Historical Events on Friday, 4th April

04/04/2025

The impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea in response to his declaration of martial law is unanimously upheld by the country's Constitutional Court, ending his presidency.

On 14 December 2024, Yoon Suk Yeol, then president of South Korea, was impeached by the National Assembly following the passage of an impeachment bill with 204 of the 300 members voting in favor. This action came in response to Yoon's declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024.

---

04/04/2023

Finland becomes a member of NATO after Turkey accepts its membership request.

Finland, or the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia. Its capital and largest city is Helsinki. Finland has a population of 5.6 million. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, the mother tongues of 84.1 percent and 5.1 percent of the population, respectively. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. Its land is predominantly covered by boreal forest, with over 180,000 recorded lakes.

---

04/04/2020

China holds a national day of mourning for martyrs who died in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease outbreak.

A national day of mourning is a day, or one of several days, marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of a renowned individual or individuals from that country or elsewhere or the anniversary of such a death or deaths, wartime commemorations, or the occurrence or anniversary of a significant disaster either in the country or in another country. Flying a national or military flag of that country at half-mast is a common symbol.

---

04/04/2017

Syria conducts an air strike on Khan Shaykhun using chemical weapons, killing 89 civilians.

The Khan Shaykhun chemical attack took place on 4 April 2017 on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate of Syria. The town was reported to have been struck by an airstrike by government forces followed by massive civilian chemical poisoning. The release of a toxic gas, which included sarin, or a similar substance, killed at least 89 people and injured more than 541, according to the opposition Idlib Health Directorate. The attack was the deadliest use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war since the Ghouta chemical attack in 2013.

---

04/04/2013

74 people are killed in a building collapse in Thane, India.

On 4 April 2013, a building collapsed on tribal land in Mumbra, a suburb of Thane in Maharashtra, India. It has been called the worst building collapse in the area. Seventy-four people were killed, while more than 100 survived. The search for additional survivors ended on 6 April 2013.

---

04/04/2011

Georgian Airways Flight 834 crashes at N'djili Airport in Kinshasa, killing 32.

On 4 April 2011, Georgian Airways Flight 834, a Bombardier CRJ100 passenger jet of Georgian Airways operating a domestic flight from Kisangani to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) crashed while attempting to land at Kinshasa Airport. The aircraft, which was chartered by the United Nations, was trying to land during a thunderstorm. Of the 33 people on board, only one person survived. The incident remains as the United Nations' deadliest aviation disaster. It is also the third-deadliest air disaster involving the CRJ100/200, behind Comair Flight 5191 and China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210.

---

04/04/2010

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits south of the Mexico-USA border, killing at least two and damaging buildings across the two countries.

The 2010 Baja California earthquake occurred on April 4 with a moment magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shock originated at 15:40:41 local time south of Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico.

---

04/04/2009

France announces its return to full participation of its military forces within NATO.

France, officially the French Republic, is a country primarily located in Western Europe. Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic in North America, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany to the northeast; Switzerland to the east; Italy and Monaco to the southeast; Andorra and Spain to the south, a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest, and including Overseas France, it also borders Suriname and Brazil through French Guiana in South America, and the Netherlands through Saint Martin in the Caribbean. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its 18 integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of 632,702 km2 (244,288 sq mi), with a total population estimated at 69.1 million in 2026. Its capital, largest city and main cultural and economic centre is Paris.

---

04/04/2002

The MPLA government of Angola and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, from 1977 to 1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party, is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the Portuguese Army in the Angolan War of Independence from 1961 to 1974, and defeated the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) in the Angolan Civil War, which has been described as "one of the longest, most brutal and deadliest wars of the last century." The party has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975, being the de facto government throughout the civil war and continuing to rule afterwards.

---

04/04/1997

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-83. However, the mission is later cut short due to a fuel cell problem.

Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight on April 12, 1981 and becoming the first spacecraft to be re-used after its first flight when it launched on STS-2 on November 12, 1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle Enterprise, Columbia retained unique external and internal features compared with later orbiters, such as test instrumentation and distinctive black chines. In addition to a heavier aft fuselage and the retention of an internal airlock throughout its lifetime, these made Columbia the heaviest of the five spacefaring orbiters: around 1,000 kilograms heavier than Challenger and 3,600 kilograms heavier than Endeavour when originally constructed. Columbia also carried ejection seats based on those from the SR-71 during its first six flights until 1983, and from 1986 onwards carried an imaging pod on its vertical stabilizer.

---

04/04/1996

Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.

