April 4 facts for kids

2026 Calendar

April 4 in recent years

April 4 is the 94th day of the year (95th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 271 days remain until the end of the year. April 4th is a special day in history, filled with many important events, births, and deaths. From ancient times to today, this date has seen moments that shaped the world, from big political changes and scientific discoveries to the birth of famous people and the passing of influential figures. Let's explore some of the key happenings on this day!

Historical Events on April 4
Famous Births on April 4
Notable Deaths on April 4
Holidays and Observances
See also

Historical Events on April 4

Early History (Before 1600)

503 BC – A Roman general named Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrated a big victory parade after winning a battle against the Sabines.
190 – The general Dong Zhuo made his soldiers leave the capital city of Luoyang and burn it down.
611 – Uneh Chan, a Maya king from Calakmul, attacked and took over the rival city-state of Palenque in southern Mexico.
801 – King Louis the Pious captured Barcelona from the Moors after a long siege that lasted several months.
1268 – A peace agreement for five years was made between Venice and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
1423 – Tommaso Mocenigo, the leader (Doge) of Venice, passed away. During his time, Venice won battles against the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Gallipoli (1416).
1581 – Famous explorer Francis Drake was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth I after he sailed all the way around the world.

Later History (1601–1900)

1609 – People called Moriscos were forced to leave the Kingdom of Valencia.
1660 – King Charles II of Great Britain made the Declaration of Breda, promising to forgive people who had fought against the monarchy during the English Civil War.
1796 – Georges Cuvier gave the very first lecture on paleontology, which is the study of fossils.
1814 – Napoleon gave up his power (at first conditionally) and named his son Napoleon II as the new Emperor of the French. He fully gave up his power two days later.
1818 – The United States Congress officially adopted the flag of the United States with 13 stripes and one star for each state (there were 20 states at that time).
1841 – William Henry Harrison passed away from pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die while in office. He also had the shortest time as president. His Vice President, John Tyler, became the new President.
1860 – The Finnish markka was announced as the official money in the Grand Duchy of Finland.
1865 – During the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visited Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States, just one day after Union forces captured it.
1866 – Alexander II of Russia barely escaped an attempt on his life by Dmitry Karakozov in Saint Petersburg.
1887 – Argonia, Kansas elected Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.

Modern History (1901–Present)

1904 – Two strong earthquakes, around magnitude 7.1, hit Bulgaria. They were some of the biggest in Europe and caused a lot of damage and over 200 deaths.
1905 – In India, an earthquake hit the Kangra Valley, causing 20,000 deaths and destroying many buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj, and Dharamshala.
1913 – During the First Balkan War, Greek pilot Emmanouil Argyropoulos became the first pilot in the Hellenic Air Force to die when his plane crashed.
1925 – The Schutzstaffel (SS) was created under Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party in Germany.
1933 – The U.S. Navy airship USS Akron was destroyed off the New Jersey coast due to bad weather.
1944 – During World War II, Anglo-American forces bombed oil refineries in Bucharest, causing 3,000 civilian deaths.
1945 – World War II: United States Army troops freed the Ohrdruf forced labor camp in Germany.
1945 – World War II: United States Army troops captured Kassel.
1945 – World War II: Soviet Red Army troops freed Hungary from German control and then occupied the country themselves.
1946 – Greek judge and archaeologist Panagiotis Poulitsas became Prime Minister of Greece during the Greek Civil War.
1949 – During the Cold War, twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
1958 – The CND peace symbol was shown to the public for the first time in London.
1960 – France agreed to give independence to the Mali Federation, which was a union of Senegal and French Sudan.
1963 – The musical romantic comedy film Bye Bye Birdie, directed by George Sidney, was released.
1964 – The Beatles held the top five spots on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart.
1967 – Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech in New York City.
1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. passed away at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
1968 – Apollo program: NASA launched Apollo 6.
1969 – Dr. Denton Cooley put in the first temporary artificial heart.
1973 – The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were officially opened.
1973 – A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter plane, called the Hanoi Taxi, made the last flight of Operation Homecoming, bringing back prisoners of war.
1975 – Microsoft was started as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
1975 – During the Vietnam War, a United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy plane carrying orphans crashed near Saigon, South Vietnam, shortly after takeoff, causing 172 deaths.
1977 – Southern Airways Flight 242 crashed in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, resulting in 72 deaths.
1979 – Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan passed away.
1981 – During the Iran–Iraq War, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force attacked the H-3 Airbase and destroyed about 50 Iraqi aircraft.
1983 – Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Challenger made its first trip into space on STS-6.
1984 – President Ronald Reagan asked for a worldwide ban on chemical weapons.
1988 – Evan Mecham, the Governor of Arizona, was removed from office after his impeachment trial.
1990 – The current flag of Hong Kong was chosen for Hong Kong after it would no longer be a colony.
1991 – Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others died when a helicopter crashed into their airplane over a school in Merion, Pennsylvania.
1996 – Comet Hyakutake was photographed by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.
1997 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia was launched on STS-83, but the mission was cut short because of a fuel cell problem.
2002 – The MPLA government of Angola and UNITA rebels signed a peace treaty, ending the Angolan Civil War.
2009 – France announced that its military forces would fully rejoin NATO.
2010 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit south of the Mexico-USA border, causing two deaths and damaging buildings in both countries.
2017 – Syria carried out an air strike on Khan Shaykhun using chemical weapons, causing 89 civilian deaths.
2020 – China held a national day of mourning for those who died fighting the novel coronavirus disease outbreak.
2023 – Finland became a member of NATO after Turkey approved its request.

