June 4 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

June 4th is a day filled with many important events throughout history, from ancient times to modern days. It's a day when new inventions were shown off, big battles were fought, and important steps were taken for human rights. Many famous people were also born or passed away on this date.

Historical Events
Famous Births
- Born Before 1900
- Born After 1900
Notable Deaths
- Passed Away Before 1900
- Passed Away After 1900
Holidays and Celebrations
See also

Historical Events

Early History (Before 1600)

In 1411, King Charles VI of France gave special permission for people in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon to be the only ones to make and sell Roquefort cheese. They had been making it for hundreds of years!
In 1561, the tall spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral in London was destroyed by a fire caused by lightning. It was never rebuilt.

Important Moments (1601–1900)

In 1615, during the Siege of Osaka, the powerful army led by Tokugawa Ieyasu took control of Osaka Castle in Japan.
In 1745, in the Battle of Hohenfriedberg, Frederick the Great's army from Prussia won a big victory against the Austrian army during the War of the Austrian Succession.
In 1760, during the Expulsion of the Acadians, new settlers from New England arrived in Nova Scotia, Canada. They came to claim land that had been taken from the Acadians.
In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers showed off their amazing invention, the montgolfière, which was a hot air balloon. People were amazed!
In 1784, Élisabeth Thible became the first woman to fly in a hot air balloon that wasn't tied down. She flew about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in 45 minutes and reached a height of about 1,500 meters (almost a mile).
In 1792, Captain George Vancouver claimed the area known as Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain.
In 1812, after Louisiana became a U.S. state, the area called the Louisiana Territory was renamed the Missouri Territory.
In 1855, Major Henry C. Wayne left New York to get camels for the United States Camel Corps. This was a plan to use camels in the U.S. military!
In 1859, during the Second Italian War of Independence, the French army, led by Napoleon III, defeated the Austrian army in the Battle of Magenta.
In 1862, during the American Civil War, Confederate troops left Fort Pillow State Historic Park on the Mississippi River. This allowed Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
In 1876, a special express train called the Transcontinental Express arrived in San Francisco. It had traveled all the way from New York City in just 83 hours and 39 minutes, thanks to the First transcontinental railroad.
In 1896, Henry Ford finished building his very first car, the Ford Quadricycle. He took it for a successful test drive!

Modern Times (1901–Present)