Comet Hyakutake is a comet discovered on 31 January 1996. It was dubbed the Great Comet of 1996; its passage to within 0.1 AU (15 Gm) of the Earth on 25 March was one of the closest cometary approaches of the previous 200 years. Reaching an apparent visual magnitude of zero and spanning nearly 80°, Hyakutake appeared very bright in the night sky and was widely seen around the world. The comet temporarily upstaged the much anticipated Comet Hale–Bopp, which was approaching the inner Solar System at the time.

---

04/04/1994

Three people are killed when KLM Cityhopper Flight 433 crashes at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

KLM Cityhopper Flight 433 was a Saab 340B, registered as PH-KSH, which crashed during an emergency landing on 4 April 1994, resulting in the death of 3 occupants, including the captain. Flight 433 was a routine scheduled flight from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. The accident was caused by inadequate pilot training and a faulty sensor, leading to loss of control during go-around.

---

04/04/1991

Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their airplane over an elementary school in Merion, Pennsylvania.

Henry John Heinz III was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Pennsylvania from 1977 until his death in 1991. An heir to the Heinz family fortune, Heinz entered politics in 1971 when he won a special election to replace Robert Corbett to represent Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district. In 1976, Heinz ran to replace retiring Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott. Heinz narrowly won in the Republican primary over future Senator Arlen Specter and defeated William Green III in the general election. Heinz won re-election in 1982 and 1988 by large margins. On April 4, 1991, Heinz was killed when his plane, facing mechanical problems, collided with a helicopter inspecting the plane, killing all involved in the crash.

---

Forty-one people are taken hostage inside a Good Guys! Electronics store in Sacramento, California. Three of the hostage takers and three hostages are killed.

On April 4, 1991, 41 employees and customers were taken hostage by four gunmen and held at a Good Guys! electronics store at the corner of 65th Street and Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, California, near Florin Mall for approximately eight hours. Near the end of the hostage crisis, six were killed: three hostages and three of the four hostage-takers. The fourth hostage-taker was captured by authorities, and an additional 14 hostages were injured during the crisis. To this day, the hostage crisis remains the largest hostage rescue operation in US history, with over 40 hostages having been held at gunpoint.

---

04/04/1990

The current flag of Hong Kong is adopted for post-colonial Hong Kong during the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress.

The Regional Flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China depicts a white stylised five-petal Hong Kong orchid tree flower in the centre of a Chinese red field. Its design is enshrined in Hong Kong Basic Law, the territory's constitutional document, and regulations regarding its use, prohibition of use, desecration, and manufacture are stated in the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance.

---

04/04/1988

Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.

The governor of Arizona is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arizona. As the top elected official, the governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arizona state government and is charged with faithfully executing state laws. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Arizona State Legislature; to convene the legislature; and to grant pardons, with the exception of cases of impeachment. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. Arizona is one of the few states that currently does not have a governor's mansion or other official residence.

---

04/04/1987

Garuda Indonesia Flight 032 crashes at Medan Airport, killing 23.

Garuda Indonesia Flight 035 was a domestic Garuda Indonesia flight that struck a pylon and crashed on approach to Medan-Polonia Airport on 4 April 1987. Out of the 45 passengers and crew on board, 23 were killed in the accident.

---

04/04/1984

President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, he became an important figure in the American conservative movement. The period encompassing his presidency is known as the Reagan era.

---

04/04/1983

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space on STS-6.

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development, as a proposed nuclear shuttle in the plan was cancelled in 1972. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.

---

04/04/1981

Iran–Iraq War: The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force mounts an attack on H-3 Airbase and destroys about 50 Iraqi aircraft.

The Iran–Iraq War began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980. After eight years of conflict, both countries accepted a ceasefire deal brokered by the United Nations, which became effective in August 1988. The war caused around 500,000 deaths, making it the deadliest conventional war ever fought between regular armies of developing countries.

---

04/04/1979

Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto NPk was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth prime minister of Pakistan from 1973 until his overthrow in 1977. He was also the founder and first chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) from 1967 until his execution in 1979.

---

04/04/1977

Southern Airways Flight 242 crashes in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, killing 72.

Southern Airways Flight 242 was a scheduled flight from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia, with a stop in Huntsville, Alabama. On April 4, 1977, the Douglas DC-9-31 executed a forced landing on Georgia State Route 381 in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, United States, after suffering hail damage and losing thrust on both engines in a severe thunderstorm.

