director, producer, and screenwriter

Heath Ledger

b. 1979

Australian actor

Hugo Weaving

b. 1960

Nigerian-Australian actor and producer

James Roday Rodriguez

b. 1976

American actor, director, and screenwriter

Deaths

  • 2007Karen Spärck Jones
  • 1968Martin Luther King Jr.
  • 1932Wilhelm Ostwald
  • 1929Carl Benz
  • 1841William Henry Harrison

Holidays & observances

  • —Children's Day (Hong Kong, Taiwan)
  • —Christian feast day: Benedict the Moor
  • —Christian feast day: Gaetano Catanoso
  • —Christian feast day: Isidore of Seville
  • —Christian feast day: Martin Luther King Jr. (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • —Christian feast day: Reginald Heber (Anglican Church of Canada)
  • —Christian feast day: Tigernach of Clones
  • —Christian feast day: Plato of Sakkoudion

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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