Date·Lore

On This Day · The 216th day of the year

August 4

August 4 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1265 and 2020. 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.

♌ZodiacLeo ◈BirthstonePeridot ❀Birth flowerGladiolus

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on August 4?

August 4 is the 216th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1265 and 2020. Famous people born on August 4 include Barack Obama, Louis Armstrong and Külüg Khan.

The shape of the day

From 1265 to 2020, August 4 gathers 755 years of history. Most of the weight falls in the 18th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

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

Released on August 4

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Game Beast of Reincarnation

2025

  • Game Bee Simulator: The Hive
  • Movie Weapons

2022

  • Game Love, Money, Rock'n'Roll

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 1791

    Treaty of Sistova

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

  5. 1796

    French Revolutionary Wars

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

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

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
  • 1962Marilyn Monroe
  • 1922Enver Pasha
  • 1875Hans Christian Andersen
  • 1306Wenceslaus III of Bohemia
  • 1060Henry I of France

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)

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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