/year

April 4 in history

214 sourced entries recorded on April 4, from 188 CE to 2022 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 1263Egyptian forces led by Sultan Baibars (or Abu al-Futuh) attack Acre; there is severe fighting outside the walls, in which the seneschal, Geoffrey of Sergines, is badly wounded. Baibars is not yet ready to besiege the city and begins a major campaign to eliminate the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, the county of Tripoli and the principality of Antioch.source
  • 1268A five-year Byzantine–Venetian peace treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. It is ratified by the Doge of Venice Reniero Zeno on June 30.source
  • 1303Battle of Arques: Flemish forces (some 10,000 men) led by William of Jülich ("the Younger") defeats a French army at Arques in Flanders. During the battle, the French cavalry (1,600 men) tries to break the Flemish infantry militia formations, but to no avail. Finally, the French withdraw to Saint-Omer, leaving 300 dead behind. Later, William receives a warm reception in Bruges as a liberator in May.source
  • 1312At the Council of Vienne in France, a future Christian Crusade against a Muslim nation is approved by the 180 participants in the 15th Roman Catholic ecumenical council (including 20 cardinals and 122 bishops), convened by Pope Clement V. While agreeing that a Crusade should take place within one year, the parties disagree over where it should take place, with suggestions of attacking the Spanish Emirate of Granada, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, or the Sultanate of Egypt. Although tithes will be collected from Catholic churches to support the venture, the proposed crusade never takes place.source
  • 1314Exeter College, Oxford, in England is founded by Walter Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter, and his brother for the education of clergy.source
  • 1327In the civil war in Granada, Prince Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula captures the fortress of Laujar de Andarax (in the modern-day Almeria province of Spain).source
  • 1368The siege of Copenhagen, capital of the Kingdom of Denmark, is started by the Hanseatic League as 37 ships and 2,000 soldiers arrive at the city after sailing from the German city of Lübeck under the leadership of the city's leader, Bruno von Warendorp. The invaders bring with them 400 horses and eight trebuchets (long range catapults) and four regular catapults. While the city falls in four weeks, the Absalon fortress on Slotsholmen island holds out for two months.source
  • 1406James I becomes King of Scotland on the death of his father. He has been detained by Henry IV of England since March 30 and will remain at the English court for 18 years. With James absent, Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany administers the kingdom as "Governor of Scotland".source
  • 1406Tran Thien Binh, pretender to the throne of Vietnam (at the time, Dai Ngu) arrives from China, accompanied by an emissary from China, at the invitation of the Emperor Hồ Hán Thương. After crossing into Lang Son, Tran Thien Binh and the Chinese ambassador are killed by King Ho Han Thuong's troops, triggering a war with China.source
  • 1431In Poland, Konrad V Kantner, Duke of Silesia, leads a raid against the Hussites at Gliwice.source
  • 1436After entering the city of Genoa with several thousand men, former Doge Tomaso di Campofregoso reclaims leadership of the Republic of Genoa.source
  • 1455The papal conclave to replace the late Pope Nicholas V begins. For the first time, the conclave is held at the Apostolic Palace in Rome. In the first rounds of ballots, the two front-running candidates are Cardinal Latino Orsini and Cardinal Prospero Colonna, and Colonna receives a plurality of votes, but not the required two-thirds majority.source
  • 1460The University of Basel is founded in Switzerland.source
  • 1460The University of Nantes is foundedsource
  • 1491April 4 King Charles VIII makes a triumphant entry to the city of Nantes, facing no resistance and marking the conquest of the Duchy of Brittany by France.source
  • 1510The "Disturbance of the Three Ports", an uprising by Japanese merchants against the Korean government, begins in what is now South Korea in the cities of Dongnae, Changwon and Ulsan.source
  • 1523Under a plan organized by Sister Katharina von Bora and Protestant reformer Martin Luther, fish merchant Leonhard Köppe helps carry out the rescue of Von Bora and other Cistercian Catholic nuns from the Nimbschen Abbey in Germany near Grimma and Leipzig. On the day before Easter, Köppe arrives at the convent under the pretext of bringing delivering herring and other foods to the Abbey, then uses empty barrels to smuggle the nuns to Wittenberg. Von Bora will later become Luther's wife.source
  • 1525German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire: Battle of Leipheim – The peasants suffer great losses when they are attacked by Georg, Truchsess von Waldburg and the town of Leipheim is forced to surrender. Four peasant leaders are beheaded, including Jakob Wehe and Ulrich Schoen.source