---

04/04/1975

Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windows, and has since expanded to Internet services, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, video gaming, and other fields. A Big Tech company, Microsoft is the largest software company by revenue, one of the most valuable public companies, and one of the most valuable brands globally.

---

Vietnam War: A United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transporting orphans, crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, killing 172 people.

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

---

04/04/1973

The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are officially dedicated.

The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Built primarily between 1966 and 1975, it was dedicated on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed on September 11, 2001. The complex included the 110-story-tall Twin Towers, at the time of their completion the tallest buildings in the world, with the original 1 World Trade Center at 1,368 feet (417 m), and 2 World Trade Center at 1,362 feet (415.1 m); they were also the tallest twin skyscrapers in the world until 1996, when the Petronas Towers opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The other buildings in the complex were the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space and, prior to its completion, was projected to accommodate an estimated 130,000 people.

---

A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, makes the last flight of Operation Homecoming.

The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a retired military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of the United States Air Force (USAF). The aircraft also served with airlift and air mobility wings of the Air Force Reserve (AFRES), later renamed Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), the Air National Guard (ANG) and, later, one air mobility wing of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) dedicated to C-141, C-5, C-17 and KC-135 training.

---

04/04/1969

Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.

Denton Arthur Cooley was an American cardiothoracic surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total artificial heart. Cooley was also the founder and surgeon in-chief of The Texas Heart Institute, chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at clinical partner Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, consultant in Cardiovascular Surgery at Texas Children's Hospital and a clinical professor of Surgery at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

---

04/04/1968

Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

On April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST, Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. at age 39.

---

Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 6.

The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo was conceived during Project Mercury and executed after Project Gemini. It was conceived in 1960 as a three-person spacecraft during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal for the 1960s of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in an address to the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961.

---

04/04/1967

Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech in New York City's Riverside Church.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination, which most commonly affected African Americans.

---

04/04/1964

The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the most influential band in popular music and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.

---

04/04/1963

Bye Bye Birdie, a musical romantic comedy film directed by George Sidney, was released.

Bye Bye Birdie is a 1963 American musical romantic comedy film directed by George Sidney from a screenplay by Irving Brecher, based on Michael Stewart's book of the 1960 musical of the same name. It also features songs by composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams, and a score by Johnny Green. Produced by Fred Kohlmar, the film stars Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton, Bobby Rydell, Jesse Pearson, and Ed Sullivan. Van Dyke and featured player Paul Lynde reprised their roles from the original Broadway production.

---

04/04/1960

France agrees to grant independence to the Mali Federation, a union of Senegal and French Sudan.

France, officially the French Republic, is a country primarily located in Western Europe. Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic in North America, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany to the northeast; Switzerland to the east; Italy and Monaco to the southeast; Andorra and Spain to the south, a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest, and including Overseas France, it also borders Suriname and Brazil through French Guiana in South America, and the Netherlands through Saint Martin in the Caribbean. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its 18 integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of 632,702 km2 (244,288 sq mi), with a total population estimated at 69.1 million in 2026. Its capital, largest city and main cultural and economic centre is Paris.

---

04/04/1958

The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It opposes military action that may result in the use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, and the building of nuclear power stations in the UK.

---

04/04/1949

Cold War: Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

---

04/04/1946

Greek judge and archeologist Panagiotis Poulitsas is appointed Prime Minister of Greece in the midst of the Greek Civil War.

Panagiotis Poulitsas was a Greek judge and archeologist who briefly served as interim Prime Minister of Greece from 4 April 1946 to 18 April 1946. He was born in Geraki, Laconia on 9 September 1881.

---

04/04/1945

World War II: United States Army troops liberate Ohrdruf forced labor camp in Germany.

The United States Army is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is designated as the army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As a part of the United States Department of Defense, it is one of the six armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Founded in 1784, it succeeded the Continental Army, formed in 1775 during the American Revolutionary War.

---

World War II: United States Army troops capture Kassel.

The Battle of Kassel was a four-day struggle between the U.S. Army and the German Army in April 1945 for Kassel, a medium-sized city 140 kilometers northeast of Frankfurt am Main, which also is the second-largest city in Hesse. The battle resulted as the U.S. Third Army pushed northeast from the region of Frankfurt and Mainz. The battle opened on April 1, 1945 and ended with an American victory three days later. Opposing the Third Army's 80th Infantry Division were an infantry replacement battalion, some heavy tanks, and anti-aircraft guns. Although the Germans gave battle at Kassel, their army was on the brink of collapse as the Western Allies and the Red Army made deep inroads into Germany. The defense of Kassel did not materially impede the Allied advance, and, one month after the battle ended, Germany was forced to capitulate.

