August 4

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

• 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus by his father and associated to the throne aged eight.
• 598 – Goguryeo-Sui War: Emperor Wéndi of Sui orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong), to conquer Goguryeo (Korea) during the Manchurian rainy season, with a Chinese army and navy.
• 1265 – Second Barons' War: Battle of Evesham: The army of Prince Edward (the future king 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.
• 1327 – First War of Scottish Independence: James Douglas leads a raid into Weardale and almost kills Edward III of England.
• 1532 – The Duchy of Brittany is united to the Kingdom of France.
• 1578 – Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir: The Moroccans defeat the Portuguese. King Sebastian of Portugal is killed in the battle, 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, however it is not clear whether he actually invented champagne, however he has been credited as an innovator who developed the techniques used to perfect sparkling wine.
• 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.
• 1783 – Mount Asama erupts in Japan, killing about 1,400 people. The eruption causes a famine, which results in an additional 20,000 deaths.
• 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.
• 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Napoleon leads the French Army of Italy to victory in the Battle of Lonato.
• 1821 – The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper.
• 1824 – The Battle of Kos is fought between Turkish and Greek forces.
• 1854 – The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.
• 1863 – Matica slovenská, Slovakia's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation, is established in Martin.
• 1873 – American Indian Wars: While 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 Cheyenne and Lakota people near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed.
• 1889 – The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.
• 1892 – The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are 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, Belgium and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.
• 1915 – World War I: The German 12th Army occupies Warsaw during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive and the Great Retreat of 1915.
• 1924 – Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.
• 1936 – Prime Minister of Greece Ioannis Metaxas suspends parliament and the Constitution and establishes the 4th of August Regime.
• 1944 – The Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find and arrest Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and four others.
• 1946 – An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern Dominican Republic. One hundred are killed and 20,000 are left homeless.
• 1947 – The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
• 1958 – The Billboard Hot 100 is published for the first time.
• 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 – Gulf of Tonkin incident: U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• 1965 – The Constitution of the Cook Islands comes into force, giving the Cook Islands self-governing status within New Zealand.
• 1969 – Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuân Thuỷ begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.
• 1974 – A bomb explodes in the Italicus Express train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Italy, killing 12 people and wounding 22.
• 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 Chargé d'affaires. The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya.
• 1977 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
• 1984 – The Republic of 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".
• 1991 – The Greek cruise ship MTS Oceanos sinks off the Wild Coast of South Africa.
• 1993 – A federal judge sentences Los Angeles Police Department 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.
• 2002 – Soham murders: Ten-year-old school girls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells go missing from the town of Soham, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.
• 2006 – A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).
• 2007 – NASA's Phoenix spacecraft is launched.

Births

• 1222 – Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, English soldier (d. 1262)
• 1290 – Leopold I, Duke of Austria (d. 1326)
• 1521 – Pope Urban VII (d. 1590)
• 1604 – François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French cleric and author (d. 1676)
• 1701 – Thomas Blackwell, Scottish historian and scholar (d. 1757)
• 1704 – Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans (d. 1752)