Famous Births on April 4

Born Before 1600

188 – Caracalla, a Roman emperor. (d. 217)
1436 – Amalia of Saxony, Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut. (d. 1501)
1490 – Vojtěch I of Pernstein, a Bohemian nobleman. (d. 1534)
1492 – Ambrosius Blarer, a German-Swiss religious reformer. (d. 1564)
1572 – William Strachey, an English author. (d. 1621)
1586 – Richard Saltonstall, an English diplomat. (d. 1661)
1593 – Edward Nicholas, an English soldier and politician. (d. 1669)

Born 1601–1900

1640 – Gaspar Sanz, a Spanish guitarist and composer. (d. 1710)
1646 – Antoine Galland, a French scholar of Eastern cultures. (d. 1715)
1648 – Grinling Gibbons, a Dutch-English sculptor. (d. 1721)
1676 – Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, an Italian composer. (d. 1760)
1688 – Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, a French astronomer. (d. 1768)
1718 – Benjamin Kennicott, an English religious scholar. (d. 1783)
1752 – Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, an Italian composer. (d. 1837)
1760 – Juan Manuel Olivares, a Venezuelan organist and composer. (d. 1797)
1762 – Stephen Storace, an English actor and composer. (d. 1796)
1772 – Nachman of Breslov, founder of a Hasidic movement. (d. 1810)
1780 – Edward Hicks, an American minister and painter. (d. 1849)
1785 – Bettina von Arnim, a German author and composer. (d. 1859)
1792 – Thaddeus Stevens, an American lawyer and politician. (d. 1868)
1802 – Dorothea Dix, an American nurse and activist. (d. 1887)
1818 – Thomas Mayne Reid, an Irish-American author. (d. 1883)
1819 – Maria II of Portugal. (d. 1853)
1821 – Linus Yale Jr., an American engineer and businessman. (d. 1868)
1826 – Zénobe Gramme, a Belgian engineer who invented the Gramme machine. (d. 1901)
1829 – Owen Suffolk, an Australian author. (d. ?)
1835 – John Hughlings Jackson, an English physician. (d. 1911)
1842 – Édouard Lucas, a French mathematician. (d. 1891)
1843 – William Henry Jackson, an American painter and photographer. (d. 1942)
1846 – Comte de Lautréamont, a Uruguayan-French poet. (d. 1870)
1851 – James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, an Irish lawyer and politician. (d. 1931)
1853 – Remy de Gourmont, a French poet and critic. (d. 1915)
1868 – Philippa Fawcett, an English mathematician. (d. 1948)
1869 – Mary Colter, an American architect. (d. 1958)
1875 – Pierre Monteux, a French-American conductor. (d. 1964)
1876 – Maurice de Vlaminck, a French painter. (d. 1958)
1878 – Walter Conrad Arensberg, an American art collector and poet. (d. 1954)
1878 – Stylianos Lykoudis, a Greek admiral and historian. (d. 1958)
1879 – Gustav Goßler, a German rower. (d. 1940)
1884 – James Alberione, an Italian priest. (d. 1971)
1884 – Isoroku Yamamoto, a Japanese admiral. (d. 1943)
1886 – Frank Luther Mott, an American historian and journalist. (d. 1964)
1888 – Tris Speaker, an American baseball player. (d. 1958)
1888 – Zdzisław Żygulski, Sr., a Polish historian. (d. 1975)
1889 – Makhanlal Chaturvedi, an Indian journalist and poet. (d. 1968)
1892 – Italo Mus, an Italian painter. (d. 1967)
1892 – Edith Södergran, a Swedish-Finnish poet. (d. 1923)
1895 – Arthur Murray, an American dancer and educator. (d. 1991)
1896 – Robert E. Sherwood, an American playwright. (d. 1955)
1897 – Pierre Fresnay, a French actor. (d. 1975)
1898 – Agnes Ayres, an American actress. (d. 1940)
1899 – Hillel Oppenheimer, a German-Israeli botanist. (d. 1971)