---

World War II: Soviet Red Army troops liberate Hungary from German occupation.

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often referred by its shortened name as the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars to oppose the military forces of the new nation's adversaries during the Russian Civil War, especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army. In February 1946, the Red Army was renamed the "Soviet Army". Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was split between the post-Soviet states, with its bulk becoming the Russian Ground Forces, commonly considered to be the successor of the Soviet Army.

---

04/04/1944

World War II: First bombardment of oil refineries in Bucharest by Anglo-American forces kills 3,000 civilians.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

---

04/04/1933

U.S. Navy airship USS Akron is wrecked off the New Jersey coast due to severe weather.

The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and is designated as the navy of the United States in the Constitution. With 290 combat vessels, it is the world's second largest navy, behind the People's Liberation Army Navy, and by far the largest by displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, one undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. The U.S. Navy is a part of the United States Department of Defense and is one of six armed forces of the United States and one of eight uniformed services of the United States.

---

04/04/1925

The Schutzstaffel (SS) is founded under Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party in Germany.

The Schutzstaffel was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.

---

04/04/1920

The four-day Nebi Musa riots commence.

The 1920 Nebi Musa riots or 1920 Jerusalem riots took place in the British-controlled part of Occupied Enemy Territory Administration from 4 to 7 April 1920 in and around the Old City of Jerusalem. Five Jews were killed and several hundred injured; four Arabs were killed and 18 injured; seven Britons were injured. The riots coincided with and are named after the Nebi Musa festival, which was held every year on Easter Sunday, and followed rising tensions in Arab–Jewish relations. The riots came shortly after the Battle of Tel Hai amid increasing pressure on Arab nationalists in Syria in the course of the Franco-Syrian War.

---

04/04/1913

First Balkan War: Greek aviator Emmanouil Argyropoulos becomes the first pilot to die in the Hellenic Air Force when his plane crashes.

The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan states' combined armies overcame the initially numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies, achieving rapid success.

---

04/04/1905

In India, an earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, killing 20,000, and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.

The 1905 Kangra earthquake occurred in the Kangra Valley and the Kangra district of the Himachal Pradesh, in India on 4 April 1905. The earthquake measured 7.8 on the surface-wave magnitude scale and killed more than 20,000 people. Apart from this, most buildings in the towns of Kangra, Mcleodganj and Dharamshala were destroyed. The earthquake also had a widespread impact in Jammu and Kashmir particularly in the densely populated Kashmir valley. A total of 7,000 to 8,000 people were killed in Jammu and Kashmir with 4,000 to 5,000 deaths occurring in the Kashmir valley. Widespread structural damage was reported across Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttrakhand.

---

04/04/1904

Two Ms  ~7.1 earthquakes, among the largest in Europe, strike Bulgaria, killing over 200 people and causing destruction.

The 1904 Kresna earthquakes occurred on the same day of April 4 in the Kresna region of Bulgaria. The pair of earthquakes measured 6.9 and 7.2 on the surface wave magnitude scale, and were assigned the respective Modified Mercalli intensity scale ratings of X (Extreme) and XI (Extreme). More than 200 people were killed in the two earthquakes. Several villages were obliterated as a result.

---

04/04/1894

Foyot bombing by the Russian or French state during the Ère des attentats (1892-1894).

The Foyot bombing was a bomb attack carried out on 4 April 1894, in Paris against the Foyot restaurant, located at 33 rue de Tournon, fifty meters from the French Senate building. This attack, which took place during the Ère des attentats (1892-1894), injured four people, including the anarchists Laurent Tailhade and Julia Miahle, when a bomb hidden in a flower pot exploded. It followed the Madeleine bombing.

---

04/04/1887

Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.

Argonia is a city in Sumner County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 456.

---

04/04/1866

Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Dmitry Karakozov in the city of Saint Petersburg.

Alexander II was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 2 March 1855 until his assassination on 13 March 1881. He is also known as Alexander the Liberator because of his historic Edict of Emancipation, which officially abolished Russian serfdom in 1861. Crowned on 7 September 1856, he succeeded his father Nicholas I and was succeeded by his son Alexander III.

---

04/04/1865

American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

---

04/04/1860

The declaration on the introduction of the Finnish markka as an official currency is read in different parts of the Grand Duchy of Finland.