In 1912, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to set a minimum wage, which is the lowest amount of money an employer can pay workers.
In 1913, Emily Davison, a woman who fought for women's right to vote (a suffragette), ran in front of King George V's horse at The Derby race. She was badly hurt and sadly passed away a few days later.
In 1916, during World War I, Russia started the Brusilov Offensive with a huge artillery attack on Austro-Hungarian lines.
In 1917, the first ever Pulitzer Prizes were given out. These awards recognize great achievements in journalism, literature, and music.
In 1919, the U.S. Congress approved the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. This important amendment gave women the right to vote across the United States.
In 1920, Hungary lost a large part of its land and population when the Treaty of Trianon was signed in Paris.
In 1928, Zhang Zuolin, the leader of the Republic of China, was killed by Japanese agents.
In 1939, during The Holocaust, a ship called the MS St. Louis was carrying 963 German Jewish refugees. They were not allowed to land in Florida, United States, after already being turned away from Cuba. The ship had to return to Europe, and sadly, more than 200 of its passengers later died in Nazi concentration camps.
In 1940, during World War II, the Dunkirk evacuation ended. The British Armed Forces successfully rescued 338,000 troops from Dunkirk in France. To boost the country's spirits, Winston Churchill gave his famous "We shall fight on the beaches" speech.
In 1942, World War II: The Battle of Midway began. The Japanese Admiral Chūichi Nagumo ordered a big attack on Midway Island.
Also in 1942, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Army, was given the title of Marshal of Finland on his 75th birthday. On the same day, Adolf Hitler made a surprise visit to Finland to meet Mannerheim.
In 1944, during World War II, a group from the United States Navy captured the German submarine U-505. This was the first time a U.S. Navy ship had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 1800s.
Also in 1944, the United States Fifth Army captured Rome, Italy, though many German troops were able to escape.
In 1961, during the Cold War, at the Vienna summit, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev caused the Berlin Crisis. He threatened to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany, which would have cut off access for American, British, and French forces to East Berlin.
In 1970, Tonga gained its independence from the British Empire.
In 1975, the Governor of California Jerry Brown signed the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act into law. This was the first law in the United States to give farmworkers the right to collective bargaining, meaning they could negotiate together for better working conditions.
In 1977, JVC introduced its VHS videotape system at a big electronics show. VHS eventually became more popular than Sony's Betamax system and became the main way people watched movies at home.
In 1979, Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings took power in Ghana after a military coup that overthrew General Fred Akuffo.
In 1986, Jonathan Pollard admitted to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
In 1988, three cars on a train carrying chemicals exploded in Arzamas, USSR. This terrible accident killed 91 people and injured about 1,500.
In 1989, Ali Khamenei was chosen as the new Supreme Leader of Iran after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini.
Also in 1989, the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing were stopped by the People's Liberation Army. This event resulted in many deaths.
Also in 1989, the Solidarity movement won a big victory in the 1989 Polish legislative election. This was the first election since the Communist party gave up its control, and it helped start the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe.
Also in 1989, the Ufa train disaster happened near Ufa, Russia. A natural gas explosion killed 575 people when two trains passed each other near a leaky pipeline, causing sparks.
In 1996, the first flight of the Ariane 5 rocket exploded just 37 seconds after launch.
In 1998, Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing.
In 2010, Falcon 9 Flight 1 was the first flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.
In 2023, protests began in Poland against the government led by Andrzej Duda.

Famous Births

Born Before 1900

1394 – Philippa of England, who became Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
1489 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine.
1563 – George Heriot, a Scottish goldsmith.
1604 – Claudia de' Medici, an Italian noblewoman.
1694 – François Quesnay, a French economist and doctor.
1704 – Benjamin Huntsman, an English inventor.
1738 – George III, King of the United Kingdom.
1744 – Patrick Ferguson, a Scottish soldier who designed the Ferguson rifle.
1754 – Miguel de Azcuénaga, an Argentinian soldier.
1754 – Franz Xaver von Zach, a Slovak astronomer.
1821 – Apollon Maykov, a Russian poet.
1829 – Jinmaku Kyūgorō, a Japanese sumo wrestler who became the 12th Yokozuna.
1861 – William Propsting, an Australian politician who was the 20th Premier of Tasmania.
1866 – Miina Sillanpää, a Finnish journalist and politician.
1867 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, a Finnish general and politician who became the 6th President of Finland.
1877 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
1879 – Mabel Lucie Attwell, an English author and illustrator.
1880 – Clara Blandick, an American actress.
1889 – Beno Gutenberg, a German-American scientist who studied earthquakes.