Born 1901–Present

1902 – Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin, a French journalist and author. (d. 1969)
1902 – Stanley G. Weinbaum, an American author. (d. 1935)
1905 – Eugène Bozza, a French composer. (d. 1991)
1905 – Erika Nõva, an Estonian architect. (d. 1987)
1906 – Bea Benaderet, an American actress. (d. 1968)
1906 – John Cameron Swayze, an American journalist. (d. 1995)
1907 – Robert Askin, an Australian politician. (d. 1981)
1910 – Đặng Văn Ngữ, a Vietnamese physician. (d. 1967)
1913 – Dave Brown, an Australian rugby player. (d. 1974)
1913 – Rosemary Lane, an American actress and singer. (d. 1974)
1913 – Frances Langford, an American actress and singer. (d. 2005)
1913 – Jules Léger, a Canadian politician. (d. 1980)
1913 – Muddy Waters, an American singer-songwriter. (d. 1983)
1914 – Richard Coogan, an American actor. (d. 2014)
1914 – Marguerite Duras, a French novelist and director. (d. 1996)
1914 – David W. Goodall, an Australian ecologist. (d. 2018)
1915 – Louis Archambault, a Canadian sculptor. (d. 2003)
1916 – Nikola Ljubičić, a Serbian general and politician. (d. 2005)
1916 – Mickey Owen, an American baseball player. (d. 2005)
1916 – David White, an American actor. (d. 1990)
1918 – George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, an English soldier and politician. (d. 2007)
1920 – Ignatius IV of Antioch, a Greek patriarch. (d. 2012)
1921 – Orunamamu, an American-Canadian author. (d. 2014)
1921 – Elizabeth Wilson, an American actress. (d. 2015)
1922 – Elmer Bernstein, an American composer. (d. 2004)
1923 – Peter Vaughan, an English actor. (d. 2016)
1923 – Gene Reynolds, an American actor and director. (d. 2020)
1924 – Bob Christie, an American race car driver. (d. 2009)
1924 – Gil Hodges, an American baseball player. (d. 1972)
1925 – Dettmar Cramer, a German footballer and manager. (d. 2015)
1925 – Frank Truitt, an American basketball player. (d. 2014)
1925 – Claude Wagner, a Canadian lawyer and politician. (d. 1979)
1925 – Emmett Williams, an American poet. (d. 2007)
1926 – Ronnie Masterson, an Irish actress. (d. 2014)
1927 – Joe Orlando, an Italian-American author and illustrator. (d. 1998)
1928 – Maya Angelou, an American memoirist and poet. (d. 2014)
1928 – Jimmy Logan, a Scottish actor. (d. 2001)
1928 – Monty Norman, an English singer-songwriter. (d. 2022)
1929 – Humbert Allen Astredo, an American actor. (d. 2016)
1930 – Netty Herawaty, an Indonesian actress. (d. 1989)
1931 – James Dickens, an English politician. (d. 2013)
1931 – Bobby Ray Inman, an American admiral.
1931 – Catherine Tizard, a New Zealand politician. (d. 2021)
1932 – Clive Davis, an American record producer.
1932 – Richard Lugar, an American politician. (d. 2019)
1932 – Anthony Perkins, an American actor. (d. 1992)
1932 – Johanna Reiss, a Dutch-American author.
1932 – Andrei Tarkovsky, a Russian director. (d. 1986)
1933 – Bill France Jr., an American businessman. (d. 2007)
1933 – Brian Hewson, an English runner. (d. 2022)
1933 – Bapu Nadkarni, an Indian cricketer. (d. 2020)
1934 – Helen Hanft, an American actress. (d. 2013)
1934 – Kronid Lyubarsky, a Russian journalist and activist. (d. 1996)
1935 – Geoff Braybrooke, an English-New Zealand soldier and politician. (d. 2013)
1935 – Kenneth Mars, an American actor. (d. 2011)
1935 – Trevor Griffiths, an English playwright.
1938 – A. Bartlett Giamatti, an American businessman and academic. (d. 1989)
1939 – JoAnne Carner, an American golfer.
1939 – Darlene Hooley, an American educator and politician.
1939 – Hugh Masekela, a South African trumpeter and singer. (d. 2018)
1940 – Richard Attwood, an English race car driver.
1940 – Sharon Sheeley, an American singer-songwriter. (d. 2002)
1941 – Zia Uddin, a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar.
1942 – Jim Fregosi, an American baseball player. (d. 2014)
1942 – Kitty Kelley, an American journalist.
1942 – Elizabeth Levy, an American author.
1944 – Magda Aelvoet, a Belgian politician.
1944 – Mary Kenny, an Irish journalist.
1944 – Bob McDill, an American country music songwriter.
1944 – Craig T. Nelson, an American actor.
1944 – Nelson Prudêncio, a Brazilian triple jumper. (d. 2012)
