✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 277th day of the year

October 4

A look at October 4 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Louis X of France and Engelbert Dollfuss, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♎ZodiacLibra ◈BirthstoneOpal ❀Birth flowerMarigold
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2006

    WikiLeaks

    WikiLeaks is launched.

    News leak publishing organisation
  2. 1965

    Pope Paul VI

    Pope Paul VI begins the first papal visit to the Americas.

    Head of the Catholic
  3. 1941

    Willie Gillis

    Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

    Fictional character by Norman
  4. 1927

    Gutzon Borglum

    Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.

    American sculptor (1867–1941)
  5. 1925

    Great Syrian Revolt

    Great Syrian Revolt: Rebels led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji capture Hama from the French Mandate of Syria.

    1925–27 uprising against French
  6. 1917

    World War I

    World War I: The Battle of Broodseinde is fought between the British and German armies in Flanders.

    1914–1918 global conflict
  7. 1876

    Texas A&M University

    The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now known as Texas A&M) opens as the first public college in Texas.

    Public land-grant university in
  8. 1862

    American Civil War

    American Civil War: The two-day Second Battle of Corinth ends in a Union victory, with General William Rosecrans protecting the critical rail junction of Corinth, Mississippi from Confederate forces under General Earl Van Dorn.

    1861–1865 conflict in the
  9. 1636

    Thirty Years' War

    Thirty Years' War: The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.

    Major war in Central
  10. 1582

    Gregorian calendar

    The Gregorian Calendar is introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.

    Internationally accepted civil calendar
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Famous birthday twins

Born on October 4

Louis X of France

b. 1289

King of France and Navarre

Engelbert Dollfuss

b. 1892

Austrian soldier and politician, 14th Federal Chancellor of Austria

Léon Serpollet

b. 1858

French businessman

Tomáš Rosický

b. 1980

Czech footballer

Marina Weisband

b. 1987

German politician

Rutherford B. Hayes

b. 1822

American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States

Richard Sorge

b. 1895

German journalist and spy

Melissa Benoist

b. 1988

American actress and singer

Deaths

  • 1997Otto Ernst Remer, German general
  • 1992Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver
  • 1989Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter, member of Monty Python
  • 1970Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter
  • 1947Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1669Rembrandt, Dutch painter and illustrator

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Amun
  • —Christian feast day: Francis of Assisi Conclusion of Creationtide
  • —Christian feast day: Petronius of Bologna
  • —Christian feast day: October 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Cinnamon Roll Day (Sweden and Finland)
  • —Day of Peace and Reconciliation (Mozambique)
  • —Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Lesotho from the United Kingdom in 1966.
  • —The beginning of World Space Week (International)

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