  • 1542The Battle of Jarte begins in Ethiopia as the Army of the Portuguese Empire, commanded by Cristóvão da Gama encounters the army of the Ethiopian ruler, the Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, achieving a victory on April 16.source
  • 1547Catherine Parr, widow of King Henry VIII of England, secretly marries Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley.source
  • 1551Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, issues an edict to reduce tensions among the three major ethnic groups in the Kingdom of Hungary, with an administration to have equal representation of for ethnic Hungarians, Slovaks and Germans.source
  • 1581Following his circumnavigation of the world, Francis Drake is knighted by Elizabeth I of England.source
  • 1588Christian IV becomes king of Denmark–Norway, upon the death of his father, Frederick II.source
  • 1590The Cortes of Castile approves a new subsidy, the millones.source
  • 1592The future Henry IV of France, King designate of Henry III of France, announces in a declaration, so-called "Expedient," his intention to take instruction in, and convert to, the Catholic religion.source
  • 1600a contract for marriage between king Henry IV and Marie de Medici was signed in Florence.source
  • 1609English explorer Henry Hudson, in the service of the Dutch East India Company, sets out from Amsterdam in the Halve Maen.source
  • 1609King Philip III of Spain signs an edict for the expulsion of the Moriscos from his country with effect from September 11.source
  • 1611Denmark-Norway declares war on Sweden, then captures Kalmar.source
  • 1625Frederick Henry of Nassau marries Amalia, Countess von Solms-Braunfels.source
  • 1655Battle of Porto Farina, Tunis: English admiral Robert Blake's fleet defeats the Barbary pirates.source
  • 1660The Declaration of Breda, signed by Charles Stuart, son of the late King Charles I of England, promises amnesty, freedom of conscience, and army back pay, in return for support for the English Restoration. The Declaration is read to the new parliament on May 1.source
  • 1687King James II of England issues the Declaration of Indulgence (or Declaration for the Liberty of Conscience), suspending laws against Roman Catholics and nonconformists.source
  • 1687King James II issues the Declaration of Indulgence (or Declaration for the Liberty of Conscience), suspending laws against Roman Catholics and nonconformists.source
  • 1689A total lunar eclipse is visible in central Asia.source
  • 1693Anne Palles becomes the last accused witch to be executed for witchcraft in Denmark, after having been convicted of using powers of sorcery. King Christian V accepts her plea not to be burned alive, and she is beheaded before her body is set afire.source
  • 16934 April Anne Palles, an alleged witch, becomes the last woman to be legally executed for sorcery in Denmark.source
  • 1718Great Britain, France and the Dutch Republic agree on the phasing out of the authority of the House of Medici over the semi-independent Grand Duchy of Tuscany by declaring that Gian Gastone de' Medici will be the last of the Medici family to rule the Italian duchy and that Spain's House of Borbón will eventually control the Tuscan monarchy. Don Carlos of Spain, the two-year old son of King Philip V, is designated as the eventual heir, despite the objections of the 75-year old Grand Duke, Cosimo III de' Medici.source
  • 1719The French army under James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, invades the Basque provinces of Spain, with 20,000 troops crossing into Navarre.source
  • 1720The Riksdag of the Estates elects Frederick I new King of Sweden.source
  • 1721Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister of Great Britain (although this is more a term of disparagement at this time).source
  • 1721Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister (although this is more a term of disparagement at this time).source
  • 1739first performance of Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt at the King's Theatre, London.source
  • 1745April 4 (March 24, old style) – Under the command of British Army General William Pepperrell, the first 4,300 American colonists in the New England Army depart Boston to liberate the French North American colony of Nova Scotia. The flotilla of 80 military transports and 18 armed escorts is scattered by a storm, but the first troops disembark at Canso, Nova Scotia, on April 15 and begin training while waiting for the arrival of the Royal Navy squadron commanded by Admiral Peter Warren.source
  • 1761A severe epidemic of influenza breaks out in London and "practically the entire population of the city" is afflicted; particularly contagious to pregnant women, the disease causes an unusual number of miscarriages and premature births.source