Born After 1900

1903 – Yevgeny Mravinsky, a Russian conductor.
1904 – Bhagat Puran Singh, an Indian publisher and environmentalist.
1907 – Rosalind Russell, an American actress.
1910 – Christopher Cockerell, an English engineer who invented the hovercraft.
1915 – Modibo Keïta, a Malian educator and politician who became the 1st President of Mali.
1916 – Robert F. Furchgott, an American biochemist who won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1923 – Masutatsu Ōyama, a Japanese karate master.
1924 – Dennis Weaver, an American actor.
1926 – Robert Earl Hughes, who was known as the heaviest person in the world during his lifetime.
1928 – Ruth Westheimer, a German-American talk show host and author.
1929 – Karolos Papoulias, a Greek politician who became the 5th President of Greece.
1932 – John Drew Barrymore, an American actor.
1936 – Bruce Dern, an American actor.
1937 – Freddy Fender, an American singer and guitarist.
1944 – Michelle Phillips, an American singer and actress.
1945 – Anthony Braxton, an American saxophonist and composer.
1952 – Bronisław Komorowski, a Polish historian and politician who became the 5th President of Poland.
1953 – Linda Lingle, an American politician who became the 6th Governor of Hawaii.
1956 – Keith David, an American actor.
1959 – Anil Ambani, an Indian businessman.
1960 – Bradley Walsh, an English television presenter and comedian.
1961 – Ferenc Gyurcsány, a Hungarian businessman and politician who became the 6th Prime Minister of Hungary.
1963 – Sean Fitzpatrick, a New Zealand rugby player.
1964 – Sean Pertwee, an English actor.
1965 – Mick Doohan, an Australian motorcycle racer.
1966 – Cecilia Bartoli, an Italian opera singer.
1967 – Robert S. Kimbrough, an American astronaut.
1968 – Al B. Sure!, an American R&B singer.
1968 – Scott Wolf, an American actor.
1969 – Horatio Sanz, a Chilean-American actor and comedian.
1971 – Joseph Kabila, a Congolese soldier and politician who became President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1971 – Noah Wyle, an American actor.
1975 – Russell Brand, an English comedian and actor.
1975 – Angelina Jolie, an American actress and humanitarian.
1976 – Kasey Chambers, an Australian singer-songwriter.
1976 – Alexei Navalny, a Russian lawyer and politician.
1981 – T.J. Miller, an American actor and comedian.
1985 – Lukas Podolski, a German footballer.
1985 – Bar Refaeli, an Israeli model and actress.
1987 – Mollie King, an English singer.
1991 – Lorenzo Insigne, an Italian footballer.
1991 – Ben Stokes, a New Zealand-English cricketer.
1999 – Kim So-hyun, a South Korean actress.
2004 – Mackenzie Ziegler, an American actress, dancer, and singer.
2021 – Princess Lilibet of Sussex.

Notable Deaths

Passed Away Before 1900

756 – Emperor Shōmu, a Japanese emperor.
1039 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor.
1135 – Emperor Huizong of Song, a Chinese emperor.
1246 – Isabella of Angoulême, a queen.
1394 – Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV of England.
1463 – Flavio Biondo, an Italian historian.
1472 – Nezahualcoyotl, an Aztec poet.
1798 – Giacomo Casanova, an Italian adventurer and author.
1801 – Frederick Muhlenberg, an American minister and politician.
1830 – Antonio José de Sucre, a Venezuelan general and politician.
1872 – Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, a Dutch politician who was Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
1876 – Abdülaziz, the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Passed Away After 1900

1928 – Zhang Zuolin, a Chinese warlord.
1931 – Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, a king.
1941 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor.
1942 – Reinhard Heydrich, a German SS officer.
1951 – Serge Koussevitzky, a Russian-American conductor.
1968 – Dorothy Gish, an American actress.
1971 – György Lukács, a Hungarian historian and philosopher.
1989 – Dik Browne, an American cartoonist.
1990 – Stiv Bators, an American singer-songwriter.
1992 – Carl Stotz, an American businessman who founded Little League Baseball.
1997 – Ronnie Lane, an English singer-songwriter.
2002 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, a Peruvian architect and politician who was President of Peru.
2004 – John Wooden, an American basketball player and coach.
2010 – John Wooden, an American basketball player and coach.
2015 – Marguerite Patten, an English economist and author.
2016 – Carmen Pereira, a Bissau-Guinean politician.
2021 – Clarence Williams III, an American actor.
2022 – George Lamming, a Barbadian novelist.
2023 – Sulochana Latkar, an Indian actress.

Holidays and Celebrations

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is observed around the world.
In Finland, it's the Birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, a special day for the Finnish Defence Forces.
In Tonga, it's Emancipation Day or Independence Day. This day celebrates when King George Tupou I ended serfdom in 1862 and when Tonga became independent from Britain in 1970.
National Unity Day (Hungary) is celebrated in Hungary.
Trianon Treaty Day is observed in Romania.
Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 Memorial Day is remembered internationally.
In Kazakhstan, it's the Day of State Symbols.