1944 – Toktamış Ateş, a Turkish academic. (d. 2013)
1945 – Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a French-German educator and politician.
1945 – Caroline McWilliams, an American actress. (d. 2010)
1946 – Colin Coates, an Australian speed skater.
1946 – Dave Hill, an English guitarist.
1946 – Katsuaki Satō, a Japanese martial artist.
1946 – György Spiró, a Hungarian author.
1946 – Bubba Wyche, an American football player.
1947 – Wiranto, an Indonesian general and politician.
1947 – Ray Fosse, an American baseball player. (d. 2021)
1947 – Eliseo Soriano, a Filipino minister. (d. 2021)
1948 – Abdullah Öcalan, a Turkish activist.
1948 – Berry Oakley, an American bass player. (d. 1972)
1948 – Richard Parsons, an American businessman.
1948 – Dan Simmons, an American author.
1948 – Derek Thompson, a Northern Irish actor.
1948 – Pick Withers, an English drummer.
1949 – Junior Braithwaite, a Jamaican-American singer. (d. 1999)
1949 – Litsa Diamanti, a Greek singer.
1949 – Shing-Tung Yau, a Chinese-American mathematician.
1950 – Christine Lahti, an American actress and director.
1951 – John Hannah, an American football player.
1952 – Rosemarie Ackermann, a German high jumper.
1952 – Pat Burns, a Canadian ice hockey coach. (d. 2010)
1952 – Gregg Hansford, an Australian race car driver. (d. 1995)
1952 – Cherie Lunghi, an English actress.
1952 – Karen Magnussen, a Canadian figure skater.
1952 – Gary Moore, a Northern Irish singer-songwriter. (d. 2011)
1952 – Villy Søvndal, a Danish politician.
1953 – Robert Bertrand, a Canadian politician.
1953 – Henry Fotheringham, a South African cricketer.
1953 – Simcha Jacobovici, a Canadian director and journalist.
1953 – Sammy Wilson, a Northern Irish politician.
1953 – Chen Yi, a Chinese violinist and composer.
1956 – Evelyn Hart, a Canadian ballerina.
1956 – Tom Herr, an American baseball player.
1956 – David E. Kelley, an American screenwriter.
1957 – Paul Downton, an English cricketer.
1957 – Aki Kaurismäki, a Finnish director.
1957 – Graeme Kelling, a Scottish guitarist. (d. 2004)
1957 – Nobuyoshi Kuwano, a Japanese singer.
1958 – Peter Baltes, a German bass player.
1958 – Cazuza, a Brazilian singer-songwriter. (d. 1990)
1958 – Rodney Eade, an Australian footballer.
1959 – Phil Morris, an American actor.
1960 – Jonathan Agnew, an English cricketer and sportscaster.
1960 – Jane Eaglen, an English soprano.
1960 – Godknows Igali, a Nigerian diplomat.
1960 – Hugo Weaving, a Nigerian-Australian actor.
1961 – Hildi Santo-Tomas, an American interior decorator.
1962 – Craig Adams, an English bass player.
1962 – Kailasho Devi, an Indian social worker and politician.
1963 – A. Michael Baldwin, an American actor.
1963 – Jack Del Rio, an American football player and coach.
1963 – Dale Hawerchuk, a Canadian ice hockey player. (d. 2020)
1963 – Jane McDonald, an English singer.
1963 – Graham Norton, an Irish actor and talk show host.
1964 – Branco, a Brazilian footballer.
1964 – Dr. Chud, an American drummer.
1964 – Anthony Clark, an American actor.
1964 – David Cross, an American actor.
1964 – Satoshi Furukawa, a Japanese surgeon and astronaut.
1964 – Paul Parker, an English footballer.
1964 – Đặng Thân, a Vietnamese writer and poet.
1965 – Vinny Burns, an English guitarist.
1965 – Robert Downey Jr., an American actor.
1966 – Nancy McKeon, an American actress.
1966 – Mike Starr, an American bass player. (d. 2011)
1966 – Christos Tsekos, a Greek basketball player.
1967 – Edith Masai, a Kenyan-German runner.
1967 – George Mavrotas, a Greek water polo player and politician.
1968 – Jesús Rollán, a Spanish water polo player. (d. 2006)
1969 – Piotr Anderszewski, a Polish pianist.
1969 – Karren Brady, an English journalist and businesswoman.
1970 – Georgios Amanatidis, a Greek footballer.
1970 – Dimitris Basis, a Greek singer.
1970 – Greg Garcia, an American director.
1970 – Barry Pepper, a Canadian actor.
1970 – Jason Stoltenberg, an Australian tennis player.
1970 – Josh Todd, an American singer.
1970 – Yelena Yelesina, a Russian high jumper.
1971 – Yanic Perreault, a Canadian ice hockey player.
1971 – Malik Yusef, an American actor and poet.
