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This day in history

This day in history: 4 March

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day436 · 167

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Key facts

680 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 4 March.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2020: Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Adrian of Nicomedia

Christian feast day: Blessed Humbert III, Count of Savoy (Roman Catholic Church)

Christian feast day: Blessed Placide Viel

Christian feast day: Blessed Zoltán Meszlényi

Christian feast day: Casimir

Christian feast day: Felix of Rhuys

Christian feast day: Giovanni Antonio Farina (Catholic Church)

Christian feast day: March 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Paul Cuffee (Episcopal Church)

Christian feast day: Peter of Pappacarbone

St Casimir's Day (Poland and Lithuania)

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development

Events

2020Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.

2018Former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, causing a diplomatic uproar that results in mass-expulsions of diplomats from all countries involved.

2015At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine.

2012A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people.

2009The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since

2002Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.

2001BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.

1998Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.

1996A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.

1994Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-62.

1990American basketball player Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference tournament game.

1990Lennox Sebe, President for life of the South African Bantustan of Ciskei, is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by Brigadier Oupa Gqozo.

1986The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley's Comet and the first images of its nucleus.

1985The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for HIV infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.

1980Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister.

1977The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.

1976The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland, resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.

1970French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.

1966A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.

1966In an interview in the London Evening Standard, the Beatles' John Lennon declares that the band is "more popular than Jesus now".

1962A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7.

1960The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100.

1957The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.

1955An order to protect the endangered Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) is legalized.

1946The sixth President of Finland, Gustaf Mannerheim, submits his resignation for health reasons.

1944World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin.

1943World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of th

1943World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end.

1941World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands, the first large-scale British Commando raid.

1933Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States.

1933The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree.

1933The United States Senate confirms Frances Perkins as United States Secretary of Labor and she is sworn in the same day, making her the first female member of the United States Cabinet.

1918A case of influenza is recorded at Camp Funston, Kansas, conventionally marking the beginning of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic.

1917Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.

1913First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later.

1913The United States Department of Labor is formed.

1909U.S. President William Howard Taft uses what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution's Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State.

1908The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.

1901William McKinley is inaugurated President of the United States for the second time; Theodore Roosevelt is vice president.

1899Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.

Born on this day

2007Miya Cech, American actress

2002Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva, Australian rhythmic gymnast

2002Jacob Hopkins, American actor

2001Freya Anderson, English freestyle swimmer

2001George Pickens, American football player

1999Brooklyn Beckham, English model and socialite

1998Obi Toppin, American basketball player

1997Kwon Hyun-bin, South Korean actor and singer

1997Matisse Thybulle, Australian-American basketball player

1996Antonio Sanabria, Paraguayan footballer

1996Lukas Webb, Australian rules footballer

1996Michael Gallup, American football player

1995Bill Milner, English actor

1995Chlöe Howl, English singer-songwriter

1995Valeri Nichushkin, Russian ice hockey player

1994AJ Tracey, British rapper and record producer

1994Callum Harriott, English footballer

1994Luisito Pié, Dominican taekwondo athlete

1993Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (died 2015)

1993Jenna Boyd, American actress

1993Richard Peniket, English footballer

1992Bernd Leno, German footballer

1992Erik Lamela, Argentine footballer

1992Jared Sullinger, American basketball player

1992Karl Mööl, Estonian footballer

1992Nick Castellanos, American baseball player

1990Andrea Bowen, American actress

1990Draymond Green, American basketball player

1990Fran Mérida, Spanish footballer

1990Paddy Madden, Irish footballer

1989Benjamin Kiplagat, Ugandan long-distance runner (died 2023)

1988Adam Watts, English footballer

1988Gal Mekel, Israeli basketball player

1988Josh Bowman, English actor

1988Laura Siegemund, German tennis player

1987Ben McKinley, Australian footballer

1987Cameron Wood, Australian footballer

1987Tamzin Merchant, English actress

1986Bohdan Shust, Ukrainian footballer

1986Margo Harshman, American actress

Died on this day

2025Joe Nickell, American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal (born 1944)

2025Roy Ayers, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, vibraphonist, and producer (born 1940)

2023Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho (born 1927)

2022Rod Marsh, Australian cricketer and coach (born 1947)

2022Shane Warne, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (born 1969)

2020Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian politician and diplomat (born 1920)

2019Keith Flint, English singer (The Prodigy) (born 1969)

2019Luke Perry, American actor (born 1966)

2018Davide Astori, Italian soccer player (born 1987)

2017Clayton Yeutter, American politician (born 1930)

2016Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (born 1929)

2016P. A. Sangma, Indian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (born 1947)

2016Pat Conroy, American author (born 1945)

2016Zhou Xiaoyan, Chinese soprano and educator (born 1917)

2015Dušan Bilandžić, Croatian historian and politician (born 1924)

2015Ray Hatton, English-American runner, author, and academic (born 1932)

2014Elaine Kellett-Bowman, English lawyer and politician (born 1923)

2014Jack Kinzler, American engineer (born 1920)

2014Mark Freidkin, Russian author and poet (born 1953)

2014Wu Tianming, Chinese director and producer (born 1939)

2013Lillian Cahn, Hungarian-American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (born 1923)

2013Mickey Moore, Canadian-American actor and director (born 1914)

2013Toren Smith, Canadian businessman, founded Studio Proteus (born 1960)

2012Don Mincher, American baseball player (born 1938)

2012Paul McBride, Scottish lawyer and politician (born 1965)

2011Alenush Terian, Iranian astronomer and physicist (born 1920)

2011Arjun Singh, Indian politician (born 1930)

2011Ed Manning, American basketball player and coach (born 1943)

2011Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Nepalese journalist and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1924)

2011Simon van der Meer, Dutch-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1925)

Quote of the day

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

Epictetus

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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