March 4

March 4 is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 302 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Monday or Tuesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Thursday or Saturday (56).

Events

• AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth).
• 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
• 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
• 932 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs.
• 1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany.
• 1238 – The Battle of the Sit River is fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia between the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan and the Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal during the Mongol invasion of Rus'.
• 1351 – Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam.
• 1386 – Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland.
• 1461 – Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.
• 1493 – Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what is now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean.
• 1519 – Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.
• 1628 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter.
• 1665 – English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1675 – John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.
• 1681 – Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
• 1789 – In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect. The United States Bill of Rights is written and proposed to Congress.
• 1790 – France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.
• 1791 – The Constitutional Act of 1791 is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario).
• 1791 – Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state.
• 1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.
• 1797 – John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.
• 1804 – Castle Hill Rebellion: Irish convicts rebel against British colonial authority in the Colony of New South Wales.
• 1813 – Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
• 1814 – Americans defeat British forces at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
• 1837 – The city of Chicago is incorporated.
• 1848 – Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia.
• 1861 – The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Stars and Bars") is adopted.
• 1865 – The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.
• 1882 – Britain's first electric trams run in east London.
• 1890 – The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 1,710 feet (520 m) long, is opened by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.
• 1899 – Cyclone 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.
• 1908 – The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.
• 1909 – U.S. President William Taft used 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
• 1913 – First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later.
• 1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed.
• 1917 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
• 1933 – Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet.
• 1933 – The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree.
• 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands; the first large scale British Commando raid.
• 1943 – World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end.
• 1944 – World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin.
• 1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
• 1960 – The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100.
• 1962 – A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7.
• 1966 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.
• 1970 – French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.
• 1974 – People magazine is published for the first time in the United States as People Weekly.
• 1976 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.
• 1977 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.
• 1980 – Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister.
• 1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
• 1986 – The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley's Comet and the first images of its nucleus.
• 1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
• 1998 – Gay 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.
• 2001 – BBC 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.
• 2002 – Afghanistan: 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.
• 2009 – The 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 its establishment in 2002.
• 2012 – A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people.
• 2015 – At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine.

Births

• 895 – Liu Zhiyuan, founder of the short-lived Later Han dynasty (d. 948)
• 1188 – Blanche of Castile (d. 1252)
• 1394 – Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese patron of exploration (d. 1460)
• 1484 – George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1543)
• 1492 – Francesco de Layolle, Italian organist and composer (d. 1540)
• 1502 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Hereditary Princess of Saxony (d. 1557)