1971 – John Zandig, an American wrestler.
1972 – Jim Dymock, an Australian rugby player.
1972 – Martin Rundkvist, a Swedish archaeologist.
1972 – Jill Scott, an American singer.
1972 – Magnus Sveningsson, a Swedish bass player.
1973 – Chris Banks, an American football player. (d. 2014)
1973 – David Blaine, an American magician.
1973 – Loris Capirossi, an Italian motorcycle racer.
1973 – Peter Hoekstra, a Dutch footballer.
1973 – Chris McCormack, an Australian triathlete.
1973 – Kelly Price, an American singer.
1975 – Delphine Arnault, a French businesswoman.
1975 – Thobias Fredriksson, a Swedish skier.
1975 – Joyce Giraud, a Puerto Rican actress.
1975 – Pamela Ribon, an American actress and author.
1975 – Miranda Lee Richards, an American singer-songwriter.
1975 – Scott Rolen, an American baseball player.
1975 – Kevin Weekes, a Canadian ice hockey player.
1976 – Nathan Blacklock, an Australian rugby player.
1976 – Sébastien Enjolras, a French race car driver. (d. 1997)
1976 – Emerson Ferreira da Rosa, a Brazilian footballer.
1976 – James Roday, an American actor.
1977 – Stephan Bonnar, an American mixed martial artist. (d. 2022)
1977 – Keith Bulluck, an American football player.
1977 – Adam Dutkiewicz, an American guitarist.
1977 – Stephen Mulhern, an English magician and TV host.
1977 – Omarr Smith, an American football player.
1978 – Jason Ellison, an American baseball player.
1978 – Alan Mahon, an Irish footballer.
1979 – Heath Ledger, an Australian actor. (d. 2008)
1979 – Roberto Luongo, a Canadian ice hockey player.
1979 – Natasha Lyonne, an American actress.
1979 – Andy McKee, an American guitarist.
1979 – Maksim Opalev, a Russian canoeist.
1980 – Johnny Borrell, an English singer-songwriter.
1980 – Trevor Moore, an American actor and director. (d. 2021)
1980 – Eric Steinbach, an American football player.
1980 – Björn Wirdheim, a Swedish race car driver.
1981 – Currensy, an American rapper.
1981 – Eduardo Luís Carloto, a Brazilian footballer.
1981 – Casey Daigle, an American baseball player.
1981 – Anna Pyatykh, a Russian triple jumper.
1981 – Ned Vizzini, an American author. (d. 2013)
1982 – Justin Cook, an American voice actor.
1982 – Magnus Lindgren, a Swedish chef. (d. 2012)
1983 – Evgeny Artyukhin, a Russian ice hockey player.
1983 – Eric André, an American comedian.
1983 – Ben Gordon, an American basketball player.
1983 – Doug Lynch, a Canadian ice hockey player.
1983 – Natalie Pike, a Scottish-English model.
1983 – Amanda Righetti, an American actress.
1984 – Sean May, an American basketball player.
1984 – Arkady Vyatchanin, a Russian swimmer.
1985 – Rudy Fernández, a Spanish basketball player.
1985 – Dudi Sela, an Israeli tennis player.
1985 – Ricardo Vilar, a Brazilian footballer.
1986 – Eunhyuk, a South Korean singer.
1986 – Cameron Barker, a Canadian ice hockey player.
1986 – Maurice Manificat, a French skier.
1986 – Aiden McGeady, an Irish footballer.
1986 – Alexander Tettey, a Norwegian footballer.
1987 – Sami Khedira, a German footballer.
1987 – McDonald Mariga, a Kenyan footballer.
1987 – Cameron Maybin, an American baseball player.
1987 – Marcos Vellidis, a Greek footballer.
1987 – Sarah Gadon, a Canadian actress.
1988 – Frank Fielding, an English footballer.
1989 – Vurnon Anita, a Dutch footballer.
1989 – Steven Finn, an English cricketer.
1989 – Chris Herd, an Australian footballer.
1991 – Yui Koike, a Japanese singer and actress.
1991 – Asia Muhammad, an American tennis player.
1991 – Justin O'Neill, an Australian rugby league player.
1991 – Martín Pérez, a Venezuelan baseball player.
1991 – Jamie Lynn Spears, an American actress and singer.
1991 – Marlon Stöckinger, a Filipino race car driver.
1992 – Lucy May Barker, an English actress and singer.
1992 – Christina Metaxa, a Cypriot singer-songwriter.
1992 – Ricky Dillon, an American YouTuber and singer.
1993 – Samir Carruthers, an English footballer.
1993 – Frank Kaminsky, an American basketball player.
1994 – Shunsuke Nishikawa, a Japanese actor.
1994 – Risako Sugaya, a Japanese singer and actress.
1996 – Austin Mahone, an American singer-songwriter.
2003 – Harvey Elliott, an English footballer.