• 1719 – Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German mineralogist and geologist (d. 1767)
• 1721 – Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1803)
• 1755 – Nicolas-Jacques Conté, French soldier and painter (d. 1805)
• 1792 – Percy Bysshe Shelley, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1822)
• 1805 – William Rowan Hamilton, Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1865)
• 1821 – Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer, founded Louis Vuitton (d. 1892)
• 1821 – James Springer White, American religious leader, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (d. 1881)
• 1834 – John Venn, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1923)
• 1839 – Walter Pater, English author, critic, and academic (d. 1894)
• 1844 – Henri Berger, German composer and bandleader (d. 1929)
• 1853 – John Henry Twachtman, American painter, etcher, and academic (d. 1902)
• 1859 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952)
• 1867 – Jake Beckley, American baseball player and coach (d. 1918)
• 1870 – Harry Lauder, Scottish actor and singer (d. 1950)
• 1876 – Giovanni Giuriati, Italian lawyer and politician (d. 1970)
• 1884 – Béla Balázs, Hungarian poet and critic (d. 1949)
• 1884 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (d. 1941)
• 1887 – Albert M. Greenfield, Ukrainian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Taher Saifuddin, Indian religious leader, 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq (d. 1965)
• 1890 – Dolf Luque, Cuban baseball player and manager (d. 1957)
• 1891 – Margit Makay, Hungarian actress (d. 1989)
• 1893 – Fritz Gause, German historian and curator (d. 1973)
• 1898 – Ernesto Maserati, Italian race car driver and engineer (d. 1975)
• 1899 – Ezra Taft Benson, American religious leader, 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1994)
• 1900 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
• 1901 – Louis Armstrong, American trumpet player and singer (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Clarence Passailaigue, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1972)
• 1902 – Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (d. 1981)
• 1904 – Witold Gombrowicz, Polish author and playwright (d. 1969)
• 1904 – Helen Kane, American singer and actress (d. 1966)
• 1904 – Joe Tate, English footballer and manager (d. 1973)
• 1906 – Marie José of Belgium (d. 2001)
• 1906 – Eugen Schuhmacher, German zoologist, director, and producer (d. 1973)
• 1908 – Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Glenn Cunningham, American runner and academic (d. 1988)
• 1909 – Saunders Mac Lane, American mathematician and academic (d. 2005)
• 1910 – Anita Page, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
• 1910 – William Schuman, American composer and educator (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer (d. 2011)
• 1912 – Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, and mountaineer (d. 1999)
• 1912 – David Raksin, American composer and educator (d. 2004)
• 1912 – Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish architect and diplomat (d. 1947)
• 1913 – Robert Hayden, American poet and educator (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Johann Niemann, German lieutenant (d. 1943)
• 1915 – Warren Avis, American businessman, founded Avis Rent a Car System (d. 2007)
• 1917 – John Fitch, American race car driver and engineer (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Brian Crozier, Australian-English historian and journalist (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Iceberg Slim, American pimp and author (d. 1992)
• 1919 – Michel Déon, French author, playwright, and critic
• 1920 – Helen Thomas, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Herb Ellis, American guitarist (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2000)
• 1922 – Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (d. 2012)
• 1926 – George Irving Bell, American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Perry Moss, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1927 – Jess Thomas, American tenor (d. 1993)
• 1928 – Christian Goethals, Belgian race car driver (d. 2003)
• 1928 – Gerard Damiano, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1928 – Flóra Kádár, Hungarian actress (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Kishore Kumar, Indian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1987)
• 1930 – Ali al-Sistani, Iranian-Iraqi cleric and scholar
• 1932 – Frances E. Allen, American computer scientist and academic
• 1932 – Liang Congjie, Chinese environmentalist, founded Friends of Nature (d. 2010)
• 1934 – Dallas Green, American baseball player and manager
• 1935 – Carol Arthur, American actress and producer