The markka, also known as the Finnish mark, was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when Finland adopted the euro, and it ceased to be legal tender. The markka was divided into 100 pennies, abbreviated as "p". At the point of conversion, the rate was fixed at €1 = 5.94573 mk.

---

04/04/1841

William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and setting the record for the briefest administration. Vice President John Tyler succeeds Harrison as President.

William Henry Harrison was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causing a brief constitutional crisis, since presidential succession was not then fully defined in the U.S. Constitution. Harrison was the last president born as a British subject in the Thirteen Colonies. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia, and a son of Benjamin Harrison V, who was a U.S. Founding Father. His own son John Scott Harrison was the father of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd U.S. president.

---

04/04/1818

The United States Congress, affirming the Second Continental Congress, adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (20 at that time).

The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both meet in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

---

04/04/1814

Napoleon abdicates (conditionally) for the first time and names his son Napoleon II as Emperor of the French, followed by unconditional abdication two days later.

Napoleon I was Emperor of the French from 18 May 1804 until his first abdication in 1814, with a brief restoration during the Hundred Days in 1815. He rose to prominence as a general during the French Revolution and led a series of military campaigns across Europe and North Africa during the Napoleonic Wars. He was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821. As a statesman, he enacted the Napoleonic Code, which continues to influence legal systems worldwide, and reformed education by establishing state lycées.

---

04/04/1796

Georges Cuvier delivers the first paleontological lecture.

Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier, known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in natural sciences research in the early 19th century and was instrumental in establishing the fields of comparative anatomy and paleontology through his work in comparing living animals with fossils.

---

04/04/1660

Declaration of Breda by King Charles II of Great Britain promises, among other things, a general pardon to all royalists and opponents of the monarchy for crimes committed during the English Civil War and the Interregnum.

The Declaration of Breda was a proclamation by Charles II of England in which he promised a general pardon for crimes committed during the English Civil War and the Interregnum for all those who recognised Charles as the lawful king; the retention by the current owners of property purchased during the same period; religious toleration; and the payment of arrears to members of the army, and that the army would be recommissioned into service under the crown. Further, regarding the two latter points, the parliament was given the authority to judge property disputes and responsibility for the payment of the army. The first three pledges were all subject to amendment by acts of Parliament.

---

04/04/1609

Moriscos are expelled from the Kingdom of Valencia.

Moriscos were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable Muslim population, the mudéjars, in the early 16th century.

---

04/04/1581

Francis Drake is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I for completing a circumnavigation of the world.

Sir Francis Drake was an English explorer and privateer best known for making the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580. He is also known for participating in the early English slaving voyages of his cousin, John Hawkins, and John Lovell. Having started as a simple seaman, in 1588 he was part of the fight against the Spanish Armada as a vice admiral.

---

04/04/1423

Death of the Venetian Doge Tommaso Mocenigo, under whose rule victories were achieved against the Kingdom of Hungary and against the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Gallipoli (1416).

A doge was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and Renaissance periods. Such states were referred to as crowned republics. Doges wore a special hat, the Corno ducale and usually ruled life-long.

---

04/04/1268

A five-year Byzantine–Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.

In 1268, the Byzantine Empire and the Republic of Venice agreed to temporarily end hostilities which had erupted after the Byzantine recovery of Constantinople by Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261.

---

04/04/0801

King Louis the Pious captures Barcelona from the Moors after a siege of several months.

Louis the Pious, also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only surviving son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he became the sole ruler of the Franks after his father's death in 814, a position that he held until his death except from November 833 to March 834, when he was deposed.

---

04/04/0619

The Bijapur-Mumbai inscription is issued by Pulakeshin II, describing the Battle of Narmada.: 207

Pulakeshin II, popularly known as Immaḍi Pulakeśi, was the Chālukyan emperor from c. 609 to 642. During his reign, the Chalukya empire expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in peninsular India.

---

04/04/0611

Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico.

Scroll Serpent was a Maya ruler of the Kaan kingdom. He ruled from AD 579 to 611. He acceded on 2 September.

---

04/04/0190

Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.

Dong Zhuo, courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minister of the imperial government. Originally from Liang Province, Dong Zhuo seized control of the imperial capital Luoyang in 189 when it entered a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling of Han and a massacre of the eunuch faction by the court officials.

---

01/01/1970

Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.

The consuls were the two highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic. Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the cursus honorum—an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspired—after that of the censor, which was reserved for former consuls. Each year, the centuriate assembly elected two consuls to serve jointly for a one-year term. The consuls alternated each month holding fasces when both were in Rome. A consul's imperium extended over Rome and all its provinces.

---