What Happened on April 4
Important Events
- 1581 Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard Golden Hind at Deptford
- 1655 Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis: English fleet beats Barbary pirates
- 1789 1st US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington's presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ending 1791)
- 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed in Washington, D.C.
- 1968 US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee
- 1973 World Trade Center, then the world's tallest building, opens in New York (110 stories). Later destroyed in 9/11 terrorist attacks.
- 1975 Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800
Apr 4 in Film & TV
- 1914 Film serial "Perils of Pauline" shown for the first time in Los Angeles
Apr 4 in Music
- 1971 Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 524 performances, then most expensive Broadway musical
Apr 4 in Sport
- 1974 Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth's home-run record by hitting his 714th in Cincinnati, facing Jack Billingham
Did You Know?Famous Birthdays
Caracalla
(188 - 217)- Muddy Waters
(1913 - 1983) - Maya Angelou
(1928 - 2014) - Anthony Perkins
(1932 - 1992) - Robert Downey Jr
56 Years Old - Heath Ledger
(1979 - 2008)
Caracalla
Muddy Waters
Maya Angelou
Anthony Perkins
Robert Downey Jr
Heath LedgerWould You Believe?
Poecilotheria rajaei, a giant tarantula with a 20cm leg span, is discovered in Sri Lanka
On April 4, 2013
Famous Weddings
- 1625 Viceroy Frederick Henry marries Amalia countess von Solms-Braunfels
- 1750 Statesman George Mason (24) weds Ann Eilbeck (16)
- 1992 John Tesh (Entertainment Tonight) marries actress Connie Selleca
Famous Divorces
- 2019 Amazon's Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos agree record-breaking $35 billion divorce settlement
John Napier
William Henry Harrison
Ludwig Leichhardt
Karl Benz
Martin Luther King Jr.
Gloria SwansonArticles, Photos and Quiz
Martin Luther King Assassination Riots
Front page of The Washington Post on April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King
April 4, 1968Martin Luther King Shot Dead
Martin Luther King Jr, the celebrated (‘I have a dream’) civil rights campaigner, was shot dead on this day as he stood on a motel balcony in Memphis Tennessee.
April 4, 1968Founding of Microsoft
Paul Allen and Bill Gates, the founders of Microsoft
April 4, 1975
April in History
Flash! Bang! It's the Human Cannonball!
An excited crowd looked up in astonishment and wonder when, in 1877, the first human cannonball flew above their heads.
April 2, 1877The Computer That Came By Truck
It didn't have the sleek lines that Steve Jobs would admire and it needed to be carried on a truck, but the computer age had finally arrived in rural England.
April 3, 1957‘I Do’ Says Pocahontas
Pocahontas, the native American princess regarded by many as the mother of modern America, was married on this day, aged about nineteen, to an English settler
April 5, 1614Lionheart Richard, The Stranger King
Richard the Lionheart, Robin Hood’s king is considered one of the great English monarchs. Yet he cost his country a fortune and barely lived there.
April 6, 1199