Notable Deaths on April 4

Passed Away Before 1600

397 – Ambrose, a Roman archbishop and saint. (b. 338)
636 – Isidore of Seville, a Spanish archbishop and saint. (b. 560)
814 – Plato of Sakkoudion, a Byzantine monk and saint. (b. 735)
896 – Formosus, a pope of the Catholic Church. (b. 816)
911 – Liu Yin, a Chinese warlord. (b. 874)
931 – Kong Xun, a Chinese official. (b. 884)
968 – Abu Firas al-Hamdani, an Arab prince and poet. (b. 932)
991 – Reginold, a bishop.
1284 – Alfonso X, king of Castile and León. (b. 1221)
1292 – Nicholas IV, a pope of the Catholic Church. (b. 1227)
1406 – Robert III, king of Scotland. (b. 1337)
1483 – Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex. (b. c. 1405)
1536 – Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. (b. 1460)
1538 – Elena Glinskaya, a Grand Princess and regent of Russia.
1588 – Frederick II, king of Denmark and Norway. (b. 1534)
1589 – Benedict the Moor, a Sicilian Franciscan friar and saint. (b. 1526)
1596 – Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen. (b. 1533)

Passed Away 1601–1900

1609 – Carolus Clusius, a Flemish botanist. (b. 1526)
1617 – John Napier, a Scottish mathematician. (b. 1550)
1643 – Simon Episcopius, a Dutch theologian. (b. 1583)
1661 – Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, a Scottish field marshal. (b. 1580)
1743 – Daniel Neal, an English historian. (b. 1678)
1761 – Théodore Gardelle, a Swiss painter. (b. 1722)
1766 – John Taylor, an English scholar. (b. 1704)
1774 – Oliver Goldsmith, an Irish novelist and poet. (b. 1728)
1792 – James Sykes, an American lawyer. (b. 1725)
1807 – Jérôme Lalande, a French astronomer. (b. 1732)
1817 – André Masséna, a French general. (b. 1758)
1841 – William Henry Harrison, an American general and politician, and 9th President of the United States. (b. 1773)
1846 – Solomon Sibley, an American lawyer and politician. (b. 1769)
1861 – John McLean, an American judge and politician. (b. 1785)
1863 – Ludwig Emil Grimm, a German painter. (b. 1790)
1864 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, an American commander and paleontologist. (b. 1808)
1870 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, a German chemist and physicist. (b. 1802)
1874 – Charles Ernest Beulé, a French archaeologist. (b. 1826)
1875 – Karl Mauch, a German geographer and explorer. (b. 1837)
1879 – Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, a German physicist and meteorologist. (b. 1803)
1883 – Peter Cooper, an American businessman and philanthropist. (b. 1791)
1890 – Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, a Canadian lawyer and politician. (b. 1820)
1890 – Edmond Hébert, a French geologist. (b. 1812)

