# On this day: August 4

August 4 is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years), with 149 days left until the end of the year.

## August 4 in one line

Headline entries for August 4, from Wikipedia: in 2020, A large explosion of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon killed 218 people and caused US$15 billion in damage; born 1961: Barack Obama, American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate; died 1875: Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (born 1805). In 2026 it is a Tuesday, in 2027 a Wednesday.

## Events on August 4

- 1265 Second Barons' War: Royal troops led by Prince Edward defeated baronial forces under Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in Worcestershire, England. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Evesham)
- 1356 Hundred Years' War: A large-scale mounted raid by Anglo-Gascon forces began under the command of Edward the Black Prince. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Prince's_chevauch%C3%A9e_of_1356)
- 1578 Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir: The Moroccans defeat the Portuguese but both the Moroccan king Abd al-Malik and the Portuguese king Sebastian die. Ahmad al-Mansur follows Abd al-Malik as sultan of Morocco while the death of Sebastian leads to a succession crisis in Portugal. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian%2C_King_of_Portugal)
- 1704 War of the Spanish Succession: A combined Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles captured Gibraltar from Spain. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Gibraltar)
- 1783 Mount Asama in Japan began a climactic eruption, which exacerbated the Great Tenmei famine and led to thousands of deaths. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenmei_eruption)
- 1796 French Revolutionary Wars: Commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, the French Army of Italy decisively defeated Austrian forces led by Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich at the Battle of Lonato. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lonato)
- 1830 American surveyor James Thompson produced the first plat of Chicago for the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Thompson_(surveyor))
- 1854 The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Japan)
- 1862 In Brooklyn, a mob composed largely of Irish Americans attacked a group of African Americans in a riot. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1862_Brooklyn_riot)
- 1892 Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother were found murdered in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts; Borden was later tried and acquitted for the murders. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Borden)
- 1914 World War I: Adhering to the terms of the Treaty of London, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in response to the latter's invasion of Belgium. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_London_(1839))
- 1915 World War I: The German 12th Army occupies Warsaw during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive and the Great Retreat of 1915. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorlice%E2%80%93Tarn%C3%B3w_offensive)
- 1944 The Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find and arrest Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and four others. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank)
- 1944 Under the state of emergency law, the Finnish Parliament elects Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim as the President of Finland to replace the resigned Risto Ryti. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Finland)
- 1953 Alfred C. Glassell Jr. caught a black marlin weighing 1,560 lb (710 kg) off the coast of Peru, setting the record for the largest bony fish caught by hand. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_C._Glassell_Jr.)
- 1964 Vietnam War: The National Security Agency falsely claimed that a U.S. Navy destroyer was attacked a second time by North Vietnamese vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin, leading Congress to authorize the use of military force. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident)
- 1983 Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, the president of Upper Volta, was ousted in a coup d'état led by Thomas Sankara. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara)
- 1991 An explosion on the Greek cruise ship MTS Oceanos ruptured its hull, causing it to sink off the east coast of South Africa, with all 571 people on board rescued. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos)
- 1995 Yugoslav Wars: The Croatian Army initiated Operation Storm, the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and the largest European land battle since the Second World War. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Storm)
- 1997 French supercentenarian Jeanne Calment died at the age of 122 years, 164 days, with the longest confirmed human lifespan in history. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment)
- 2006 Sri Lankan civil war: Seventeen employees of the French nongovernmental organization ACF International were massacred in Mutur. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Trincomalee_massacre_of_NGO_workers)
- 2007 An airport police officer discovered a suitcase containing approximately US$800,000 as it passed through security at Jorge Newbery Airfield in Buenos Aires, sparking an international scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_del_Luj%C3%A1n_Telpuk)
- 2007 NASA's Phoenix Mars lander is launched. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(spacecraft))
- 2014 Julieka Ivanna Dhu, an Aboriginal Australian woman, died in police custody after her deteriorating condition was mocked and ignored. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ms_Dhu)
- 2019 Nine people are killed and 26 injured in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio. This comes only 13 hours after another mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where 23 people were killed. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Dayton_shooting)
- 2020 A large explosion of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon killed 218 people and caused US$15 billion in damage. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Beirut_explosion)