• 1519 – Hindal Mirza, Mughal Empire emperor (d. 1551)
• 1526 – Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (d. 1596)
• 1602 – Kanō Tan'yū, Japanese painter (d. 1674)
• 1634 – Kazimierz Łyszczyński, Polish philosopher (d. 1689)
• 1651 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English lawyer, jurist, and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1716)
• 1655 – Fra Galgario, Italian painter (d. 1743)
• 1665 – Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (d. 1694)
• 1678 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)
• 1702 – Jack Sheppard, English criminal (d. 1724)
• 1706 – Lauritz de Thurah, Danish architect, designed the Hermitage Hunting Lodge and Gammel Holtegård (d. 1759)
• 1715 – James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, English historian and politician (d. 1763)
• 1719 – George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, English politician (d. 1777)
• 1729 – Anne d'Arpajon, French wife of Philippe de Noailles (d. 1794)
• 1745 – Charles Dibdin, English actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1814)
• 1745 – Casimir Pulaski, Polish-American general (d. 1779)
• 1756 – Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter and educator (d. 1823)
• 1769 – Muhammad Ali of Egypt (d. 1849)
• 1770 – Joseph Jacotot, French philosopher and academic (d. 1840)
• 1778 – Robert Emmet, Irish commander (d. 1803)
• 1781 – Rebecca Gratz, American educator and philanthropist (d. 1869)
• 1782 – Johann Rudolf Wyss, Swiss philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1830)
• 1792 – Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (d. 1886)
• 1793 – Karl Lachmann, German philologist and critic (d. 1851)
• 1817 – Edwards Pierrepont, American lawyer and politician, 34th United States Attorney General (d. 1892)
• 1820 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian rebel leader (d. 1856)
• 1822 – Jules Antoine Lissajous, French mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
• 1823 – George Caron, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1902)
• 1826 – August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein, German linguist, ethnographer, and theologian (d. 1907)
• 1826 – John Buford, American general (d. 1863)
• 1826 – Elme Marie Caro, French philosopher and academic (d. 1887)
• 1826 – Theodore Judah, American engineer, founded the Central Pacific Railroad (d. 1863)
• 1828 – Owen Wynne Jones, Welsh clergyman and poet (d. 1870)
• 1838 – Paul Lacôme, French pianist, cellist, and composer (d. 1920)
• 1847 – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (d. 1904)
• 1851 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author and poet (d. 1911)
• 1854 – Napier Shaw, English meteorologist and academic (d. 1945)
• 1856 – Alfred William Rich, English painter, author, and educator (d. 1921)
• 1861 – Arthur Cushman McGiffert, American theologian and author (d. 1933)
• 1862 – Jacob Robert Emden, Swiss astrophysicist and meteorologist (d. 1940)
• 1863 – R. I. Pocock, English zoologist and archaeologist (d. 1947)
• 1863 – John Henry Wigmore, American academic and jurist (d. 1943)
• 1864 – David W. Taylor, American admiral, architect, and engineer (d. 1940)
• 1866 – Eugène Cosserat, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1931)
• 1867 – Jacob L. Beilhart, American activist, founded the Spirit Fruit Society (d. 1908)
• 1870 – Thomas Sturge Moore, English author and poet (d. 1944)
• 1871 – Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
• 1873 – Guy Wetmore Carryl, American journalist and poet (d. 1904)
• 1873 – John H. Trumbull, American colonel and politician, 70th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1961)
• 1875 – Mihály Károlyi, Hungarian politician, President of the Hungary (d. 1955)
• 1875 – Enrique Larreta, Argentinian historian and author (d. 1961)
• 1876 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet and author (d. 1947)
• 1876 – Theodore Hardeen, Hungarian-American magician (d. 1945)
• 1877 – Alexander Goedicke, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1957)
• 1877 – Fritz Graebner, German geographer and ethnologist (d. 1934)
• 1877 – Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor (d. 1963)
• 1878 – Takeo Arishima, Japanese author and critic (d. 1923)
• 1878 – Egbert Van Alstyne, American pianist and songwriter (d. 1951)
• 1879 – Bernhard Kellermann, German author and poet (d. 1951)
• 1880 – Channing Pollock, American playwright and critic (d. 1946)
• 1881 – Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian educator and activist (d. 1924)
• 1881 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (d. 1965)
• 1881 – Richard C. Tolman, American physicist and chemist (d. 1948)
• 1882 – Nicolae Titulescu, Romanian academic and politician, 61st Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1941)
• 1883 – Maude Fealy, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1971)
• 1883 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (d. 1956)
• 1884 – Red Murray, American baseball player (d. 1958)
• 1886 – Paul Bazelaire, French cellist and composer (d. 1958)
• 1888 – Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-American actress (d. 1942)