  • 1765At Fort Tombecbe, near what is now the town of Epes, Alabama, representatives of the British Empire and of the Choctaw Indian tribe in Mississippi sign a peace treaty in the wake of French cession of claims to the British. A boundary is fixed between land to be occupied by the Choctaws and for lands which British settlers can use; in addition, the British agree to provide a police official and a gunsmith at Fort Tombecbe for the Choctaws to use for trespassing complaints and for weapons repairs. By 1775, however, the Choctaws are outnumbered in Mississippi.source
  • 1766Schack Carl Rantzau was appointed commander-in-chief of the Norwegian army.source
  • 1768The Cotopaxi volcano erupts in what is now Ecuador, at the time part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, covering the towns of Hambato and Tacunga with ash, but not causing fatalities.source
  • 1771The first quarantines are started in Moscow and Saint Petersburg to fight the bubonic plague epidemic. Over the next 12 months, more than 52,000 people die from the plague in Moscow alone.source
  • 1776act of the Parliament of Ireland to prevent "tumultuous risings", directed against the Whiteboys.source
  • 1781American Revolutionary War: The Spanish capture the sloop-of-war HMS St Fermin off Málaga, Spain.source
  • 1794Battle of Racławice: Polish supporters of the Kościuszko Uprising defeat forces of the Russian Empire.source
  • 1804Samuel Taylor Coleridge sets sail on The Speedwell for the Mediterranean. In Malta, he obtains employment as a public official.source
  • 1807April 4–12 – Froberg mutiny: The British suppress a mutiny at Fort Ricasoli, Malta, by men of the irregularly-recruited Froberg Regiment.source
  • 1810The County of Roepstorff is established by Christian Alexander Roepstorff from the manors of Einsidelsborg and Kørup.source
  • 1812U.S. President James Madison enacts a 90-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.source
  • 1812U.S. President James Madison enacts a ninety–day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.source
  • 1816March 29–April 10 – The Second Bank of the United States obtains its charter.source
  • 1816March 30–April 11 – In Philadelphia, the African Methodist Episcopal Church is established by Richard Allen and other African-American Methodists, the first such denomination in the U.S. completely independent of White churches.source
  • 1818The United States Congress adopts the flag of the United States as having thirteen red and white stripes, and one star for each state (twenty), with additional stars to be added whenever a new state is added to the Union.source
  • 1829The Mexican city of Cuautla, Morelos, is founded.source
  • 1836Daniel O'Connell gives a speech on "Justice for Ireland".source
  • 1838April 4–22 – The paddle steamer SS Sirius makes the transatlantic crossing to New York from Cork, Ireland in 18 days, though not using steam continuously.source
  • 1850Los Angeles is incorporated as a city in California.source
  • 1857April 1–8 – Reform War: Crabb Massacresource
  • 1857The Anglo-Persian War ends.source
  • 1860A new uprising erupts in Palermo.source
  • 1865Opposition parties accuse government of breaching Belgian neutrality by involving the country in the Second French intervention in Mexico.source
  • 1866Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in the city of St Petersburg.source
  • 1867Natal – Durban to Umgeni, 3 mi.source
  • 1871The New Jersey Detective Agency is chartered, and the New Jersey State Detectives are initiated.source
  • 1873The Kennel Club, the world's first kennel club, is founded in the United Kingdom.source
  • 1878The Gunfight at Blazer's Mill occurs in Lincoln County, New Mexico.source
  • 1881The 1881 census finds Canada's population to be 4,324,810source
  • 1884The Treaty of Valparaiso, an armistice between Chile and Bolivia, ends the War of the Pacific; Bolivia is obliged to cede Antofagasta to Chile, leaving Bolivia as a landlocked country.source
  • 1884Treaty of Valparaisosource
  • 1886William Ewart Gladstone introduces the First Irish Home Rule Bill in the Parliament of the United Kingdom; it is defeated on June 8.source
  • 1886Spanish general election, 1886source
  • 1886Henri-Charles Lambrecht consecrated coadjutor bishop of Ghentsource
  • 1887Argonia, Kansas, elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.source
  • 1896The first known women's basketball game between two colleges is played between Stanford and California.source
  • 1899The British Antarctic Expedition reports discovery of new land in the Weddell Sea at a latitude of 71 36" S.source
  • 19041904 Kresna earthquakes: two earthquakes strike near Kresna, Bulgaria, killing at least 200 people.source
  • 1905In India, the 1905 Kangra earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, kills 20,000 and destroys most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.source
  • 1905The 7.8 Ms Kangra earthquake shook the Kangra Valley with a maximum EMS-98 intensity of IX (Destructive), killing more than 20,000 peoplesource
  • 1909The association football team Sport Club Internacional is founded in Porto Alegre, Brazil.source
  • 1910Sri Aurobindo began his spiritual pursuits in Indiasource
  • 1914September 27 – Komagata Maru incident: The SS Komagata Maru sails from India to Canada. Canadian regulations, designed to exclude Asian immigrants, prevent the boat from docking in Vancouver, and it is forced to return to Calcutta with all its passengers.source
  • 1918The first edition of the Hebrew-language daily newspaper "Haaretz" is published, sponsored by the British military government in Palestine.source
  • 1926Greek dictator Theodoros Pangalos wins the presidential election, with 93.3% of the vote; turnout is light, as the result is considered a foregone conclusion.source
  • 19291929 Tasmanian floods: A dam on the Cascade River in Tasmania collapses. The subsequent torrent floods the town of Derby, killing fourteen people.source
  • 1933American airship Akron crashes off the coast of New Jersey, killing 73 of its 76 crewmen. It is the worst aviation accident in history up to this date (and until 1950).source
  • 1933The U.S. airship Akron crashes off the coast of New Jersey, leaving 73 dead.source
  • 1939Polish Foreign Minister Colonel Józef Beck, in London, signs a treaty designed to bilateralize Neville Chamberlain's "Polish Guarantee" of March 31.source
  • 1939Faisal II becomes King of Iraq aged three, following the death of his father, Ghazi, in an automobile incident.source
  • 1940Neville Chamberlain, UK Prime Minister, in what proves to be a tragic misjudgment, declares in a major public speech that Hitler has "missed the bus".source
  • 1947The International Civil Aviation Organization begins operations.source
  • 1947Horahora Power Station is decommissioned as the filling of Lake Karapiro floods the station.source
  • 1949The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., creating the NATO defense alliance.source
  • 1949Luxembourg signs the North Atlantic Treaty, becoming a founder member of NATO.source
  • 1951El-Hamma Incident: Israel attempts to enforce its sovereignty over the demilitarized zone along the Syrian border, which included the site of Hamat Gader, by sending a force of IDF soldiers dressed in police uniforms to the site. Syrian soldiers guarding the entrance to Hamat Gader order the Israeli force to turn back immediately, but it refuses and continues on its way. Once the Israeli force had passed, the Syrians open fire on it from the rear, killing seven Israeli soldiers and wounding three. One IDF soldier who survived the attack is taken prisoner.source
  • 1952At a tribunal in The Hague, Israel demands reparations worth $3 billion from West Germany.source
  • 1952In the Hague Tribunal, Israel demands reparations worth $3 billion from Germany.source
  • 1952West Ice accidents: During a severe storm in the West Ice, east of Greenland, 78 seal hunters on 5 Norwegian seal hunting vessels vanish without a trace.source
  • 1953TCG Dumlupınar submarine collided with a Swedish freighter and sank (81 deaths)source
  • 1954Legendary symphony conductor Arturo Toscanini experiences a lapse of memory during a concert broadcast live from Carnegie Hall in New York City. At this concert's end, his retirement is announced, and he never conducts in public again.source
  • 1955Sultan Alam Shah Islamic College was founded.source
  • 1960At the 32nd Academy Awards Ceremony, Ben-Hur wins a record 11 Oscars, including Best Picture.source
  • 1968Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: Martin Luther King Jr. is shot dead at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray. King-assassination riots erupt in major American cities, lasting for several days afterwards.source
  • 1968Apollo program: Apollo-Saturn mission 502 (Apollo 6) is launched, as the second and last uncrewed test-flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle.source
  • 1968AEK Athens wins the FIBA European Cup Winners Cup Final in basketball against Slavia Prague, in front of a record attendance of 80,000 spectators. It is the first major European trophy won at club level of any sport in Greece.source
  • 1969Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.source
  • 1970Malaysia's first satellite station was commissioned in Kuantan, Pahang.source
  • 1970Fragments of burnt human remains believed to be those of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Joseph Goebbels, Magda Goebbels and the Goebbels children are crushed and scattered in the Biederitz river at a KGB center in Magdeburg, East Germany.source
  • 1972The United States of America officially recognized Bangladesh.source
  • 1973Cambodian National Assembly declares a state of national danger following continuation of subversive activities against the government.source
  • 1973The original World Trade Center is officially dedicated.source
  • 1974April 3–4 – An enormous tornado outbreak strikes the central parts of the United States, killing around 319 and injuring about 5,484.source
  • 1975Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft (at this time known as Micro-Soft) in Albuquerque, New Mexico and release their Altair BASIC interpreter. (Microsoft becomes a registered trademark on November 26, 1976.)source
  • 1975Vietnam War: The first military Operation Babylift flight, C5A 80218, crashes 27 minutes after takeoff, killing 138 on board; 176 survive the crash.source
  • 1977The Ministry of the Interior prohibits the importation of the books by Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Julio Cortázarsource
  • 1977Southern Airways Flight 242 crashes on a highway in New Hope, Georgia, United States, killing 72 people.source
  • 1981April 2–6. First council of Independent Students’ Association takes place in Kraków.source
  • 1981UK pop group Bucks Fizz's song "Making Your Mind Up" wins the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland.source
  • 1981Representing Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Pascal finishes eleventh in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song C'est Peut-Etre Pas L'Amerique.source
  • 1983The Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on its maiden voyage: STS-6.source
  • 1994The KLM Cityhopper Flight 433 crashed during an emergency landing.source
  • 2000Former Interior Minister Vano Siradeghyan leaves Armenia while police investigates charges on him for murder.source
  • 2002A peace agreement is made to end the Angolan Civil War.source
  • 2004The Siege of Sadr City begins when the Mahdi Army ambushes American soldiers in Sadr City, Iraq.source
  • 2004The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire begins to maintain a ceasefire in the First Ivorian Civil War.source
  • 2006The Faddoul Brothers, kidnapped on February 23, 2006, in Caracas, Venezuela, are found dead, causing outrage and mass protests against insecurity in the country.source
  • 2011Serbian pro-Western President Boris Tadić resigned, paving the way for early presidential election where he will face strong challenge from a nationalist candidate.source
  • 2015The April 2015 lunar eclipse is visible in Asia, Australia, Pacific and the Americas. It is a shallow total lunar eclipse, with 0.08% of that diameter inside of Earth's umbral shadow, and is the 30th eclipse of the 132nd saros cycle.source
  • 2016April 1–5 – 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh clashes: Clashes occur along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact with the Artsakh Defense Army, backed by the Armenian Armed Forces, on one side and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the other. The US State Department estimates that a total of 350 people have been killed in the clashes, which have been defined as "the worst" since the 1994 ceasefire.source
  • 2018April 4–15 – The 2018 Commonwealth Games are held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.source
  • 2019Second Libyan Civil War: The Libyan National Army (LNA) launches a surprise offensive in western Libya, moving units towards the Government of National Accord-held capital Tripoli and capturing Gharyan.source
  • 20194 April − Janaka Kanchana sets a new Guinness World Record by breaking 50 concrete slabs on his chest within 5 minutes and 40 seconds.source
  • 2022The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases the third and final part of its Sixth Assessment Report on climate change, warning that greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030, in order to limit global warming to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F).source

Births

  • 188Caracalla (or Antoninus), Roman emperor (died 217)source
  • 1179Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Indian preacher (died 1266)source
  • 1300Constance of Aragon, Aragonese princess (infanta) (died 1327)source
  • 1423Johann II of Nassau-Saarbrücken, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1429–1472) (died 1472)source
  • 1436Amalia of Saxony, Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut (died 1501)source
  • 1445Wiguleus Fröschl of Marzoll, Bishop of Passau (1500–1517) (died 1517)source
  • 1490Vojtěch I of Pernstein, Bohemian nobleman (died 1534)source
  • 1492Ambrosius Blarer, influential reformer in southern Germany and north-eastern Switzerland (died 1564)source
  • 1557Lew Sapieha, Polish-Lithuanian noble (died 1633)source
  • 1572William Strachey, English writer (died 1621)source
  • 1640Gaspar Sanz, Spanish composer, musician, priest (died 1710)source
  • 1646Antoine Galland, French orientalist and archaeologist (died 1715)source
  • 1648Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-British sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England (died 1721)source
  • 1688Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer (died 1768)source
  • 1704Andreas Brünniche, painter (died 1769)source
  • 1772Nachman of Breslov, Hasidic rabbi and founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement (died 1810)source
  • 1773Étienne Maurice Gérard, Prime Minister and Marshal of France (died 1852)source
  • 1792Thaddeus Stevens, American politician (died 1868)source
  • 1792Thaddeus Stevens, politician (died 1868)source
  • 1802Dorothea Dix, American activist (died 1887)source