• 1935 – Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt, German footballer and coach (d. 1997)
• 1935 – Michael J. Noonan, Irish farmer and politician, 25th Minister of Defence for Ireland (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Giorgos Zographos, Greek singer and actor (d. 2005)
• 1937 – David Bedford, English keyboard player, composer, and conductor (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Ellen Schrecker, American historian and academic
• 1939 – Jack Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, English politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
• 1939 – Frank Vincent, American actor and producer
• 1940 – Robin Harper, Scottish academic and politician
• 1940 – Larry Knechtel, American bass player and pianist (Bread and The Wrecking Crew) (d. 2009)
• 1940 – Frances Stewart, English economist and academic
• 1940 – Timi Yuro, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
• 1941 – Martin Jarvis, English actor
• 1941 – Ted Strickland, American psychologist and politician, 68th Governor of Ohio
• 1941 – Zeki Ökten, Turkish film director (d. 2009)
• 1942 – Don S. Davis, American actor and painter (d. 2008)
• 1942 – Cleon Jones, American baseball player
• 1942 – David Lange, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2005)
• 1943 – Vicente Álvarez Areces, Spanish politician, 6th President of the Principality of Asturias
• 1943 – Georgina Hale, English actress and singer
• 1943 – Barbara Saß-Viehweger, German politician, lawyer and civil law notary
• 1943 – Bjørn Wirkola, Norwegian ski jumper and footballer
• 1944 – Amjad Islam Amjad, Pakistani poet, screenwriter, and songwriter
• 1944 – Richard Belzer, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1944 – Orhan Gencebay, Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1944 – Allan McCollum, American sculptor and academic
• 1944 – Doudou Ndoye, Senegalese lawyer and politician
• 1945 – Paul McCarthy, American painter and sculptor
• 1945 – Alan Mulally, American engineer and businessman
• 1946 – Maureen Starkey Tigrett, English-American hairdresser (d. 1994)
• 1946 – Aleksei Turovski, Estonian zoologist and ethologist
• 1947 – Klaus Schulze, German keyboard player and songwriter (Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and The Cosmic Jokers)
• 1948 – Johnny Grubb, American baseball player and coach
• 1949 – John Riggins, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
• 1950 – Caldwell Jones, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1950 – N. Rangaswamy, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of Puducherry
• 1951 – Peter Goodfellow, English geneticist and academic
• 1952 – James Arbuthnot, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
• 1952 – Moya Brennan, Irish singer-songwriter and harp player (Clannad and T with the Maggies)
• 1952 – Gábor Demszky, Hungarian sociologist, lawyer, and politician
• 1953 – Joanie Spina, American magician, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2014)
• 1953 – Vini Reilly, English guitarist (The Durutti Column and The Invisible Girls)
• 1953 – Hiroyuki Usui, Japanese footballer and manager
• 1954 – Anatoliy Kinakh, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Ukraine
• 1954 – François Valéry, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
• 1955 – Alberto Gonzales, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 80th United States Attorney General
• 1955 – Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, singer, director, and screenwriter (The Boxmasters)
• 1956 – Gerry Cooney, American boxer and promoter
• 1957 – Brooks D. Simpson, American historian and author
• 1957 – Valdis Valters, Latvian basketball player and coach
• 1957 – John Wark, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
• 1958 – Ian Broudie, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Lightning Seeds, Big in Japan, and Care)
• 1958 – Allison Hedge Coke, American-Canadian poet and academic
• 1958 – Mary Decker, American runner
• 1958 – Kym Karath, American actress and singer
• 1958 – Silvan Shalom, Tunisian-Israeli sergeant and politician, 30th Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
• 1959 – Robbin Crosby, American guitarist and songwriter (Ratt) (d. 2002)
• 1959 – John Gormley, Irish politician, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government
• 1960 – Chuck C. Lopez, American jockey
• 1960 – Dean Malenko, American wrestler, referee, and trainer
• 1960 – José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Spain
• 1960 – Bernard Rose, English director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
• 1960 – Tim Winton, Australian author and playwright
• 1961 – Eddie James, American murderer and sex offender