• 1888 – Jeff Pfeffer, American baseball player (d. 1972)
• 1888 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (d. 1931)
• 1889 – Oscar Chisini, Italian mathematician and statistician (d. 1967)
• 1889 – Oren E. Long, American soldier and politician, 10th Territorial Governor of Hawaii (d. 1965)
• 1889 – Pearl White, American actress (d. 1938)
• 1889 – Robert William Wood, English-American painter (d. 1979)
• 1890 – Norman Bethune, Canadian soldier and physician (d. 1939)
• 1891 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (d. 1961)
• 1893 – Charles Herbert Colvin, American engineer, co-founded the Pioneer Instrument Company (d. 1985)
• 1893 – Adolph Lowe, German sociologist and economist (d. 1995)
• 1894 – Charles Corm, Lebanese businessman and philanthropist (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Milt Gross, American animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1953)
• 1896 – Kai Holm, Danish actor and director (d. 1985)
• 1897 – Lefty O'Doul, American baseball player and manager (d. 1969)
• 1898 – Georges Dumézil, French philologist and academic (d. 1986)
• 1898 – Hans Krebs, German general (d. 1945)
• 1899 – Emilio Prados, Spanish poet and author (d. 1962)
• 1900 – Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Wilbur R. Franks, Canadian scientist, invented the g-suit (d. 1986)
• 1901 – Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (d. 1991)
• 1901 – Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
• 1902 – Rachel Messerer, Lithuanian-Russian actress (d. 1993)
• 1902 – Russell Reeder, American soldier and author (d. 1998)
• 1903 – William C. Boyd, American immunologist and chemist (d. 1983)
• 1903 – Malcolm Dole, American chemist and academic (d. 1990)
• 1903 – Dorothy Mackaill, English-American actress and singer (d. 1990)
• 1903 – John Scarne, American magician and author (d. 1985)
• 1904 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (d. 1973)
• 1904 – George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (d. 1968)
• 1904 – Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (d. 1942)
• 1906 – Meindert DeJong, Dutch-American soldier and author (d. 1991)
• 1906 – Avery Fisher, American violinist and engineer, founded Fisher Electronics (d. 1994)
• 1906 – Georges Ronsse, Belgian cyclist and manager (d. 1969)
• 1908 – T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (d. 1976)
• 1908 – Thomas Shaw, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
• 1909 – Harry Helmsley, American businessman (d. 1997)
• 1909 – George Edward Holbrook, American chemist and engineer (d. 1987)
• 1910 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (d. 1985)
• 1911 – Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, English actor (d. 1984)
• 1912 – Afro Basaldella, Italian painter and academic (d. 1976)
• 1912 – Ferdinand Leitner, German conductor and composer (d. 1996)
• 1912 – Carl Marzani, Italian-American activist and publisher (d. 1994)
• 1913 – Taos Amrouche, Algerian singer and author (d. 1976)
• 1913 – John Garfield, American actor and singer (d. 1952)
• 1914 – Barbara Newhall Follett, American author (d. 1939)
• 1914 – Ward Kimball, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
• 1914 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist, sculptor, and architect (d. 2000)
• 1915 – László Csatáry, Hungarian art dealer (d. 2013)
• 1915 – Frank Sleeman, Australian lieutenant and politician, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2000)
• 1915 – Carlos Surinach, Spanish-Catalan composer and conductor (d. 1997)
• 1916 – William Alland, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
• 1916 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (d. 2000)
• 1916 – Hans Eysenck, German-English psychologist and theorist (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Clyde McCullough, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1982)
• 1918 – Kurt Dahlmann, German pilot, lawyer, and journalist
• 1918 – Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Buck Baker, American race car driver (d. 2002)
• 1919 – Tan Chee Khoon, Malaysian physician and politician (d. 1996)
• 1920 – Jean Lecanuet, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1993)
• 1920 – Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish-English actor (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-American composer and educator
• 1921 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (d. 1987)
• 1921 – Dinny Pails, English-Australian tennis player (d. 1986)
• 1922 – Richard E. Cunha, American director and cinematographer (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Russell Freeburg, American journalist and author
• 1923 – Francis King, English author and poet (d. 2011)
• 1923 – Patrick Moore, English astronomer and television host (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Kenneth O'Donnell, American soldier and politician (d. 1977)
• 1925 – Alan R. Battersby, English chemist and academic
• 1925 – Paul Mauriat, French conductor and composer (d. 2006)
• 1926 – Henri de Contenson, French archaeologist and academic
• 1926 – Richard DeVos, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Amway
• 1926 – Pascual Pérez, Argentinian boxer (d. 1977)
