August 4 is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years ) in the Gregorian calendar ; 149 days remain until the end of the year.

Events [ edit ]

Pre-1600 [ edit ]

• 598 – Goguryeo-Sui War : In response to a Goguryeo (Korean) incursion into Liaoxi, Emperor Wendi of Sui orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong ), to conquer Goguryeo during the Manchurian rainy season, with a Chinese army and navy. ^[1]
• 1265 – 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.
• 1327 – First War of Scottish Independence : James Douglas leads a raid into Weardale and almost kills Edward III of England .
• 1578 – Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir : The Moroccans defeat the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal is killed in the battle, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry , as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.

1601?1900 [ edit ]

• 1693 – Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon 's invention of champagne ; it is not clear whether he actually invented champagne , however he has been credited as an innovator who developed the techniques used to perfect sparkling wine .
• 1701 – Great Peace of Montreal between New France and First Nations is signed.
• 1704 – 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 .
• 1783 – 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.
• 1789 – France : abolition of feudalism by the National Constituent Assembly .
• 1790 – A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard ).
• 1791 – The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman?Habsburg wars .
• 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars : Napoleon leads the French Army of Italy to victory in the Battle of Lonato .
• 1821 – The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper.
• 1854 – The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.
• 1863 – Matica slovenska , Slovakia 's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation , is established in Martin .
• 1873 – American Indian Wars : While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana , the United States 7th Cavalry , under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer clashes for the first time with the Cheyenne and Lakota people near the Tongue River ; only one man on each side is killed.
• 1889 – The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.
• 1892 – 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.

1901?present [ edit ]

• 1914 – 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.
• 1915 – World War I: The German 12th Army occupies Warsaw during the Gorlice?Tarnow Offensive and the Great Retreat of 1915 .
• 1921 – Bolshevik?Makhnovist conflict : Mikhail Frunze declares victory over the Makhnovshchina . ^[2]
• 1924 – Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.
• 1936 – Prime Minister of Greece Ioannis Metaxas suspends parliament and the Constitution and establishes the 4th of August Regime .
• 1944 – The Holocaust : A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find and arrest Jewish diarist Anne Frank , her family, and four others.
• 1944 – Under the state of emergency law, the Finnish Parliament elects Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim as the President of Finland to replace the resigned Risto Ryti . ^{[3] [4]}
• 1946 – An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern Dominican Republic . One hundred are killed and 20,000 are left homeless.
• 1947 – The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
• 1964 – Civil rights movement : Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner , Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21 .
• 1964 – Second Gulf of Tonkin Incident : U.S. destroyers USS  Maddox and USS  Turner Joy mistakenly report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• 1965 – The Constitution of the Cook Islands comes into force, giving the Cook Islands self-governing status within New Zealand.
• 1969 – Vietnam War : At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thu? begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.
• 1972 – Ugandan President Idi Amin announces that Uganda is no longer responsible for the care of British subjects of Asian origin , beginning the expulsions of Ugandan Asians . ^[5]
• 1974 – A bomb explodes in the Italicus Express train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro , Italy, killing 12 people and wounding 22.
• 1975 – The Japanese Red Army takes more than 50 hostages at the AIA Building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia . The hostages include the U.S. consul and the Swedish Charge d'affaires . The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya .
• 1977 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy .
• 1983 – Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo , president of the military government of Upper Volta, is ousted from power in a coup d'etat led by Captain Thomas Sankara . ^[6]
• 1984 – The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso .
• 1987 – The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to present controversial issues "fairly".
• 1995 – Operation Storm begins in Croatia .
• 2006 – A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).
• 2007 – NASA 's Phoenix spacecraft is launched.
• 2018 – Syrian civil war : The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) expel the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the Iraq?Syria border , concluding the second phase of the Deir ez-Zor campaign . ^[7]
• 2019 – Nine people are killed and 26 injured in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio . This comes only 13 hours after another mass shooting in El Paso, Texas , where 23 people were killed. ^{[8] [9]}
• 2020 – 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 . ^[10]

Births [ edit ]

Pre-1600 [ edit ]