• 1961 – Barack Obama, American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1961 – Lauren Tom, American actress and singer
• 1962 – Roger Clemens, American baseball player and actor
• 1962 – David Nunn, English actor (d. 2012)
• 1962 – Paul Reynolds, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (A Flock of Seagulls)
• 1964 – Andrew Bartlett, Australian social worker and politician
• 1964 – Gary King, English radio host
• 1964 – Anna Sui, American fashion designer
• 1965 – Adam Afriyie, English businessman and politician
• 1965 – Terri Lyne Carrington, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer (Yellowjackets)
• 1965 – Crystal Chappell, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Dennis Lehane, American author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1965 – Wayne Pacelle, American humanitarian and author
• 1965 – Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish soldier and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1965 – Michael Skibbe, German footballer and manager
• 1965 – James Tupper, Canadian actor and screenwriter
• 1966 – Kensuke Sasaki, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
• 1967 – Timothy Adams, American model and actor
• 1967 – Tom Anderson, American radio host and politician
• 1967 – Michael Marsh, American sprinter
• 1968 – Daniel Dae Kim, South Korean-American actor
• 1968 – Lee Mack, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Marcus Schenkenberg, Swedish-Dutch model and actor
• 1969 – Mark Bickley, Australian footballer and coach
• 1969 – Max Cavalera, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Sepultura, Soulfly, Nailbomb, and Cavalera Conspiracy)
• 1969 – Michael DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer
• 1969 – Vlad Ivanov, Romanian actor
• 1969 – Troy O'Leary, American baseball player
• 1970 – John August, American director and screenwriter
• 1970 – Bret Baier, American journalist
• 1970 – Steve House, American mountaineer
• 1970 – Steven Jack, South African cricketer
• 1970 – Ron Lester, American actor and producer
• 1970 – Kate Silverton, English journalist
• 1971 – Bethan Benwell, English linguist, author, and academic
• 1971 – Rei Dan, Japanese actress
• 1971 – Jeff Gordon, American race car driver and actor
• 1972 – Stefan Brogren, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 – Li Pamp, Swedish television presenter
• 1973 – Eva Amaral, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Amaral)
• 1973 – Xavier Marchand, French swimmer
• 1973 – Marek Penksa, Slovak footballer
• 1973 – Marcos Roberto Silveira Reis, Brazilian footballer
• 1974 – Chris Crippin, Canadian drummer (Hedley)
• 1974 – Kily González, Argentinian footballer
• 1974 – Keenan Milton, American skateboarder (d. 2001)
• 1974 – Dominic Ochoa, Filipino actor
• 1975 – Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah, Saudi Arabian terrorist (d. 2014)
• 1975 – Andy Hallett, American actor and singer (d. 2009)
• 1975 – Nikos Liberopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1975 – Joe Saenz, American gangster
• 1975 – Jutta Urpilainen, Finnish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Finland
• 1975 – Daniella van Graas, Dutch model and actress
• 1976 – Andrew McLeod, Australian footballer
• 1976 – Trevor Woodman, English rugby player and coach
• 1977 – Frankie Kazarian, American wrestler
• 1977 – Luís Boa Morte, Portuguese footballer and manager
• 1978 – Jeremy Adduono, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1978 – Luke Allen, American baseball player
• 1978 – Victor Marius Beliciu, Romanian sitar player
• 1978 – Kurt Busch, American race car driver
• 1978 – Mick Cain, American actor
• 1978 – Agnė Eggerth, Lithuanian sprinter
• 1978 – Ibán Espadas, Spanish footballer
• 1978 – Shaunard Harts, American football player
• 1978 – Satoshi Hino, American-Japanese voice actor
• 1978 – Benet Kaci, Kosovan journalist and singer
• 1978 – Jon Knott, American baseball player
• 1978 – Karine Legault, Canadian swimmer
• 1978 – Duane Ludwig, American mixed martial artist and kick-boxer
• 1978 – Sandeep Naik, Indian politician
• 1978 – Danish Nawaz, Pakistani actor and director
• 1978 – Siri Nordby, Norwegian footballer
• 1978 – JD Samson, American DJ and producer (Le Tigre, MEN, and The New England Roses)
• 1978 – Ricardo Serrano, Spanish cyclist
• 1978 – Per-Åge Skrøder, Norwegian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Michail Stifunin, Russian ice dancer
• 1979 – Robin Peterson, South African cricketer
• 1980 – Richard Dawson, English cricketer and coach
• 1981 – Erica Carlson, Swedish actress
• 1981 – Marques Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (IMx)
• 1981 – Jana Kolukanova, Estonian swimmer
• 1981 – Meghan Markle, American model and actress
• 1981 – Ben Scott, English cricketer