• 1926 – Don Rendell, English saxophonist and flute player (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho
• 1927 – Thayer David, American actor (d. 1978)
• 1927 – Jacques Dupin, French poet and critic (d. 2012)
• 1927 – Robert Orben, American magician and author
• 1927 – Dick Savitt, American tennis player and businessman
• 1928 – Samuel Adler, German-American composer and conductor
• 1928 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (d. 2010)
• 1929 – Bernard Haitink, Dutch violinist and conductor
• 1929 – Peter Swerling, American theoretician and engineer (d. 2000)
• 1931 – Wally Bruner, American journalist and television host (d. 1997)
• 1931 – Bob Johnson, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
• 1931 – William Henry Keeler, American cardinal
• 1931 – Alice Rivlin, American economist and politician
• 1932 – Sigurd Jansen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1932 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist, photographer, and poet (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Ed Roth, American illustrator (d. 2001)
• 1932 – Frank Wells, American businessman (d. 1994)
• 1933 – Nino Vaccarella, Italian race car driver
• 1934 – Mario Davidovsky, Argentinian-American composer and academic
• 1934 – John Duffey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
• 1934 – Anne Haney, American actress (d. 2001)
• 1934 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Sandra Reynolds, South African tennis player
• 1934 – Janez Strnad, Slovenian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
• 1935 – Edward Dębicki, Ukrainian-Polish poet and composer
• 1935 – Bent Larsen, Danish chess player and author (d. 2010)
• 1936 – Eric Allandale, Dominican trombonist and songwriter (d. 2001)
• 1936 – Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (d. 1968)
• 1936 – Aribert Reimann, German pianist and composer
• 1937 – José Araquistáin, Spanish footballer
• 1937 – William Deverell, Canadian lawyer, author, and activist
• 1937 – Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
• 1937 – Leslie H. Gelb, American journalist and author
• 1937 – Yuri Senkevich, Russian physician and explorer (d. 2003)
• 1937 – Barney Wilen, French saxophonist and composer (d. 1996)
• 1937 – Richard B. Wright, Canadian journalist and author
• 1938 – Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan-English negotiator (d. 2006)
• 1938 – Alpha Condé, Guinean politician, President of Guinea
• 1938 – Allan Kornblum, American police officer and judge (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Angus MacLise, American drummer and composer (d. 1979)
• 1938 – Don Perkins, American football player and sportscaster
• 1938 – Paula Prentiss, American actress
• 1938 – Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1939 – Jack Fisher, American baseball player
• 1940 – Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem, German scholar and judge
• 1940 – David Plante, American novelist
• 1941 – Adrian Lyne, English director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1941 – James Zagel, American lawyer and judge
• 1942 – Gloria Gaither, American singer-songwriter
• 1942 – Charles C. Krulak, American general
• 1942 – David Matthews, American keyboard player and composer
• 1942 – Lynn Sherr, American journalist and author
• 1942 – James Gustave Speth, American lawyer, and politician
• 1942 – Zorán Sztevanovity, Serbian-Hungarian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 – Lucio Dalla, Italian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2012)
• 1943 – Aldo Rico, Argentinian commander and politician
• 1944 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (d. 1999)
• 1944 – Anthony Ichiro Sanda, Japanese-American physicist and academic
• 1944 – Len Walker, English footballer and manager
• 1944 – Bobby Womack, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Tommy Svensson, Swedish footballer and manager
• 1945 – Gary Williams, American basketball player and coach
• 1946 – Michael Ashcroft, English businessman and politician
• 1946 – Danny Frisella, American baseball player (d. 1977)
• 1946 – Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, American journalist and author
• 1947 – Jan Garbarek, Norwegian saxophonist and composer
• 1947 – Bob Lewis, American guitarist
• 1947 – Pēteris Plakidis, Latvian pianist and composer
• 1948 – Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, New Zealand-Australian author
• 1948 – James Ellroy, American writer
• 1948 – Tom Grieve, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
• 1948 – Jean O'Leary, American nun and activist (d. 2005)
• 1948 – Chris Squire, English singer-songwriter and bass guitarist (d. 2014)
• 1948 – Shakin' Stevens, British singer-songwriter
• 1949 – Carroll Baker, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1949 – Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazian politician, 2nd President of Abkhazia (d. 2011)
• 1949 – Cookie Mueller, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1989)
• 1950 – Ofelia Medina, Mexican actress and screenwriter
• 1950 – Rick Perry, American captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas
• 1950 – Safet Plakalo, Bosnian author and playwright (d. 2015)