• 1222 – Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester , English soldier (d. 1262)
• 1281 – Kulug Khan, Emperor Wuzong of Yuan (d. 1311)
• 1290 – Leopold I, Duke of Austria (d. 1326)
• 1463 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici , Florentine patron of the arts (d. 1503)
• 1469 – Margaret of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Luneburg (d. 1528)
• 1470 – Bernardo Dovizi , Italian cardinal (d. 1520)
• 1470 – Lucrezia de' Medici , Italian noblewoman (d. 1553)
• 1521 – Pope Urban VII (d. 1590)
• 1522 – Udai Singh II , King of Mewar (d. 1572)

1601?1900 [ edit ]

• 1604 – Francois Hedelin, abbe d'Aubignac , French cleric and author (d. 1676)
• 1623 – Friedrich Casimir, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1641?1680) and Hanau-Munzenberg (1642?1680) (d. 1685)
• 1701 – Thomas Blackwell , Scottish historian and scholar (d. 1757)
• 1704 – Louis d'Orleans, Duke of Orleans (d. 1752)
• 1719 – Johann Gottlob Lehmann , German mineralogist and geologist (d. 1767)
• 1721 – Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford , English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1803)
• 1755 – Nicolas-Jacques Conte , French soldier, painter, balloonist, and inventor (d. 1805)
• 1792 – Percy Bysshe Shelley , English poet and playwright (d. 1822)
• 1805 – William Rowan Hamilton , Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1865)
• 1821 – Louis Vuitton , French fashion designer, founded Louis Vuitton (d. 1892)
• 1821 – James Springer White , American religious leader, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (d. 1881)
• 1834 – John Venn , English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1923)
• 1836 – Jens Vilhelm Dahlerup , Danish architect (d. 1907)
• 1839 – Walter Pater , English author, critic, and academic (d. 1894)
• 1844 – Henri Berger , German composer and bandleader (d. 1929)
• 1853 – John Henry Twachtman , American painter, etcher, and academic (d. 1902)
• 1859 – Knut Hamsun , Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952)
• 1861 – Daniel Edward Howard , 16th president of Liberia (d. 1935) ^[11]
• 1867 – Jake Beckley , American baseball player and coach (d. 1918)
• 1868 – Master C. V. V. , Indian philosopher, yogi and guru (d. 1922)
• 1870 – Harry Lauder , Scottish actor and singer (d. 1950)
• 1871 – William Holman , English-Australian politician, 19th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1934)
• 1876 – Giovanni Giuriati , Italian lawyer and politician (d. 1970)
• 1876 – John Scaddan , Australian politician, 10th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1934)
• 1877 – Dame Laura Knight , English artist (d. 1970) ^[12]
• 1884 – Bela Balazs , Hungarian poet and critic (d. 1949)
• 1884 – Henri Cornet , French cyclist (d. 1941)
• 1887 – Albert M. Greenfield , Ukrainian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Taher Saifuddin , Indian religious leader, 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq (d. 1965)
• 1890 – Dolf Luque , Cuban baseball player and manager (d. 1957)
• 1893 – Fritz Gause , German historian and curator (d. 1973)
• 1898 – Ernesto Maserati , Italian race car driver and engineer (d. 1975)
• 1899 – Ezra Taft Benson , American religious leader, 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1994)
• 1900 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (d. 2002)

1901?present [ edit ]

