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August 4 is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 149 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 70 - The destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans.
- 1265 - Second Barons' War: Battle of Evesham - the army of Prince Edward (future 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. This is sometimes considered the end of the age of chivalry in England.
- 1578 - Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir - the Moroccans defeat the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal is defeated and killed in North Africa, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.
- 1693 - Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of Champagne.
- 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.
- 1789 - In France members of the National Constituent Assembly take an oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges.
- 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.
- 1821 - Atkinson & Alexander publish the Saturday Evening Post for the first time as a weekly newspaper.
- 1824 - Battle of Kos is fought between Turks and Greeks.
- 1854 - The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.
- 1873 - Indian Wars: whilst 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 Sioux (near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed).
- 1892 - The family of Lizzie Borden is found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home.
- 1902 - The Greenwich foot tunnel under the River Thames opens.
- 1906 - Central Railway Station, Sydney opens.
- 1914 - World War I: Germany invades Belgium. In response, the United Kingdom declares war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.
- 1916 - World War I: Liberia declares war on Germany.
- 1924 - Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.
- 1936 - Greek General Ioannis Metaxas, leader of the 4th of August Regime, suspends parliament and the Constitution and declares himself dictator.
- 1944 - The Holocaust: a tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse where they find Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family.
- 1946 - 1946 Dominican Republic earthquake: an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern Dominican Republic. 100 are killed and 20,000 are left homeless.
- 1947 - The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
- 1954 - The Government of Pakistan approves the National Anthem, written by Hafeez Jullundhry and composed by Ahmed G. Chagla.
- 1964 - American civil rights movement: civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: United States destroyers USS Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin. The destroyers open fire at what they believe were Vietnam People's Army torpedo boats, although subsequent research has raised doubts that the targets were real. This engagement has become known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.
- 1969 - Vietnam War: at the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, U.S. representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.
- 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 - US President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
- 1984 - The African republic 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".
- 1990 - The Invasion of Kuwait stops and becomes the Gulf War.
- 1991 - The Greek cruise ship Oceanos sinks off the Wild Coast of South Africa.
- 1993 - A federal judge sentences LAPD officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights.
- 1995 - Operation Storm begins in Croatia.
- 1997 - 185,000 Teamsters union United Parcel Service drivers walk off the job.
- 2002 - Soham murders: 10 year old school girls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells go missing from the town of Soham, Cambridgeshire.
- 2005 - Prime Minister Paul Martin announces that Michaëlle Jean will be Canada's 27th - and first black - Governor General.
- 2006 - Dame Silvia Cartwright steps down as the Governor-General of New Zealand and is replaced by The Honourable Anand Satyanand, who is sworn in on 23 August.
- 2007 - NASA's Phoenix spaceship is launched.
Births
- 1222 - Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, English soldier (d. 1262)
- 1290 - Duke Leopold I of Austria (d. 1326)
- 1521 - Pope Urban VII (d. 1590)
- 1604 - François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French writer (d. 1676)
- 1701 - Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (d. 1757)
- 1719 - Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German minerologist and geologist (d. 1767)
- 1721 - Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician (d. 1803)
- 1755 - Nicolas-Jacques Conté, French painter and inventor (d. 1805)