• 1951 – Edelgard Bulmahn, German educator and politician, German Federal Minister of Education and Research
• 1951 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, South Korean-American author, director, and producer (d. 1982)
• 1951 – Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1951 – Pete Haycock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1951 – Sam Perlozzo, American baseball player and manager
• 1951 – Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1951 – Glenis Willmott, English scientist and politician
• 1951 – Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
• 1952 – Peter Kuhfeld, English painter
• 1952 – Ronn Moss, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1952 – Svend Robinson, American-Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1952 – Umberto Tozzi, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1953 – John Edwards, Australian director and producer
• 1953 – Emilio Estefan, Cuban-American drummer and producer
• 1953 – Paweł Janas, Polish footballer and manager
• 1953 – Ray Price, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
• 1953 – Reinhold Roth, German motorcycle racer
• 1953 – Chris Smith, American lawyer and politician
• 1953 – Agustí Villaronga, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1953 – Daniel Woodrell American novelist and short story writer
• 1954 – Timur Apakidze, Russian general and pilot (d. 2001)
• 1954 – Mark Chorvinsky, American magician and author (d. 2005)
• 1954 – François Fillon, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
• 1954 – Peter Jacobsen, American golfer and sportscaster
• 1954 – Catherine O'Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian
• 1954 – Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian poet and author
• 1955 – Tim Costello, Australian minister and politician
• 1955 – Joey Jones, Welsh footballer and manager
• 1957 – Nicholas Coleridge, English journalist and businessman
• 1957 – Mykelti Williamson, American actor and director
• 1958 – Patricia Heaton, American actress
• 1958 – Massimo Mascioletti, Italian rugby player and coach
• 1959 – Rick Ardon, Australian journalist
• 1959 – Plamen Getov, Bulgarian footballer
• 1961 – Ray Mancini, American boxer
• 1961 – Steven Weber, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1961 – Roger Wessels, South African golfer and educator
• 1962 – Simon Bisley, English author and illustrator
• 1962 – Paul Canoville, English footballer
• 1962 – Stephan Reimertz, German historian and author
• 1962 – David Sparrow, English-Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Jason Newsted, American heavy metal singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1964 – Dave Colclough, Welsh computer programmer and poker player
• 1964 – Brian Crowley, Irish lawyer and politician
• 1964 – Tom Lampkin, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1964 – Paolo Virzì, Italian director and screenwriter
• 1965 – Greg Alexander, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
• 1965 – Paul W. S. Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Andrew Collins, English journalist and screenwriter
• 1965 – Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-born American novelist
• 1965 – Yury Lonchakov, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1966 – Emese Hunyady, Hungarian speed skater
• 1966 – Kevin Johnson, American basketball player and politician, 55th Mayor of Sacramento
• 1966 – Fiona Ma, American accountant and politician
• 1966 – Glen Nissen, Australian rugby league player
• 1966 – Dav Pilkey, American author and illustrator
• 1966 – Grand Puba, American rapper
• 1966 – Mike Small, American golfer and coach
• 1967 – Daryll Cullinan, South African cricketer and coach
• 1967 – Evan Dando, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1967 – Ivan Lewis, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• 1967 – Terry Matterson, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1967 – Dave Rayner, English cyclist (d. 1994)
• 1967 – Kubilay Türkyilmaz, Swiss footballer
• 1967 – Tim Vine, English comedian, actor, and author
• 1968 – Giovanni Carrara, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1968 – Jorge Celedón, Colombian singer
• 1968 – Patsy Kensit, English model and actress
• 1968 – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek banker and politician
• 1968 – Graham Westley, English footballer and manager
• 1969 – Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italian footballer and manager
• 1970 – Àlex Crivillé, Spanish motorcycle racer
• 1970 – Caroline Vis, Dutch tennis player
• 1971 – Iain Baird, Canadian soccer player and manager
• 1971 – Claire Baker, Scottish politician
• 1971 – Anders Kjølholm, Danish bass player
• 1971 – Satoshi Motoyama, Japanese race car driver
• 1972 – Katherine Center, American journalist and author
• 1972 – Nocturno Culto, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1972 – Robert Smith, American football player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Jos Verstappen, Dutch race car driver
• 1972 – Alison Wheeler, English singer-songwriter
• 1973 – Massimo Brambilla, Italian footballer and coach
• 1973 – Phillip Daniels, American football player and coach
• 1973 – Valery Kobelev, Russian ski jumper