• 1901 – Louis Armstrong , American trumpet player and singer (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Clarence Passailaigue , Jamaican cricketer (d. 1972)
• 1902 – Bill Hallahan , American baseball player (d. 1981)
• 1904 – Witold Gombrowicz , Polish author and playwright (d. 1969)
• 1904 – Helen Kane , American singer and actress (d. 1966)
• 1904 – Joe Tate , English footballer and manager (d. 1973)
• 1905 – Abeid Karume , 1st President of Zanzibar (d. 1972) ^[13]
• 1906 – Eugen Schuhmacher , German zoologist, director, and producer (d. 1973)
• 1908 – Kurt Eichhorn , German conductor (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Glenn Cunningham , American runner and academic (d. 1988)
• 1910 – Anita Page , American actress (d. 2008) ^[14]
• 1910 – William Schuman , American composer and educator (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Hedda Sterne , Romanian-American painter and photographer (d. 2011)
• 1912 – Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov , Russian mathematician, physicist, and mountaineer (d. 1999)
• 1912 – David Raksin , American composer and educator (d. 2004) ^[15]
• 1912 – Raoul Wallenberg , Swedish architect and diplomat (d. 1947)
• 1913 – Wesley Addy , American actor (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Robert Hayden , American poet and educator (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Johann Niemann , German lieutenant (d. 1943)
• 1915 – Warren Avis , American businessman, founded Avis Rent a Car System (d. 2007)
• 1917 – John Fitch , American race car driver and engineer (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Brian Crozier , Australian-English historian and journalist (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Michel Deon , French novelist, playwright, and critic (d. 2016)
• 1920 – Helen Thomas , American journalist and author (d. 2013) ^[16]
• 1921 – Herb Ellis , American guitarist (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Maurice Richard , Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2000)
• 1922 – Mayme Agnew Clayton , American librarian (d. 2006) ^[17]
• 1922 – Luis Aponte Martinez , Puerto Rican cardinal (d. 2012)
• 1926 – George Irving Bell , American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Perry Moss , American football player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1928 – Christian Goethals , Belgian race car driver (d. 2003)
• 1928 – Gerard Damiano , American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1928 – Nade?ka Mosusova , Serbian composer
• 1929 – Kishore Kumar , Indian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1987)
• 1929 – Vellore G. Ramabhadran , Mridangam artiste from Tamil Nadu, India (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Ali al-Sistani , Iranian-Iraqi cleric and scholar
• 1931 – Naren Tamhane , Indian cricketer (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Frances E. Allen , American computer scientist and academic (d. 2020)
• 1932 – Liang Congjie , Chinese environmentalist, founded Friends of Nature (d. 2010)
• 1934 – Dallas Green , American baseball player and manager (d. 2017)
• 1935 – Carol Arthur , American actress and producer (d. 2020)
• 1935 – Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt , German footballer and coach (d. 1997)
• 1935 – Michael J. Noonan , Irish farmer and politician, 25th Minister of Defence for Ireland (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Giorgos Zographos , Greek singer and actor (d. 2005)
• 1937 – David Bedford , English keyboard player, composer, and conductor (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Ellen Schrecker , American historian and academic
• 1939 – Jack Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling , English politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
• 1939 – Frankie Ford , American R&B/rock and roll singer (d. 2015)
• 1940 – Coriun Aharonian , Uruguayan composer and musicologist (d. 2017) ^[18]
• 1940 – Robin Harper , Scottish academic and politician
• 1940 – Larry Knechtel , American bass player and pianist (d. 2009)
• 1940 – Frances Stewart , English economist and academic
• 1940 – Timi Yuro , American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
• 1941 – Martin Jarvis , English actor
• 1941 – Andy Smillie , English footballer
• 1941 – Cliff Nobles , American musician (d. 2008) ^[19]
• 1941 – Ted Strickland , American psychologist and politician, 68th Governor of Ohio
• 1942 – Don S. Davis , American actor (d. 2008) ^[20]
• 1942 – Cleon Jones , American baseball player
• 1942 – David Lange , New Zealand lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2005)
• 1943 – Vicente Alvarez Areces , Spanish politician, 6th President of the Principality of Asturias (d. 2019)
• 1943 – Barbara Saß-Viehweger , German politician, lawyer and civil law notary
• 1943 – Bjørn Wirkola , Norwegian ski jumper and footballer
• 1944 – Richard Belzer , American actor (d. 2023)
• 1944 – Doudou Ndoye , Senegalese lawyer and politician
• 1945 – Paul McCarthy , American painter and sculptor
• 1945 – Alan Mulally , American engineer and businessman
• 1946 – Aleksei Turovski , Estonian zoologist and ethologist
• 1947 – Klaus Schulze , German keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2022)
• 1948 – Johnny Grubb , American baseball player and coach
• 1949 – John Riggins , American football player, sportscaster, and actor
• 1950 – Caldwell Jones , American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1950 – N. Rangaswamy , Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of Puducherry
• 1951 – Peter Goodfellow , English geneticist and academic ^[21]
• 1952 – James Arbuthnot , English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
• 1952 – Moya Brennan , Irish singer-songwriter and harp player
• 1952 – Gabor Demszky , Hungarian sociologist, lawyer, and politician
• 1953 – Hiroyuki Usui , Japanese footballer and manager
• 1954 – Anatoliy Kinakh , Ukrainian engineer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Ukraine
• 1954 – Steve Phillips , English footballer
• 1954 – Francois Valery , Algerian-French singer-songwriter