Passed Away 1901–Present

1912 – Charles Brantley Aycock, an American lawyer and politician. (b. 1859)
1912 – Isaac K. Funk, an American minister and publisher. (b. 1839)
1913 – Emmanouil Argyropoulos, a Greek pioneer aviator. (b. 1889)
1913 – Konstantinos Manos, a Greek politician and poet. (b. 1869)
1919 – William Crookes, an English chemist and physicist. (b. 1832)
1919 – Francisco Marto, a Portuguese saint. (b. 1908)
1923 – John Venn, an English mathematician who created the Venn diagram. (b. 1834)
1928 – Konstantinos Maleas, a Greek painter. (b. 1879)
1929 – Karl Benz, a German engineer and businessman who founded Mercedes-Benz. (b. 1844)
1931 – André Michelin, a French businessman who co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company. (b. 1853)
1932 – Wilhelm Ostwald, a Latvian-German chemist and Nobel Prize winner. (b. 1853)
1933 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, an American author. (b. 1842)
1944 – Morris H. Whitehouse, an American architect. (b. 1878)
1951 – George Albert Smith, an American religious leader. (b. 1870)
1953 – Carol II of Romania. (b. 1893)
1957 – E. Herbert Norman, a Canadian historian and diplomat. (b. 1909)
1958 – Johnny Stompanato, an American soldier and bodyguard. (b. 1925)
1961 – Harald Riipalu, an Estonian military commander. (b. 1912)
1961 – Simion Stoilow, a Romanian mathematician. (b. 1873)
1963 – Oskari Tokoi, a Finnish socialist and politician. (b. 1873)
1967 – Al Lewis, an American songwriter. (b. 1901)
1967 – Héctor Scarone, a Uruguayan footballer. (b. 1898)
1968 – Martin Luther King Jr., an American minister and activist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner. (b. 1929)
1972 – Adam Clayton Powell Jr., an American pastor and politician. (b. 1908)
1972 – Stefan Wolpe, a German-American composer. (b. 1902)
1976 – Harry Nyquist, a Swedish engineer. (b. 1889)
1977 – Andrey Dikiy, a Ukrainian-American journalist and historian. (b. 1893)
1979 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a Pakistani lawyer and politician. (b. 1928)
1979 – Edgar Buchanan, an American actor. (b. 1903)
1980 – Red Sovine, an American singer-songwriter. (b. 1917)
1983 – Gloria Swanson, an American actress. (b. 1899)
1983 – Bernard Vukas, a Croatian football player. (b. 1927)
1984 – Oleg Antonov, a Russian-Ukrainian engineer who founded Antonov Design Bureau. (b. 1906)
1985 – Kate Roberts, a Welsh author and activist. (b. 1891)
1987 – C. L. Moore, an American author. (b. 1911)
1987 – Chögyam Trungpa, a Tibetan guru and poet. (b. 1939)
1987 – Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, an Indian journalist and author. (b. 1911)
1991 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, a German footballer. (b. 1920)
1991 – Max Frisch, a Swiss playwright and novelist. (b. 1911)
1991 – H. John Heinz III, an American soldier and politician. (b. 1938)
1991 – Graham Ingels, an American illustrator. (b. 1915)
1992 – Yvette Brind'Amour, a Canadian actress and director. (b. 1918)
1992 – Jack Hamilton, an Australian footballer. (b. 1928)
1992 – Arthur Russell, an American singer-songwriter. (b. 1951)