• 1973 – Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
• 1973 – Linus of Hollywood, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1973 – Len Wiseman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1973 – Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, Indian director and screenwriter
• 1974 – Crowbar, American wrestler
• 1974 – Mladen Krstajić, Serbian footballer and manager
• 1974 – Karol Kučera, Slovak tennis player
• 1974 – Ariel Ortega, Argentinian footballer
• 1974 – Tommy Phelps, South Korean-American baseball player and coach
• 1974 – ICS Vortex, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1974 – David Wagner, American tennis player and educator
• 1974 – Bill Young, Australian rugby player
• 1975 – Mats Eilertsen, Norwegian bassist and composer
• 1975 – Patrick Femerling, German basketball player
• 1975 – Antti Aalto, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1975 – Kristi Harrower, Australian basketball player
• 1975 – Brian McGuire, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1975 – Hawksley Workman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Robbie Blake, English footballer
• 1976 – Tommy Jönsson, Swedish footballer
• 1977 – Nacho Figueras, Argentinian polo player and model
• 1977 – Traver Rains, American fashion designer and photographer
• 1978 – Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Denis Dallan, Italian rugby player and singer
• 1978 – Jean-Marc Pelletier, American ice hockey player
• 1979 – Sarah Stock, Canadian wrestler and trainer
• 1980 – Rohan Bopanna, Indian tennis player
• 1980 – Omar Bravo, Mexican footballer
• 1980 – Giedrius Gustas, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1980 – Scott Hamilton, New Zealand rugby player and coach
• 1980 – Jack Hannahan, American baseball player
• 1980 – Michael Henrich, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – Phil McGuire, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1981 – Ariza Makukula, Portuguese footballer
• 1981 – Helen Wyman, English cyclist
• 1982 – Landon Donovan, American soccer player and coach
• 1982 – Cate Edwards, American lawyer and author
• 1982 – Ludmila Ezhova, Russian gymnast
• 1983 – Samuel Contesti, French-Italian figure skater
• 1983 – Jaque Fourie, South African rugby player
• 1984 – Tamir Cohen, Israeli footballer
• 1984 – Anders Grøndal, Norwegian race car driver
• 1984 – Spencer Larsen, American football player
• 1984 – Raven Quinn, American singer-songwriter
• 1984 – Zak Whitbread, American-English footballer
• 1985 – Jake Buxton, English footballer
• 1985 – Chinedum Ndukwe, American football player
• 1985 – Whitney Port, American fashion designer and author
• 1986 – Steven Burke, English road and track cyclist
• 1986 – Tom De Mul, Belgian footballer
• 1986 – Mike Krieger, Brazilian-American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Instagram
• 1986 – Siim Roops, Estonian footballer
• 1986 – Bohdan Shust, Ukrainian footballer
• 1986 – Manu Vatuvei, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1986 – Margo Harshman, American actress
• 1987 – Ben McKinley, Australian footballer
• 1987 – Cameron Wood, Australian footballer
• 1988 – Gal Mekel, Israeli basketball player
• 1988 – Laura Siegemund, German tennis player
• 1988 – Adam Watts, English footballer
• 1990 – Paddy Madden, Irish footballer
• 1990 – Fran Mérida, Spanish footballer
• 1990 – Andrea Bowen, American actress
• 1992 – Nick Castellanos, American baseball player
• 1992 – Érik Lamela, Argentinian footballer
• 1992 – Bernd Leno, German footballer
• 1992 – Karl Mööl, Estonian footballer
• 1993 – Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
• 1993 – Richard Peniket, English footballer
• 1994 – Callum Harriott, English footballer
• 1996 – Lukas Webb, Australian rules footballer

Deaths

• 306 – Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia, Christian martyrs
• 480 – Landry of Sées, French bishop and saint
• 561 – Pope Pelagius I
• 934 – Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, Fatimid caliph (b. 873)
• 1172 – Stephen III of Hungary (b. 1147)
• 1193 – Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid Sultanate (b. 1137)
• 1238 – Joan of England, Queen of Scotland (b. 1210)
• 1238 – Yuri II of Vladimir (b. 1189)
• 1303 – Daniel of Moscow, Russian saint (b. 1261)
• 1314 – Jakub Świnka, Polish Catholic priest
• 1371 – Jeanne d'Évreux, queen consort of France (b. 1310)
• 1388 – Thomas Usk, English author
• 1484 – Saint Casimir, Polish prince (b. 1458)
• 1496 – Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (b. 1427)
• 1583 – Bernard Gilpin, English priest and theologian (b. 1517)
• 1604 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and educator (b. 1539)
• 1615 – Hans von Aachen, German painter and educator (b. 1552)
• 1710 – Louis, Prince of Condé (b. 1668)
• 1733 – Claude de Forbin, French admiral and politician (b. 1656)
• 1744 – John Anstis, English historian and politician (b. 1669)
• 1762 – Johannes Zick, German painter (b. 1702)
• 1793 – Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre (b. 1725)
• 1795 – John Collins, American politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1717)
• 1805 – Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (b. 1725)