• 1955 – Alberto Gonzales , American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 80th United States Attorney General
• 1955 – Billy Bob Thornton , American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1957 – Rupert Farley , British actor and voice actor
• 1957 – Brooks D. Simpson , American historian and author
• 1957 – Valdis Valters , Latvian basketball player and coach
• 1957 – John Wark , Scottish footballer and sportscaster
• 1958 – Allison Hedge Coke , American-Canadian poet and academic
• 1958 – Mary Decker , American runner
• 1958 – Silvan Shalom , Tunisian-Israeli sergeant and politician, 30th Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
• 1959 – Robbin Crosby , American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2002)
• 1959 – John Gormley , Irish politician, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government
• 1960 – Chuck C. Lopez , American jockey
• 1960 – Dean Malenko , American wrestler ^[22]
• 1960 – Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero , Spanish academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Spain
• 1960 – Bernard Rose , English director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
• 1960 – Tim Winton , Australian author and playwright
• 1961 – Barack Obama , American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States , Nobel Prize laureate ^[23]
• 1962 – Roger Clemens , American baseball player and actor
• 1962 – Paul Reynolds , English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1963 – Keith Maurice Ellison , 30th Attorney General of Minnesota
• 1964 – Andrew Bartlett , Australian social worker and politician
• 1965 – Vishal Bhardwaj , Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer ^{[24] [25]}
• 1965 – Adam Afriyie , English businessman and politician
• 1965 – Dennis Lehane , American author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1965 – Fredrik Reinfeldt , Swedish soldier and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Sweden ^[26]
• 1965 – Michael Skibbe , German footballer and manager
• 1967 – Michael Marsh , American sprinter
• 1968 – Daniel Dae Kim , South Korean-American actor
• 1968 – Lee Mack , English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Mark Bickley , Australian footballer and coach
• 1969 – Max Cavalera , Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1969 – Troy O'Leary , American baseball player
• 1970 – John August , American director and screenwriter
• 1970 – Bret Baier , American journalist
• 1970 – Steve House , American mountaineer
• 1970 – Steven Jack , South African cricketer
• 1970 – Kate Silverton , English journalist
• 1971 – Bethan Benwell , English linguist, author, and academic
• 1971 – Jeff Gordon , American race car driver and actor
• 1972 – Stefan Brogren , Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1973 – Eva Amaral , Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1973 – Xavier Marchand , French swimmer
• 1973 – Marek Penksa , Slovak footballer
• 1973 – Marcos Roberto Silveira Reis , Brazilian footballer
• 1974 – Kily Gonzalez , Argentine footballer
• 1975 – Andy Hallett , American actor and singer (d. 2009) ^[27]
• 1975 – Nikos Liberopoulos , Greek footballer
• 1975 – Jutta Urpilainen , Finnish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Finland
• 1975 – Daniella van Graas , Dutch model and actress
• 1976 – Paul Goldstein , American tennis player ^[28]
• 1976 – Andrew McLeod , Australian footballer
• 1976 – Trevor Woodman , English rugby player and coach
• 1977 – Frankie Kazarian , American wrestler
• 1977 – Luis Boa Morte , Portuguese footballer and manager
• 1978 – Jeremy Adduono , Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1978 – Luke Allen , American baseball player (d. 2022)
• 1978 – Kurt Busch , American race car driver
• 1978 – Agn? Eggerth , Lithuanian sprinter
• 1978 – Iban Espadas , Spanish footballer
• 1978 – Jon Knott , American baseball player
• 1978 – Karine Legault , Canadian swimmer
• 1978 – Sandeep Naik , Indian politician
• 1978 – Siri Nordby , Norwegian footballer
• 1978 – Ricardo Serrano , Spanish cyclist
• 1978 – Per-Age Skrøder , Norwegian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Satoshi Hino , Japanese voice actor
• 1979 – Robin Peterson , South African cricketer
• 1980 – Richard Dawson , English cricketer and coach
• 1981 – Marques Houston , American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1981 – Benjamin Lauth , German footballer
• 1981 – Abigail Spencer , American actress
• 1981 – Meghan, Duchess of Sussex , American actress and humanitarian, and member of British Royal Family
• 1983 – Greta Gerwig , American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1984 – Terry Campese , Australian rugby league player
• 1984 – Mardy Collins , American basketball player
• 1985 – Crystal Bowersox , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1985 – Robbie Findley , American soccer player
• 1985 – Mark Milligan , Australian footballer
• 1985 – Ha Seung-jin , South Korean basketball player
• 1985 – Antonio Valencia , Ecuadorean footballer
• 1986 – Nick Augusto , American drummer
• 1986 – Leon Camier , English motorcycle racer
• 1986 – Cicinho , Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Iosia Soliola , New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player
• 1986 – David Williams , Australian rugby league player
• 1987 – Jang Keun-suk , South Korean actor and singer
• 1987 – Marreese Speights American basketball player
• 1987 – Tomoya Warabino , Japanese actor
• 1988 – Carly Foulkes , Canadian model and actress
• 1988 – Kelley O'Hara , American soccer player ^[29]
• 1989 – Tomasz Kaczor , Polish sprint canoeist ^[30]
• 1989 – Jessica Mauboy , Australian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1989 – Wang Hao , Chinese chess player
• 1990 – Hikmet Balio?lu , Turkish footballer
• 1990 – Siim Tenno , Estonian footballer
• 1991 – Thiago Cardoso , Brazilian footballer
• 1991 – Izet Hajrovi? , Bosnian footballer
• 1992 – Daniele Garozzo , Italian fencer
• 1992 – Domingo German , Dominican baseball player ^[31]
• 1992 – Cole Sprouse , American actor ^[32]
• 1992 – Dylan Sprouse , American actor ^[32]
• 1995 – Bruna Marquezine , Brazilian actress