- 1792 - Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (d. 1822)
- 1805 - William Rowan Hamilton, Irish mathematician (d. 1865)
- 1821 - James White, American theologian (d. 1881)
- 1821 - Louis Vuitton, French designer (d. 1892)
- 1834 - John Venn, English mathematician (d. 1923)
- 1848 - Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general (d. 1926)
- 1859 - Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1952)
- 1865 - Gus Kempis, South African cricketer (d. 1890)
- 1867 - Jake Beckley, American baseball player (d. 1918)
- 1870 - Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish entertainer (d. 1950)
- 1884 - Henri Cornet, French cyclist (d. 1941)
- 1888 - Syedna Taher Saifuddin, Bohra spiritual leader (d. 1965)
- 1890 - Dolf Luque, Cuban baseball player (d. 1957)
- 1899 - Ezra Taft Benson, 13th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1994)
- 1900 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, (Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother), Queen consort of George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
- 1901 - Louis Armstrong, American jazz musician (d. 1971)
- 1901 - Clarence Passailaigue, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1972)
- 1902 - Wild Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (d. 1981)
- 1904 - Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist (d. 1969)
- 1904 - Joe Tate, English footballer (d. 1973)
- 1906 - Eugen Schuhmacher, German zoologist (d. 1973)
- 1906 - Marie-José of Belgium, queen of Italy (d. 2001)
- 1908 - Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor (d. 1994)
- 1909 - Glenn Cunningham, American runner (d. 1988)
- 1909 - Saunders Mac Lane, American mathematician (d. 2005)
- 1910 - William Schuman, American composer (d. 1992)
- 1910 - Anita Page, American actress (d.2008)
- 1912 - Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and mountaineer (d. 1999)
- 1912 - Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat (d. 1947)
- 1913 - Robert Hayden, American poet (d. 1980)
- 1915 - Warren Avis, American entrepreneur (d. 2007)
- 1918 - Iceberg Slim (a.k.a. Robert Beck), American author (d. 1992)
- 1920 - Helen Thomas, American journalist
- 1921 - Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2000)
- 1923 - Reg Grundy, Australian media and television mogul
- 1923 - Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, Pakistani satirical and humor writer
- 1927 - Jess Thomas, American tenor (d. 1993)
- 1928 - Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver (d. 2003)
- 1929 - Kishore Kumar, Indian singer and actor (d. 1987)
- 1930 - Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iranian shia cleric
- 1931 - Naren Tamhane, Indian cricketer (d. 2002)
- 1936 - Assia Djebar, Algerian writer and filmmaker
- 1937 - David Bedford, English musician
- 1938 - Ellen Schrecker, American college professor
- 1939 - Frank Vincent, American actor
- 1940 - Abdurrahman Wahid, 4th President of Indonesia
- 1940 - Timi Yuro, American singer (d. 2004)
- 1941 - Martin Jarvis, English actor
- 1941 - Ted Strickland, American politician and current Governor of Ohio
- 1942 - Don S. Davis, American actor and artist (d. 2008)
- 1942 - Cleon Jones, American baseball player
- 1942 - David Lange, New Zealand politician (d. 2005)
- 1943 - Bjørn Wirkola, Norwegian ski jumper
- 1944 - Richard Belzer, American actor and comedian
- 1944 - Doudou Ndoye-, Senegalese lawyer and politician
- 1946 - Maureen Starkey, ex-wife of Ringo Starr (d. 1994)
- 1947 - Klaus Schulze, German composer
- 1948 - Johnny Grubb, American baseball player
- 1949 - John Riggins, American football player
- 1952 - Moya Brennan, Irish singer
- 1952 - Gábor Demszky, Hungarian politician
- 1954 - François Valéry, French singer-songwriter and composer
- 1955 - Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
- 1955 - Alberto Gonzales, American U.S. Attorney General
- 1955 - Billy Bob Thornton, American actor and writer
- 1956 - Gerry Cooney, American boxer
- 1957 - Brooks D. Simpson, American historian
- 1957 - John Wark, Scottish footballer
- 1958 - Ian Broudie, English music producer and Lightning Seeds vocalist
- 1958 - Allison Hedge Coke, American poet and writer
- 1958 - Mary Decker, American athlete
- 1958 - Kym Karath, American actress
- 1959 - Robbin Crosby, American musician (Ratt) (d. 2002)
- 1959 - John Gormley, Irish politician
- 1960 - Dean Malenko, American professional wrestler
- 1960 - Bernard Rose, English director
- 1960 - Tim Winton, Australian author
- 1960 - José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish politician
- 1961 - Barack Obama, American president elect
- 1961 - Lauren Tom, American actress
- 1962 - Roger Clemens, American baseball player
- 1962 - Paul Reynolds, British musician
- 1963 - Andrew Bartlett, Australian politician
- 1964 - Gary King, British radio presenter
