Date·Lore

On This Day · The 4th day of the year

January 4

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Korean War — January 4 carries the weight of round numbers. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

♑ZodiacCapricorn ◈BirthstoneGarnet ❀Birth flowerCarnation

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

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on January 4?

January 4 is the 4th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1762 and 2019. Famous people born on January 4 include Jacob Grimm, Emperor Zhezong and Gao Xingjian.

Released on January 4

Movies, games, albums & shows

2024

  • TV Chained Soldier
  • TV Delicious in Dungeon

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1762

    Spain

  2. 1853

    Solomon Northup

  3. 1896

    Utah

  4. 1909

    Aeneas Mackintosh

  5. 1944

    World War II

  6. 1951

    Korean War

  7. 1972

    Rose Heilbron

  8. 2004

    Spirit (rover)

  9. 2010

    Burj Khalifa

  10. 2019

    Koszalin escape room fire

Famous birthday twins

Born on January 4

Jacob Grimm

b. 1785

Emperor Zhezong

b. 1077

Gao Xingjian

b. 1940

Günter Schabowski

b. 1929

Johann Friedrich Agricola

b. 1720

Carl Humann

b. 1839

Marianne Werner

b. 1924

Georg Elser

b. 1903

Deaths

  • 2010Tsutomu Yamaguchi
  • 1965T. S. Eliot
  • 1961Erwin Schrödinger
  • 1960Albert Camus
  • 1943Marina Raskova
  • 1941Henri Bergson

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Angela of Foligno
  • —Christian feast day: Elizabeth Ann Seton
  • —Christian feast day: Ferréol of Uzès
  • —Christian feast day: Mavilus
  • —Christian feast day: Pharaildis of Ghent
  • —Christian feast day: Rigobert
  • —Christian feast day: January 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —The eleventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas. (Western Christianity)

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn 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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