• 1981 – Abigail Spencer, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1982 – Rubinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Cody Burger, American actor
• 1983 – Nathaniel Buzolic, Australian actor
• 1983 – Greta Gerwig, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1984 – Terry Campese, Australian rugby player
• 1984 – Mardy Collins, American basketball player
• 1985 – Crystal Bowersox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1985 – Robbie Findley, American soccer player
• 1985 – Kina Grannis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1985 – Mark Milligan, Australian footballer
• 1985 – Ha Seung-jin, South Korean basketball player
• 1985 – Antonio Valencia, Ecuadorean footballer
• 1986 – Nick Augusto, American drummer (Trivium)
• 1986 – Leon Camier, English motorcycle racer
• 1986 – Cicinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – David Williams, Australian rugby player
• 1987 – Jang Keun-suk, South Korean actor and singer
• 1987 – Marreese Speights American basketball player
• 1987 – Tomoya Warabino, Japanese actor
• 1987 – Phil Younghusband, English–Filipino footballer
• 1988 – Carly Foulkes, Canadian model and actress
• 1988 – Kelley O'Hara, American soccer player
• 1989 – Wang Hao, Chinese chess player
• 1989 – Jessica Mauboy, Australian singer-songwriter and actress (Young Divas)
• 1990 – Hikmet Balioğlu, Turkish footballer
• 1990 – Siim Tenno, Estonian footballer
• 1991 – Thiago Cardoso, Brazilian footballer
• 1991 – Neil Coleta, Filipino actor
• 1991 – Lucinda Dryzek, English actress
• 1991 – Izet Hajrović, Bosnian footballer
• 1991 – River Viiperi, Spanish model
• 1992 – Tiffany Evans, American singer and actress
• 1992 – Yvonne Neuwirth, Austrian tennis player
• 1993 – Saido Berahino, Burundian-English footballer
• 1994 – Mayuko Fukuda, Japanese actress
• 1994 – Bobby Shmurda, American rapper
• 1995 – Bruna Marquezine, Brazilian actress
• 1995 – Jessica Sanchez, American singer-songwriter
• 1997 – Ekaterina Ryabova, Russian singer
• 2001 – Seishiro Kato, Japanese actor

Deaths

• 966 – Berengar II of Italy (b. 900)
• 1060 – Henry I of France (b. 1008)
• 1113 – Gertrude of Saxony (b. 1030)
• 1265 – Killed in the Battle of Evesham:
  • Peter de Montfort, English politician (b. 1215)
  • Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, French-English soldier and politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1208)
  • Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer, English politician (b. 1223)
• 1306 – Wenceslaus III of Bohemia (b. 1289)
• 1430 – Philip I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1404)
• 1526 – Juan Sebastián Elcano, Spanish explorer and navigator (b. 1476)
• 1578 – Sebastian of Portugal (b. 1554)
• 1578 – Thomas Stukley, English mercenary (b. 1520)
• 1598 – William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, English academic and politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1520)
• 1612 – Hugh Broughton, English scholar and theologian (b. 1549)
• 1639 – Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican actor and playwright (b. 1581)
• 1718 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian founder of Rimouski (b. 1656)
• 1727 – Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (b. 1647)
• 1741 – Andrew Hamilton, Scottish-American lawyer and politician (b. 1676)
• 1778 – Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial, Canadian-French politician, Governor General of New France (b. 1698)
• 1792 – John Burgoyne, English general and politician (b. 1723)
• 1795 – Timothy Ruggles, American lawyer, jurist, and politician (b. 1711)
• 1804 – Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, Scottish admiral (b. 1731)
• 1822 – Kristjan Jaak Peterson, Estonian poet and author (b. 1801)
• 1844 – Jacob Aall, Norwegian economist, historian, and politician (b. 1773)
• 1849 – Anita Garibaldi, Brazilian wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi (b. 1821)
• 1859 – John Vianney, French priest and saint (b. 1786)
• 1873 – Viktor Hartmann, Russian architect and painter (b. 1834)
• 1875 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author and poet (b. 1805)
• 1886 – Samuel J. Tilden, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of New York (b. 1814)
• 1900 – Isaac Levitan, Russian painter and educator (b. 1860)
• 1914 – Jules Lemaître, French playwright and critic (b. 1853)
• 1919 – Dave Gregory, Australian cricketer and umpire (b. 1845)
• 1922 – Enver Pasha, Ottoman general and politician (b. 1881)
• 1932 – Alfred Henry Maurer, American painter (b. 1868)
• 1938 – Pearl White, American actress (b. 1889)
• 1940 – Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Ukrainian-American general, journalist, and activist (b. 1880)
• 1941 – Mihály Babits, Hungarian poet and author (b. 1883)
