✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 94th day of the year

April 4

A look at April 4 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Andrei Tarkovsky and Caracalla, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♈ZodiacAries ◈BirthstoneDiamond ❀Birth flowerDaisy
Advertisement 728 × 90 leaderboard

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2023

    Finland

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

    Country in northern Europe
  2. 2013

    2013 Thane building collapse

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

    Building collapse in Maharashtra,
  3. 2011

    Georgian Airways Flight 834

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

    2011 aviation accident in
  4. 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.

    History
  5. 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.

    1955–1975 war in Southeast
  6. 1973

    Lockheed C-141 Starlifter

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

    Retired American heavy military
  7. 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.

    Disaster in Himachal Pradesh,
  8. 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.

    President of the United
  9. 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.

    French general and emperor
  10. -503

    Roman consul

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

    Political office in ancient
Advertisement Responsive in-content unit

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, English computer scientist and academic
  • 1968Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (assassinated)
  • 1932Wilhelm Ostwald, Latvian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1929Carl Benz, German engineer and businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz
  • 1841William Henry Harrison, American general and politician, 9th President of the United States
  • 911AD 911, Chinese warlord and governor

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

Born on this day?

Make your birthday card.

Drop in your birth year and we'll work out your exact age, the day of the week you were born, your Chinese zodiac, your generation, and the countdown to your next candle.