- 1965 - Dennis Lehane, American crime writer
- 1965 - Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish politician
- 1966 - Kensuke Sasaki, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1967 - Timothy Adams, American actor
- 1967 - Michael Marsh, American athlete
- 1968 - Daniel Dae Kim, American actor
- 1968 - Marcus Schenkenberg, Swedish model
- 1969 - Michael DeLuise, American actor
- 1969 - Troy O'Leary, American baseball player
- 1970 - John August, American screenwriter
- 1970 - Jarrod Donoman, American filmmaker
- 1970 - Steven Jack, South African cricketer
- 1971 - Jeff Gordon, American race car driver
- 1972 - Stefan Brogren, Canadian actor
- 1973 - Eva Amaral, Spanish singer and songwriter
- 1973 - Xavier Marchand, French swimmer
- 1974 - Kily González, Argentine footballer
- 1974 - Keenan Milton, Professional Skater
- 1975 - Andy Hallett, American actor
- 1975 - Daniella van Graas, Dutch model and actress
- 1976 - Andrew McLeod, Australian footballer
- 1977 - Frankie Kazarian, American professional wrestler
- 1977 - Luís Boa Morte, Portuguese footballer
- 1978 - Kurt Busch, American race car driver
- 1979 - Robin Peterson, South African cricketer
- 1980 - Richard Dawson, English cricketer
- 1981 - Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
- 1981 - Marques Houston, American singer and actor (IMx)
- 1981 - Ben Scott, English cricketer
- 1981 - Abigail Spencer, American actress
- 1985 - Mark Milligan, Australian footballer
- 1985 - Ha Seung-Jin, Korean basketball player
- 1985 - Luis Antonio Valencia, Ecuadorean footballer
- 1989 - Ashley Biggin, American actor
- 1989 - Jessica Mauboy, Australian singer (Young Divas)
- 1992 - Tiffany Evans, American singer
- 1992 - Dylan and Cole Sprouse, American child actors
Deaths
- 1060 - Henry I of France (b. 1008)
- 1113 - Gertrude of Saxony (b. 1030)
- 1265 - Killed in the Battle of Evesham:
- 1306 - Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (b. 1289)
- 1338 - Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, son of Edward I of England (b. 1300)
- 1526 - Juan Sebastián Elcano, Spanish explorer (b. 1476)
- 1578 - Sebastian of Portugal (b. 1554)
- 1578 - Thomas Stucley, English adventurer
- 1598 - William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, English statesman (b. 1520)
- 1612 - Hugh Broughton, English scholar (b. 1549)
- 1639 - Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican dramatist
- 1718 - René Lepage de Ste-Claire, lord-founder of the town of Rimouski, in New France (b. 1656)
- 1727 - Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (b. 1647)
- 1741 - Andrew Hamilton, American lawyer
- 1778 - Pierre de Rigaud, French colonial governor in North America (b. 1698)
- 1784 - Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (b. 1706)
- 1792 - John Burgoyne, British general (b. 1723)
- 1795 - Timothy Ruggles, American-born Tory politician (b. 1711)
- 1844 - Jakob Aall, Norwegian journalist and statesman (b. 1773)
- 1859 - Jean Vianney, French parish priest (b. 1786)
- 1873 - Viktor Hartmann, Russian painter (b. 1834)
- 1875 - Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer (b. 1805)
- 1900 - Isaac Levitan, Russian painter (b. 1860)
- 1914 - Jules Lemaître, French critic and dramatist (b. 1853)
- 1919 - Dave Gregory, Former Australian cricketer (b. 1845)
- 1938 - Pearl White, American actress (b. 1889)
- 1957 - Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, President of Brazil (b. 1869)
- 1958 - Ethel Anderson, Australian poet (b. 1883)
- 1967 - Peter Smith, English cricketer (b. 1908)
- 1976 - Roy Herbert Thomson, Canadian publisher (b. 1894)
- 1976 - Enrique Angelelli, Argentine bishop
- 1981 - Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1982 - Bruce Goff, American Architect (b. 1904)
- 1992 - Seicho Matsumoto, Japanese writer and journalist (b. 1909)
- 1993 - Bernard Barrow, American actor (b. 1927)
- 1996 - Geoff Hamilton, British gardener and broadcaster (b. 1936)
- 1997 - Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian; world's oldest human on record(b. 1875)
- 1998 - Yuri Artyukhin, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1930)
- 1999 - Victor Mature, American actor (b. 1915)
- 2000 - Leslie Glass, American adult film actress (b. 1963)
- 2001 - Lorenzo Music, American actor (b. 1937)
- 2002 - Holly Wells & Jessica Chapman, Soham murder victims (b. 1991, 1991)
- 2003 - Frederick Chapman Robbins, American Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1916)
- 2005 - Anatoly Larkin, Russian-American physicist (b. 1932)
- 2007 - Lee Hazlewood, American country singer, songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
- 2008 - Craig Jones, English motorcycle racer. (b. 1985)
Holidays and observances
External links
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