• 1807 – Abraham Baldwin, American minister, lawyer, and politician (b. 1754)
• 1811 – Mariano Moreno, Argentinian journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1778)
• 1832 – Jean-François Champollion, French philologist and scholar (b. 1790)
• 1851 – James Richardson, English explorer (b. 1809)
• 1852 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (b. 1809)
• 1853 – Thomas Bladen Capel, English admiral (b. 1776)
• 1853 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (b. 1774)
• 1858 – Matthew C. Perry, American naval commander (b. 1794)
• 1864 – Thomas Starr King, American minister and politician (b. 1824)
• 1866 – Alexander Campbell, Irish-American minister and theologian (b. 1788)
• 1872 – Carsten Hauch, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1790)
• 1883 – Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1812)
• 1888 – Amos Bronson Alcott, American philosopher and educator (b. 1799)
• 1903 – Joseph Henry Shorthouse, English author (b. 1834)
• 1906 – John Schofield, American general and politician, 28th United States Secretary of War (b. 1831)
• 1915 – William Willett, English inventor, founded British Summer Time (b. 1856)
• 1916 – Franz Marc, German painter (b. 1880)
• 1925 – Moritz Moszkowski, Polish-German pianist and composer (b. 1854)
• 1925 – James Ward, English psychologist and philosopher (b. 1843)
• 1925 – John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
• 1927 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (b. 1846)
• 1938 – George Foster Peabody, American banker and philanthropist (b. 1852)
• 1938 – Jack Taylor, American baseball player (b. 1874)
• 1940 – Hamlin Garland, American novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer (b. 1860)
• 1941 – Ludwig Quidde, German activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
• 1944 – Fannie Barrier Williams, American educator and activist (b. 1855)
• 1944 – Louis Buchalter, American mob boss (b. 1897)
• 1944 – Louis Capone, Italian-American gangster (b. 1896)
• 1944 – René Lefebvre, French businessman (b. 1879)
• 1945 – Lucille La Verne, American actress (b. 1872)
• 1945 – Mark Sandrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
• 1948 – Antonin Artaud, French actor and director (b. 1896)
• 1949 – Clarence Kingsbury English cyclist (b. 1882)
• 1952 – Charles Scott Sherrington, English neurophysiologist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
• 1954 – Noel Gay, English composer and songwriter (b. 1898)
• 1960 – Herbert O'Conor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 51st Governor of Maryland (b. 1896)
• 1963 – William Carlos Williams, American poet, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1883)
• 1969 – Nicholas Schenck, Russian-American businessman (b. 1881)
• 1972 – Harold Barrowclough, New Zealand general, lawyer, and politician, 8th Chief Justice of New Zealand (b. 1894)
• 1972 – Charles Biro, American author and illustrator (b. 1911)
• 1974 – Adolph Gottlieb, American painter and sculptor (b. 1903)
• 1976 – John Marvin Jones, American judge and politician (b. 1882)
• 1976 – Walter H. Schottky, Swiss-German physicist and engineer (b. 1886)
• 1977 – Anatol E. Baconsky, Romanian poet, author, and critic (b. 1925)
• 1977 – Nancy Tyson Burbidge, Australian botanist and curator (b. 1912)
• 1977 – Andrés Caicedo, Colombian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1951)
• 1977 – William Paul, American lawyer and politician (b. 1885)
• 1977 – Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German jurist and politician, German Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1887)
• 1978 – Wesley Bolin, American businessman and politician, 15th Governor of Arizona (b. 1909)
• 1978 – Joe Marsala, American clarinet player and songwriter (b. 1907)
• 1979 – Willi Unsoeld, American mountaineer and educator (b. 1926)
• 1980 – Alan Hardaker, English lieutenant and businessman (b. 1912)
• 1981 – Torin Thatcher, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1981 – Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, German admiral (b. 1900)
• 1986 – Albert L. Lehninger, American biochemist and academic (b. 1917)
• 1986 – Richard Manuel, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1943)
• 1986 – Elizabeth Smart, Canadian poet and author (b. 1913)
• 1987 – Seibo Kitamura, Japanese sculptor (b. 1884)
• 1988 – Beatriz Guido, Argentine author and screenwriter (b. 1924)
• 1989 – Tiny Grimes, American guitarist (b. 1916)
• 1990 – Hank Gathers, American basketball player (b. 1967)
• 1991 – Godfrey Bryan, English cricketer (b. 1902)
• 1992 – Art Babbitt, American animator and director (b. 1907)
• 1992 – Pare Lorentz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1905)
• 1993 – Art Hodes, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (b. 1904)
• 1993 – Tomislav Ivčić, Croatian singer-songwriter and politician (b. 1953)
• 1993 – Izaak Kolthoff, Dutch chemist and academic (b. 1894)
• 1993 – Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Environment (b. 1929)
• 1994 – John Candy, Canadian comedian and actor (b. 1950)
• 1994 – George Edward Hughes, Irish-Scottish philosopher and author (b. 1918)
• 1995 – Matt Urban, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