Deaths [ edit ]

Pre-1600 [ edit ]

• 221 – Lady Zhen , Chinese empress (b. 183)
• 966 – Berengar II of Italy (b. 900)
• 1060 – Henry I of France (b. 1008)
• 1113 – Gertrude of Saxony , countess and regent of Holland (b. c. 1030) ^[33]
• 1265 – Peter de Montfort , English politician (b. 1215)
• 1265 – Henry de Montfort (b. 1238)
• 1265 – Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester , French-English soldier and politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1208)
• 1265 – Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer , English politician (b. 1223)
• 1266 – Eudes of Burgundy , Count of Nevers (b. 1230)
• 1306 – Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (b. 1289) ^[34]
• 1345 – As-Salih Ismail, Sultan of Egypt (b. 1326)
• 1378 – Galeazzo II Visconti , Lord of Milan (b. c. 1320)
• 1430 – Philip I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1404)
• 1526 – Juan Sebastian Elcano , Spanish explorer and navigator (b. 1476)
• 1578 – Sebastian of Portugal (b. 1554)
• 1598 – William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , English academic and politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1520)

1601?1900 [ edit ]

• 1612 – Hugh Broughton , English scholar and theologian (b. 1549)
• 1639 – Juan Ruiz de Alarcon , Mexican actor and playwright (b. 1581)
• 1718 – Rene Lepage de Sainte-Claire , French-Canadian founder of Rimouski (b. 1656)
• 1727 – Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie , French general (b. 1647)
• 1741 – Andrew Hamilton , Scottish-American lawyer and politician (b. 1676) ^[35]
• 1778 – Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial , Canadian-French politician, Governor General of New France (b. 1698)
• 1792 – John Burgoyne , English general and politician (b. 1723)
• 1795 – Timothy Ruggles , American lawyer, jurist, and politician (b. 1711)
• 1804 – Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan , Scottish admiral (b. 1731)
• 1822 – Kristjan Jaak Peterson , Estonian poet and author (b. 1801)
• 1844 – Jacob Aall , Norwegian economist, historian, and politician (b. 1773)
• 1859 – John Vianney , French priest and saint (b. 1786)
• 1873 – Viktor Hartmann , Russian architect and painter (b. 1834)
• 1875 – Hans Christian Andersen , Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (b. 1805)
• 1886 – Samuel J. Tilden , American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of New York (b. 1814) ^[36]
• 1900 – Isaac Levitan , Russian painter and educator (b. 1860)

1901?present [ edit ]

