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On This Day · The 216th day of the year

August 4

A look at August 4 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Barack Obama and Louis Armstrong, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♌ZodiacLeo ◈BirthstonePeridot ❀Birth flowerGladiolus
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2020

    2020 Beirut explosion

    Beirut Port explosion: At least 220 people are killed and over 5,000 are wounded when 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate explodes in Beirut, Lebanon.

    Ammonium nitrate explosion in
  2. 1983

    Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo

    Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, president of the military government of Upper Volta, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Captain Thomas Sankara.

    Burkinabé politician (born 1942)
  3. 1969

    Vietnam War

    Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuân Thuỷ begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.

    1955–1975 war in Southeast
  4. 1914

    World War I

    World War I: In response to the German invasion of Belgium, Belgium and the British Empire declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.

    1914–1918 global conflict
  5. 1892

    Lizzie Borden

    The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. She will be tried and acquitted for the crimes a year later.

    American acquitted murder suspect
  6. 1796

    French Revolutionary Wars

    French Revolutionary Wars: Napoleon leads the French Army of Italy to victory in the Battle of Lonato.

    1792–1802 wars
  7. 1791

    Treaty of Sistova

    The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman–Habsburg wars.

    Treaty ending the Austro-Turkish
  8. 1783

    Mount Asama

    Mount Asama erupts in Japan, killing about 1,400 people (Tenmei eruption). The eruption causes a famine, which results in an additional 20,000 deaths.

    Volcano on the island
  9. 1704

    War of the Spanish Succession

    War of the Spanish Succession: Gibraltar is captured by an English and Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles.

    1701–1714 European great power
  10. 1265

    Second Barons' War

    Second Barons' War: Battle of Evesham: The army of Prince Edward (the future king Edward I of England) defeats the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, killing de Montfort and many of his allies.

    1264–67 civil war in
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Famous birthday twins

Born on August 4

Barack Obama

b. 1961

American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate

Louis Armstrong

b. 1901

American trumpet player and singer

Külüg Khan

b. 1281

Emperor Wuzong of Yuan

Frances Allen

b. 1932

American computer scientist and academic

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

b. 1900

of the United Kingdom

William Rowan Hamilton

b. 1805

Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician

Marreese Speights

b. 1987

American basketball player

Cicinho (footballer, born 1986)

b. 1986

Brazilian footballer

Deaths

  • 1997Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian; holds records for the world's substantiated longest-lived person
  • 1962Marilyn Monroe, American model and actress
  • 1922Enver Pasha, Ottoman general and politician
  • 1875Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet
  • 1306Wenceslaus III of Bohemia, King of Bohemia and Poland from 1305 to 1306
  • 1060Henry I of France, King of the Franks from 1031 to 1060

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Aristarchus
  • —Christian feast day: Euphronius
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Frédéric Janssoone
  • —Christian feast day: John Vianney
  • —Christian feast day: Molua (or Lua)
  • —Christian feast day: Raynerius of Split
  • —Christian feast day: Sithney, patron saint of mad dogs
  • —Christian feast day: August 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

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