• 1996 – Minnie Pearl, American entertainer (b. 1912)
• 1996 – John Sauer, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1925)
• 1997 – Joe Baker-Cresswell, English captain (b. 1901)
• 1997 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (b. 1916)
• 1998 – Ivan Dougherty, Australian general (b. 1907)
• 1999 – Harry Blackmun, American lawyer and judge (b. 1908)
• 1999 – Del Close, American actor and educator (b. 1934)
• 1999 – Miłosz Magin, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1929)
• 2000 – Hermann Brück, German-Scottish physicist and astronomer (b. 1905)
• 2000 – Michael Noonan, New Zealand-Australian author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
• 2000 – Ta-You Wu, Chinese physicist and academic (b. 1907)
• 2001 – Gerardo Barbero, Argentinian chess player (b. 1961)
• 2001 – Jean René Bazaine, French painter and author (b. 1904)
• 2001 – Fred Lasswell, American cartoonist (b. 1916)
• 2001 – Jim Rhodes, American businessman and politician, 61st Governor of Ohio (b. 1909)
• 2001 – Harold Stassen, American educator and politician, 25th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1907)
• 2002 – Ugnė Karvelis, Lithuanian author and translator (b. 1935)
• 2002 – Elyne Mitchell, Australian skier and author (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Velibor Vasović, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
• 2003 – Jaba Ioseliani, Georgian playwright, academic, and politician (b. 1926)
• 2003 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, screenwriter, and director (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Claude Nougaro, French singer-songwriter (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Nicola Calipari, Italian general (b. 1953)
• 2005 – Yuriy Kravchenko, Ukrainian police officer and politician (b. 1951)
• 2005 – Carlos Sherman, Uruguayan-Belarusian author and activist (b. 1934)
• 2006 – John Reynolds Gardiner, American author and engineer (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Edgar Valter, Estonian author and illustrator (b. 1929)
• 2007 – Thomas Eagleton, American lawyer and politician, 38th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (b. 1929)
• 2007 – Tadeusz Nalepa, Polish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Ian Wooldridge, English journalist (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Gary Gygax, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (b. 1938)
• 2008 – Leonard Rosenman, American composer and conductor (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Yvon Cormier, Canadian wrestler (b. 1938)
• 2009 – Horton Foote, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1916)
• 2009 – George McAfee, American football player (b. 1918)
• 2010 – Raimund Abraham, Austrian architect and educator, designed the Austrian Cultural Forum New York (b. 1933)
• 2010 – Johnny Alf, Brazilian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
• 2010 – Vladislav Ardzinba, Abkhazian historian and politician, 1st President of Abkhazia (b. 1945)
• 2010 – Fred Wedlock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Nepalese journalist and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Vivienne Harris, English journalist and publisher, co-founded the Jewish Telegraph (b. 1921)
• 2011 – Ed Manning, American basketball player and coach (b. 1943)
• 2011 – Arjun Singh, Indian politician (b. 1930)
• 2011 – Alenush Terian, Iranian astronomer and physicist (b. 1920)
• 2011 – Simon van der Meer, Dutch-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Paul McBride, Scottish lawyer and politician (b. 1965)
• 2012 – Don Mincher, American baseball player (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Lillian Cahn, Hungarian-American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Mickey Moore, Canadian-American actor and director (b. 1914)
• 2013 – Toren Smith, Canadian businessman, founded Studio Proteus (b. 1960)
• 2014 – Mark Freidkin, Russian author and poet (b. 1953)
• 2014 – Elaine Kellett-Bowman, English lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Jack Kinzler, American engineer (b. 1920)
• 2014 – Wu Tianming, Chinese director and producer (b. 1939)
• 2015 – Dušan Bilandžić, Croatian historian and politician (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Ray Hatton, English-American runner, author, and academic (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1929)
• 2016 – Pat Conroy, American author (b. 1945)
• 2016 – P. A. Sangma, Indian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1947)
• 2016 – Zhou Xiaoyan, Chinese soprano and educator (b. 1917)
• 2017 – Clayton Yeutter, American politician (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Adrian of Nicomedia
  • Bisinus
  • Casimir
  • Felix of Rhuys
  • Giovanni Antonio Farina (Catholic Church)
  • Blessed Humbert III, Count of Savoy (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Paul Cuffee (Episcopal Church)
  • Peter of Pappacarbone
  • Blessed Zoltán Meszlényi
  • March 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• National Grammar Day (United States)
• St Casimir's Day (Poland and Lithuania)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to March 4.

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