## Born on August 4

- 1521 Pope Urban VII (died 1590) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Urban_VII)
- 1792 Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (died 1822) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley)
- 1805 William Rowan Hamilton, Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (died 1865) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rowan_Hamilton)
- 1834 John Venn, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1923) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Venn)
- 1859 Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1952) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knut_Hamsun)
- 1900 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Queen Consort of King George VI of the United Kingdom, Empress Consort of India (died 2002) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_the_Queen_Mother)
- 1901 Louis Armstrong, American trumpet player and singer (died 1971) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong)
- 1904 Witold Gombrowicz, Polish author and playwright (died 1969) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Gombrowicz)
- 1912 Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish architect and diplomat, savior of thousands of Jews from The Holocaust (died ~1947) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Wallenberg)
- 1932 Frances E. Allen, American computer scientist and academic (died 2020) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Allen)
- 1952 Moya Brennan, Irish singer-songwriter and harp player (died 2026) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moya_Brennan)
- 1953 Hiroyuki Usui, Japanese footballer and manager [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroyuki_Usui)
- 1955 Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director, and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bob_Thornton)
- 1960 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Spain [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Luis_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Zapatero)
- 1961 Barack Obama, American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama)
- 1965 Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish soldier and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Sweden [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrik_Reinfeldt)
- 1968 Daniel Dae Kim, South Korean-American actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Dae_Kim)
- 1971 Jeff Gordon, American race car driver and actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gordon)
- 1981 Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, American member of British royal family, media personality and actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meghan%2C_Duchess_of_Sussex)
- 1983 Greta Gerwig, American actress, producer, and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Gerwig)
- 1985 Antonio Valencia, Ecuadorean footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Valencia)
- 1985 Mark Milligan, Australian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Milligan)

## Died on August 4

- 1060 Henry I of France (born 1008) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_I_of_France)
- 1526 Juan Sebastián Elcano, Spanish explorer and navigator (born 1476) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Sebasti%C3%A1n_Elcano)
- 1578 Sebastian of Portugal (born 1554) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian%2C_King_of_Portugal)
- 1859 John Vianney, French priest and saint (born 1786) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Vianney)
- 1875 Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (born 1805) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen)
- 1900 Isaac Levitan, Russian painter and educator (born 1860) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Levitan)
- 1922 Enver Pasha, Ottoman general and politician (born 1881) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Pasha)
- 1962 Marilyn Monroe, American model and actress (born 1926) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe)
- 1977 Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1889) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Adrian)
- 1981 Melvyn Douglas, American actor (born 1901) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvyn_Douglas)
- 1997 Jeanne Calment, French super-centenarian; holds records for the world's substantiated longest-lived person (born 1875) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment)
- 2003 Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Chapman_Robbins)
- 2011 Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (born 1977) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naoki_Matsuda)
- 2024 Tsung-Dao Lee, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsung-Dao_Lee)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Aristarchus [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristarchus_of_Thessalonica)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Cecilia Cesarini [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Cesarini)
- Christian feast day: Euphronius [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eufronius)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Frédéric Janssoone [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Janssoone)
- Christian feast day: John Vianney [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Vianney)
- Christian feast day: Molua (or Lua) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Lua_of_Killaloe)
- Christian feast day: Raynerius of Split [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynerius_of_Split)
- Christian feast day: Sithney, patron saint of mad dogs [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patron_saint)
- Christian feast day: August 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_4_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Coast Guard Day (United States) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Guard_Day)
- Constitution Day (Cook Islands); first Monday in August [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Islands)
- Matica slovenská Day (Slovakia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_days_in_Slovakia)
- Barack Obama Day in Illinois in the United States [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_Day)
- 2020 Beirut explosion commemoration day in Lebanon [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Beirut_explosion)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “August 4”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_4) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/August 4”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/August_4) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“August 4”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_4) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_4?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for August 4 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## August 4 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Tuesday | 2026-W32 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2027 | Wednesday | 2027-W31 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2028 | Friday | 2028-W31 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2029 | Saturday | 2029-W31 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2030 | Sunday | 2030-W31 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on August 4

None of the 28 countries we track has a public holiday on August 4 in 2026 or 2027.

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← August 3](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/august-3/) · [August 5 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/august-5/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/august-4/