1993 – Alfred Mosher Butts, an American game designer who invented Scrabble. (b. 1899)
1993 – Douglas Leopold, a Canadian radio and television host. (b. 1947)
1995 – Kenny Everett, an English radio and television host. (b. 1944)
1995 – Priscilla Lane, an American actress. (b. 1915)
1996 – Barney Ewell, an American runner. (b. 1918)
1996 – Boone Guyton, an American pilot. (b. 1913)
1997 – Leo Picard, a German-Israeli geologist. (b. 1900)
1997 – Alparslan Türkeş, a Turkish colonel and politician. (b. 1917)
1999 – Lucille Lortel, an American actress and producer. (b. 1900)
1999 – Early Wynn, an American baseball player. (b. 1920)
2001 – Liisi Oterma, a Finnish astronomer. (b. 1915)
2001 – Ed Roth, an American illustrator. (b. 1932)
2001 – Maury Van Vliet, an American-Canadian academic. (b. 1913)
2003 – Anthony Caruso, an American actor. (b. 1916)
2004 – Briek Schotte, a Belgian cyclist. (b. 1919)
2005 – Edward Bronfman, a Canadian businessman. (b. 1924)
2007 – Bob Clark, an American director and screenwriter. (b. 1941)
2007 – Karen Spärck Jones, an English computer scientist. (b. 1935)
2008 – Francis Tucker, a South African race car driver. (b. 1923)
2009 – Maxine Cooper, an American actress and activist. (b. 1924)
2011 – Scott Columbus, an American drummer. (b. 1956)
2011 – Juliano Mer-Khamis, an Israeli actor and director. (b. 1958)
2012 – A. Dean Byrd, an American psychologist. (b. 1948)
2012 – Anne Karin Elstad, a Norwegian author. (b. 1938)
2012 – Claude Miller, a French director. (b. 1942)
2012 – Dubravko Pavličić, a Croatian footballer. (b. 1967)
2012 – Roberto Rexach Benítez, a Puerto Rican academic and politician. (b. 1929)
2013 – Bengt Blomgren, a Swedish actor and director. (b. 1923)
2013 – Roger Ebert, an American journalist and film critic. (b. 1942)
2013 – Carmine Infantino, an American illustrator. (b. 1925)
2013 – Tommy Tycho, a Hungarian-Australian pianist and composer. (b. 1928)
2013 – Ian Walsh, an Australian rugby player. (b. 1933)
2013 – Noboru Yamaguchi, a Japanese author. (b. 1972)
2014 – İsmet Atlı, a Turkish wrestler. (b. 1931)
2014 – Wayne Henderson, an American trombonist. (b. 1939)
2014 – Kumba Ialá, a Bissau-Guinean soldier and politician. (b. 1953)
2014 – Margo MacDonald, a Scottish journalist and politician. (b. 1943)
2014 – Curtis Bill Pepper, an American journalist and author. (b. 1917)
2014 – Muhammad Qutb, an Egyptian author. (b. 1919)
2015 – Jamaluddin Jarjis, a Malaysian engineer and politician. (b. 1951)
2015 – Elmer Lach, a Canadian ice hockey player. (b. 1918)
2015 – Donald N. Levine, an American sociologist. (b. 1931)
2015 – Klaus Rifbjerg, a Danish author. (b. 1931)
2016 – Chus Lampreave, a Spanish actress. (b. 1930)

Holidays and Observances

Children's Day (Hong Kong, Taiwan)
Christian feast day:
- Benedict the Moor
- Gaetano Catanoso
- Isidore of Seville
- Martin Luther King Jr. (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Reginald Heber (Anglican Church of Canada)
- Tigernach of Clones
- Plato of Sakkoudion
- April 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Senegal from France (1960).
Peace Day (Angola)
One of the possible days for Qingming Festival.
NATO Day