• 1942 – Alberto Franchetti, Italian composer and educator (b. 1860)
• 1944 – Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Polish soldier and poet (b. 1921)
• 1957 – Washington Luís, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 13th President of Brazil (b. 1869)
• 1958 – Ethel Anderson, Australian poet, author, and painter (b. 1883)
• 1959 – József Révai, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1898)
• 1967 – Peter Smith, English cricketer (b. 1908)
• 1976 – Enrique Angelelli, Argentinian bishop and martyr (b. 1923)
• 1976 – Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian-English publisher (b. 1894)
• 1977 – Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
• 1981 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
• 1982 – Bruce Goff, American architect, designed the Boston Avenue Methodist Church (b. 1904)
• 1985 – Don Whillans, English rock climber and mountaineer (b. 1933)
• 1990 – Ettore Maserati, Italian engineer and businessman (b. 1894)
• 1991 – Don DaGradi, American animator and screenwriter (b. 1911)
• 1991 – Nikiforos Vrettakos, Greek author and poet (b. 1912)
• 1992 – Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese author (b. 1909)
• 1993 – Bernard Barrow, American actor (b. 1927)
• 1996 – Geoff Hamilton, English gardener, author, and television host (b. 1936)
• 1997 – Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian (b. 1875)
• 1998 – Yury Artyukhin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Victor Mature, American actor and singer (b. 1913)
• 2001 – Lorenzo Music, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1937)
• 2003 – Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2004 – Mary Sherman Morgan, American chemist and engineer (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Anatoly Larkin, Russian-American physicist and theorist (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Iván Szabó, Hungarian economist and politician, Minister of Finance of Hungary (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
• 2007 – Raul Hilberg, Austrian-American political scientist and historian (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Craig Jones, English motorcycle racer (b. 1985)
• 2009 – Blake Snyder, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1957)
• 2011 – Mark Duggan, English shooting victim (b. 1982)
• 2011 – Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (b. 1977)
• 2012 – Johnnie Bassett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Brian Crozier, Australian-English journalist and historian (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Metin Erksan, Turkish director and screenwriter (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Con Houlihan, Irish journalist and author (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Bud Riley, American football player and coach (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Keith H. Basso, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Art Donovan, American football player and radio host (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Olavi J. Mattila, Finnish engineer and politician, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Renato Ruggiero, Italian lawyer and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Tony Snell, English lieutenant and pilot (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Sandy Woodward, English admiral (b. 1932)
• 2014 – James Brady, American activist and politician, 15th White House Press Secretary (b. 1940)
• 2014 – Marilyn Burns, American actress (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Rich Ceisler, American comedian and author (b. 1955)
• 2014 – Chester Crandell, American lawyer and politician (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Jake Hooker, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (Arrows) (b. 1953)
• 2014 – Walter Massey, Canadian actor (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Elsie Hillman, American philanthropist and politician (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Les Munro, New Zealand soldier and pilot (b. 1919)
• 2015 – John Rudometkin, American basketball player (b. 1940)
• 2015 – Billy Sherrill, American songwriter and producer (b. 1936)
• 2015 – Alfred C. Williams, American lawyer and politician (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • John Vianney
  • Sithney, patron saint of mad dogs
  • August 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Coast Guard Day (United States)
• Constitution Day (Cook Islands)
• Matica slovenská Day (Slovakia)
• Revolution Day (Burkina Faso)
• The first day of Fiestas de la Virgen Blanca (Vitoria-Gasteiz)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to August 4.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada