On This Day: 4 October

4 October in world history

• 2017Joint Nigerien-American Special Forces are ambushed by Islamic State militants outside the village of Tongo Tongo.
• 2006WikiLeaks is launched.
• 2004SpaceShipOne wins the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
• 2001Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes after being struck by an errant Ukrainian missile. Seventy-eight people are killed.
• 1992The Rome General Peace Accords end a 16-year civil war in Mozambique.
• 1963Hurricane Flora kills 6,000 in Cuba and Haiti.
• 1943World War II: Allied forces executed Operation Leader, an air raid against German shipping near Bodø, Norway.
• 1941Willie Gillis, one of Norman Rockwell's trademark characters, debuted on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
• 1936The Metropolitan Police and various anti-fascist organizations violently clash in the Battle of Cable Street.
• 1927Gutzon Borglum and approximately 400 workers began sculpting Mount Rushmore.
• 1925Great Syrian Revolt: Rebels led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji captured the city of Hama from the French Mandate of Syria.
• 1925S2, a Finnish Sokol class torpedo boat, sinks during a fierce storm near the coast of Pori in the Gulf of Bothnia, taking with it the whole crew of 53.
• 1918First World War: The Japanese merhant ship Hirano Maru was sunk by a German submarine in the Celtic Sea with the loss of 291 lives.
• 1918World War I: An explosion kills more than 100 people and destroys a Shell Loading Plant in New Jersey.
• 1917First World War: The Allies devastated the German defence at the Battle of Broodseinde, prompting a crisis among German commanders and causing a severe loss of morale in the 4th Army.
• 1862American Civil War: After a naval battle in Galveston Harbor, Texas, Confederate commanders negotiated the surrender of the city to Union forces.
• 1777American Revolutionary War: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under William Howe.
• 1363Red Turban Rebellions: The rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang won the Battle of Lake Poyang by deploying ships intentionally set aflame when the emperor tried to escape.

Born on 4 October

• 1997Rishabh Pant, Indian cricketerIndia
• 1942Bernice Johnson Reagon, American singer-songwriter (died 2024)
• 1910Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Turkish poet and author (died 1956)
• 1892Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian soldier and politician, 14th Federal Chancellor of Austria (died 1934)
• 1884Ramchandra Shukla, Indian historian and author (died 1941)India
• 1822Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (died 1893)

Died on 4 October

• 2015Edida Nageswara Rao, Indian director and producer (born 1934)India
• 2000Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1932)
• 1999Bernard Buffet, French painter and illustrator (born 1928)
• 1852James Whitcomb, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Indiana (born 1795)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 4 October in history?

2017: Joint Nigerien-American Special Forces are ambushed by Islamic State militants outside the village of Tongo Tongo. 2006: WikiLeaks is launched. 2004: SpaceShipOne wins the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight. 2001: Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes after being struck by an errant Ukrainian missile. Seventy-eight people are killed.

Which famous people were born on 4 October?

Rishabh Pant, Indian cricketer (1997); Bernice Johnson Reagon, American singer-songwriter (died 2024) (1942); Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Turkish poet and author (died 1956) (1910); Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian soldier and politician, 14th Federal Chancellor of Austria (died 1934) (1892).

Which day is observed on 4 October?

World Animal Day; Feast of St Francis of Assisi patron saints of Italy.; Cinnamon Roll Day (Sweden and Finland); Day of Peace and Reconciliation (Mozambique); Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Lesotho from the United Kingdom in 1966..