• 1914 – Jules Lemaitre , French playwright and critic (b. 1853)
• 1919 – Dave Gregory , Australian cricketer and umpire (b. 1845)
• 1922 – Enver Pasha , Ottoman general and politician (b. 1881)
• 1932 – Alfred Henry Maurer , American painter (b. 1868)
• 1938 – Pearl White , American actress (b. 1889)
• 1940 – Ze'ev Jabotinsky , Ukrainian-American general, journalist, and activist (b. 1880)
• 1941 – Mihaly Babits , Hungarian poet and author (b. 1883)
• 1942 – Alberto Franchetti , Italian composer and educator (b. 1860)
• 1944 – Krzysztof Kamil Baczy?ski , Polish soldier and poet (b. 1921)
• 1957 – John Cain Sr. , Australian politician, 34th Premier of Victoria (b. 1882)
• 1957 – Washington Luis , Brazilian lawyer and politician, 13th President of Brazil (b. 1869)
• 1958 – Ethel Anderson , Australian poet, author, and painter (b. 1883) ^[37]
• 1959 – Jozsef Revai , Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1898)
• 1961 – Margarito Bautista , Nahua-Mexican evangelizer, theologian, and religious founder (b. 1878) ^[38]
• 1962 – Marilyn Monroe , American model and actress (b. 1926)
• 1964 – Natti-Jussi , Finnish lumberjack and forest laborer (b. 1890) ^[39]
• 1967 – Peter Smith , English cricketer (b. 1908)
• 1976 – Enrique Angelelli , Argentinian bishop and martyr (b. 1923)
• 1976 – Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet , Canadian-English publisher (b. 1894)
• 1977 – Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian , English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
• 1981 – Melvyn Douglas , American actor (b. 1901)
• 1982 – Bruce Goff , American architect, designed the Boston Avenue Methodist Church (b. 1904)
• 1985 – Don Whillans , English rock climber and mountaineer (b. 1933)
• 1990 – Ettore Maserati , Italian engineer and businessman (b. 1894)
• 1992 – Seich? Matsumoto , Japanese author (b. 1909)
• 1996 – Geoff Hamilton , English gardener, author, and television host (b. 1936)
• 1997 – Jeanne Calment , French super-centenarian; holds records for the world's substantiated longest-lived person (b. 1875)
• 1998 – Yury Artyukhin , Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Victor Mature , American actor (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Frederick Chapman Robbins , American pediatrician and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2004 – Mary Sherman Morgan , American chemist and engineer (b. 1921)
• 2004 – Hossein Panahi (Persian: ???? ?????), Iranian actor and poet (b. 1956)
• 2005 – Anatoly Larkin , Russian-American physicist and theorist (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Ivan Szabo , Hungarian economist and politician, Minister of Finance of Hungary (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Lee Hazlewood , American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
• 2007 – Raul Hilberg , Austrian-American political scientist and historian (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Craig Jones , English motorcycle racer (b. 1985)
• 2009 – Blake Snyder , American screenwriter and producer (b. 1957)
• 2011 – Naoki Matsuda , Japanese footballer (b. 1977)
• 2012 – Johnnie Bassett , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Brian Crozier , Australian-English journalist and historian (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Bud Riley , American football player and coach (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Keith H. Basso , American anthropologist and academic (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Art Donovan , American football player and radio host (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Olavi J. Mattila , Finnish engineer and politician, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Renato Ruggiero , Italian lawyer and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1930) ^[40]
• 2013 – Tony Snell , English lieutenant and pilot (b. 1922) ^[41]
• 2013 – Sandy Woodward , English admiral (b. 1932) ^[42]
• 2014 – James Brady , American activist and politician, 15th White House Press Secretary (b. 1940) ^[43]
• 2014 – Chester Crandell , American lawyer and politician (b. 1946) ^[44]
• 2014 – Jake Hooker , Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1953) ^[45]
• 2015 – Elsie Hillman , American philanthropist and politician (b. 1925) ^[46]
• 2015 – Les Munro , New Zealand soldier and pilot (b. 1919) ^[47]
• 2015 – John Rudometkin , American basketball player (b. 1940) ^[48]
• 2015 – Billy Sherrill , American songwriter and producer (b. 1936) ^[49]
• 2019 – Nuon Chea , Cambodian politician and theorist for the Khmer Rouge (b. 1926) ^[50]
• 2023 – Dalia Fadila , Israeli educator (b. 1971/1972) ^[51]

Holidays and observances [ edit ]

• Christian feast day :
  • Aristarchus
  • Euphronius
  • Blessed Frederic Janssoone
  • John Vianney
  • Molua (or Lua)
  • Raynerius of Split
  • Sithney , patron saint of mad dogs
  • August 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Coast Guard Day ( United States )
• Constitution Day (Cook Islands) ; first Monday in August ^[52]
• Matica slovenska Day ( Slovakia )
• Barack Obama Day in Illinois in the United States
• 2020 Beirut explosion commemoration day in Lebanon

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to August 4 .

• "On This Day" . BBC.
• The New York Times : On This Day
• "Historical Events on August 4" . OnThisDay.com.