November 4

Historic Events

2025

UPS Airlines Flight 2976, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F crashes into multiple buildings during takeoff at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing 15 people, including the 3 crew members. ›

2022

The Khash massacre, which refers to the repression of protesters by Iranian security forces, resulting in 18 deaths and more than 20 injuries. ›

2020

The Tigray War begins with Tigrayan rebels launching attacks on Ethiopian command centers. ›

2015

A cargo plane crashes shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan, killing at least 37 people. ›

2015

A building collapses in the Pakistani city of Lahore resulting in at least 45 deaths and at least 100 injuries. ›

2010

Aero Caribbean Flight 883 crashes into Guasimal, Sancti Spíritus; all 68 passengers and crew are killed. ›

2010

Qantas Flight 32, an Airbus A380, suffers an uncontained engine failure over Indonesia shortly after taking off from Singapore, crippling the jet. The crew manage to safely return to Singapore, saving all 469 passengers and crew. ›

2008

Barack Obama becomes the first person of biracial or African-American descent to be elected as President of the United States. ›

2002

Chinese authorities arrest cyber-dissident He Depu for signing a pro-democracy letter to the 16th Communist Party Congress. ›

1995

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by an extremist Israeli. ›

1993

China Airlines Flight 605, a brand-new 747-400, overruns the runway at Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport. ›

1980

Ronald Reagan is elected as the 40th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter. ›

1979

Iran hostage crisis: A group of Iranian college students overruns the U.S. embassy in Tehran and takes 90 hostages. ›

1973

The Netherlands experiences the first car-free Sunday caused by the 1973 oil crisis. Highways are used only by cyclists and roller skaters. ›

1970

Vietnam War: The United States turns over control of the air base at Bình Thủy in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam. ›

1970

Salvador Allende takes office as President of Chile, the first Marxist to become president of a Latin American country through open elections. ›

1967

Iberia Flight 062 crashes in Blackdown, West Sussex, killing all 37 people on board including British actress June Thorburn. ›

1966

The Arno River floods Florence, Italy, to a maximum depth of 6.7 m (22 ft), leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. Venice is also submerged on the same day at its record all-time acqua alta of 194 cm (76 in). ›

1962

The United States concludes Operation Fishbowl, its final above-ground nuclear weapons testing series, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. ›

1960

At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Jane Goodall observes chimpanzees creating tools, the first-ever observation in non-human animals. ›

1956

Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country. ›

1952

The United States government establishes the National Security Agency, or NSA. ›

1944

World War II: The 7th Macedonian Liberation Brigade liberates Bitola for the Allies. ›

1944

World War II: Operation Pheasant, an Allied offensive to liberate North Brabant in the Netherlands, ends successfully. ›

1942

World War II: Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel begins a retreat of his forces after a costly defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein. The retreat would ultimately last five months. ›

1939

World War II: U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents. ›

1936

Spanish Civil War: Largo Caballero reshuffles his war cabinet, persuading the anarcho-syndicalist CNT to join the government. ›

1924

Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female elected as governor in the United States. ›

1922

In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. ›

1921

The Saalschutz Abteilung (hall defense detachment) of the Nazi Party is renamed the Sturmabteilung (storm detachment) after a large riot in Munich. ›

1921

Japanese prime minister Hara Takashi is assassinated in Tokyo. ›

1918

World War I: The Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria-Hungary is implemented. ›

1890

City and South London Railway: London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell. ›

1868

Camagüey, Cuba, revolts against Spain during the Ten Years' War. ›

1864

American Civil War: Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in materiel at the Battle of Johnsonville. ›

1852

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, becomes the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon expands to become Italy. ›

1847

Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish medical doctor, discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform. ›

1839

Newport Rising: The last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain. ›

1798

The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu begins. ›

1791

Northwest Indian War: The Western Confederacy of American Indians wins a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash. ›

1783

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 36 is performed for the first time in Linz, Austria. ›

1780

The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of Peru begins. ›

1737

The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is inaugurated in Naples, Italy. ›

1677

The future Mary II marries William, Prince of Orange; they later jointly reign over England, Scotland, and Ireland as William and Mary. ›

1576

Eighty Years' War: In Flanders, Spain captures Antwerp (which is nearly destroyed after three days). ›

1501

Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's first wife) meets Arthur, Prince of Wales, Henry VIII's older brother – they would later marry. ›

1493

Christopher Columbus reaches the Leeward Islands. ›

1429

Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier. ›

1354

War of the Straits: The Genoese fleet under Paganino Doria defeats and captures the entire Venetian fleet under Niccolò Pisani at the Battle of Sapienza. ›

512

Following Byzantine emperor Anastasius' deposition of Chalcedonian patriarchs and attempts to make Monophysite changes to liturgy, riots break out in Constantinople with a mob trying to proclaim Areobindus as emperor. ›