  • 1819Queen Maria II of Portugal (died 1853)source
  • 1819Maria II, Queen of Portugalsource
  • 1843William Henry Jackson, American explorer and photographer (died 1942)source
  • 1846Comte de Lautréamont, French writer (died 1870)source
  • 1875Pierre Monteux, French-born conductor (died 1964)source
  • 1884Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese admiral (died 1943)source
  • 1932Anthony Perkins, American actor (died 1992)source
  • 1932Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet and Russian film director (died 1986)source

Deaths

  • 280Zhang Ti (or Juxian), Chinese chancellorsource
  • 397Aurelius Ambrosius, bishop of Milansource
  • 397Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, dies in his diocese after 23 years in office, during which he dominated the political life of the Roman Empire.source
  • 636Isidore of Seville, archbishop and scholarsource
  • 814Plato of Sakkoudion, Byzantine abbotsource
  • 896Pope Formosus dies at Rome, after a four-year reign. He is succeeded by Boniface VI, as the 112th pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • 896Formosus, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 911Liu Yin, governor of Southern Han (born 874)source
  • 931Kong Xun, Chinese governor (born 884)source
  • 968Abu Firas al-Hamdani, Arab prince and poet (born 932)source
  • 991Reginold, bishop of Eichstättsource
  • 994Egbert (the One-Eyed), German noblemansource
  • 1059Farrukh-Zad, Ghaznavid sultan (born 1025)source
  • 1281Maurice de Berkeley, English nobleman and knight (born 1218)source
  • 1282Abaqa Khan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate (born 1234)source
  • 1284Alfonso X ("the Wise"), king of Castile (born 1221)source
  • 1284King Alfonso X of Castile ("the Wise") falls ill and dies after a 32-year reign at Seville. He is succeeded by his 25-year-old son Sancho IV ("the Brave") who becomes ruler of Castile and León. Meanwhile, his nephew, Alfonso de la Cerda, challenges his right to the Castilian throne. Pope Martin IV excommunicates Sancho, places an interdict on his kingdom and refuses to acknowledge the marriage to his cousin, Queen María de Molina.source
  • 1292Nicholas IV dies after a 4-year pontificate in Rome. The cardinals assemble at Perugia to elect a new pope (1292–1294 papal election).source
  • 1292Nicholas IV, Italian pope of the Catholic Church (born 1227)source
  • 1406King Robert III of Scotland (born 1337)source
  • 1483Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (born c. 1405)source
  • 1538Elena Glinskaya, Regent of Russia (born c. 1510)source
  • 1588King Frederick II of Denmark (born 1534)source
  • 1609Charles de L'Ecluse, Flemish botanist (born 1526)source
  • 1617John Napier, Scottish mathematician (born 1550)source
  • 1661Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, Scottish soldier(born c. 1580)source
  • 1693Anne Palles, alleged witch (born 1619)source
  • 1701Guillaume Couture, diplomat in New France (born 1618).source
  • 1719Thomas Powys, judge, 70/71source
  • 1756Marie Sophie de Courcillon, French noblewoman and Duchess of Rohan-Rohan, Princess of Soubise by marriage (born 1713)source
  • 1757Peder Hersleb, bishop (born 1689).source
  • 1774Oliver Goldsmith, Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and physician (born 1728)source
  • 1811Mary Woffington, Irish socialite (born 1729)source
  • 1817André Masséna, French marshal (born 1758)source
  • 1841William Henry Harrison, American military officer and politician, 9th President of the United States (born 1773)source
  • 1841President William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, aged 68, becoming the first president of the United States to die in office, and at one month, the American president with the shortest term served. He is succeeded by Vice President John Tyler.source
  • 1883Peter Cooper, American industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (born 1791)source
  • 19201920 Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem; 9 are killed, 216 injured.source
  • 1929Karl Benz, German automotive pioneer (born 1844)source
  • 1932Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1853)source
  • 1953King Carol II of Romania (born 1893)source
  • 1968Martin Luther King Jr., American civil rights leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (born 1929)source
  • 1979Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is executed by hanging for the murder of a political opponent.source
  • 1979Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, 51, Pakistani politician, president (1971–1973) and prime minister (1973–1977), execution by hanging.source
  • 1991U.S. Senator John Heinz and six other people are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over Merion, Pennsylvania.source
  • 1991Max Frisch, 79, Swiss playwright and novelist, colorectal cancer.source
  • 2021More than 270 people are killed in Indonesia and East Timor after Cyclone Seroja strikes East Nusa Tenggara and the island of Timor.source