November 4......

November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 57 days remaining in the year on this date.

EVENTS

● 1576 - Eighty Years' War: In Belgium, Spain captures Antwerp (after three days the city was nearly destroyed).

● 1677 - The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange. They would later be known as William and Mary.

● 1825 - The Erie Canal was completed with DeWitt Clinton performing the Wedding of The Waters ceremony.

● 1842 - Abraham Lincoln, future US President, marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois.

● 1852 - Count Camillo Benso di Cavour became the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon expanded to become Italy.

● 1861 - The University of Washington opens in Seattle, Washington as the Territorial University

● 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Johnsonville - Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in material.

● 1869 - The first issue of the scientific journal Nature is published.

● 1884 - U.S. presidential election, 1884: Democrat Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest to win the first of his two non-consecutive terms.

● 1880 - The first cash register was patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.

● 1884 - Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected president, defeating Republican James G. Blaine.

● 1889 - Menelek of Shoa obtains the allegiance of a large majority of the Ethiopian nobility, paving the way for him to be crowned emperor.

● 1890 - City & South London Railway: London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.

● 1899 - Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published.

● 1918 - World War I: Austria-Hungary surrenders to Italy.

● 1918 - The German Revolution begins when 40,000 sailors take over the port in Kiel.

● 1921 - The Sturmabteilung or SA is formally formed by Adolf Hitler

● 1921 - Japanese Prime Minister Hara Takashi assassinated in Tokyo.

● 1922 - In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

● 1924 - Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first woman governor; she was chosen to serve the remaining term of her husband, William B. Ross, who died in office.

● 1928 - Arnold Rothstein, New York City's most notorious gambler, is shot dead over a poker game.

● 1939 - World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents, a policy favoring Britain and France.

● 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein - Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel leads his forces on a five-month retreat in a major victory for British forces commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. Rommel goes on the run at El Alamein; The German army in North Africa is in full retreat, after suffering a comprehensive defeat in Egypt at the hands of the 8th Army under General Bernard Montgomery. News of the victory came in a special joint war report from British Headquarters in Cairo this evening. It described the retreating columns of German soldiers as "disordered" and said they were being "relentlessly attacked by our land forces, and by the Allied air force, by day and night." It went on to say that Allied troops have captured more than 9,000 prisoners of war, including the commander of Germany's Afrika Korps, General Ritter von Thoma.

● 1948 - T. S. Eliot wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.

● 1952 - U.S. presidential election, 1952: Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democrat Adlai Stevenson.

● 1955 - The rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio after it was totally destroyed in World War II.

● 1956 - Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution that started on October 23 led by Prime Minister Imre Nagy. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.

● 1960 - Filming wraps on The Misfits, starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable -- the last film for both.

● 1966 - Two-thirds of Florence, Italy is submerged as the Arno and Po rivers flood; 113 people die, 30,000 are rendered homeless, and countless Renaissance artworks and books are destroyed.

● 1970 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States turns control of the Binh Thuy Air Base in the Mekong Delta over to South Vietnam.

● 1970 - Genie, a 13 year old feral child was found in Los Angeles, California having been locked in her bedroom for most of her life.

● 1974 - M62 bomber jailed for life; Judith Ward is convicted of an army coach bombing in which 12 people died. Her conviction was quashed 18 years later.

● 1979 - Iran hostage crisis begins: Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the United States embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (63 of whom are American).

● 1980 - U.S. presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter by a wide margin.

● 1986 - Chief Justice Rose Bird and two colleagues are removed by the electorate from the Supreme Court of California for their opposition to capital punishment.

● 1987 - Millionaire's big plans for English landmark; Land's End in Cornwall has been sold for nearly £7m to the property tycoon, Peter de Savary. Mr de Savary has said he is planning a major expansion of tourist facilities at the famous landmark. The 105-acre site was previously owned by the Welsh property millionaire, David Goldstone, who outbid the National Trust for the granite crag.

● 1989 - The congress of the Solidarity Party is inaugurated in Sweden. The congress decides, contrary to the proposal of the central committee, not to disband the party.

● 1991 - Former President Ronald Reagan opened his library in Simi Valley, Calif.

● 1993 - Jean Chrétien takes office as Prime Minister of Canada.

● 1993 - Bolivia becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

● 1993 - A series of fires destroy 1000 homes in southern California, causing between 500 million and 1 billion USD of damage. Half of the fires turn out to be arson.

● 1993 - A China Airlines Boeing 747 overran Runway 13 at Hong Kong's Kai Tak International Airport while landing during a typhoon, injuring 22 people.

● 1994 - San Francisco: First conference that focused exlusively on the subject of the commercial potential of the World Wide Web.

● 1995 - Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by an extreme right-wing Israeli after speaking at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

● 1997 - Hundreds of thousands of men attended a Promise Keepers rally at the Mall in Washington, D.C.

● 1999 - Aaron McKinney, who beat gay college student Matthew Shepard and left him to die on the Wyoming prairie, avoided the death penalty by agreeing to serve life in prison without parole and promising never to appeal his conviction.

● 2001 - Hurricane Michelle hits Cuba, destroying crops and thousands of homes.

● 2001 - The Police Service of Northern Ireland is established.

● 2002 - Chinese authorities arrest cyber-dissident He Depu for signing pro-democracy letter to the 16th Communist Party Congress

● 2003 - The most powerful solar flare as observed by satellite instrumentation is recorded.

● 2003 - Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy becomes the first person indicted under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He was eventually acquitted.

● 2004 - 12 French Soldiers, 3 UN personnel and hundreds of civilians die today during the Côte d'Ivoire civil war, the deadliest day of the civil war. Including a bombing of a French military base killing 9 French Army soldiers and 3 UN personnel by the FANCI. Later that day an ambush on a French Army convoy kills 3 French soldiers and wounding 5. The French military responds by bombing a government base, helicopters and destroying the Su-25 bombers used to bomb the French base.

BIRTHS

● 1448 - King Alphonso II of Naples (d. 1495)

● 1470 - King Edward V of England, one of the two princes in the Tower

● 1575 - Guido Reni, Italian painter (d. 1642)

● 1631 - Mary of Orange, eldest daughter of Charles I of England and mother of William III of England (d. 1660)

● 1661 - Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1742)

● 1732 - Thomas Johnson, American Revolutionary War leader; governor of Maryland (1777-79); associate justice (1792-93) of U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1819)

● 1740 - Augustus Montague Toplady, author of hymn, "Rock of Ages"

● 1765 - Pierre Girard, French mathematician (d. 1836)

● 1783 - Gaspard Gourgaud, French historian (d. 1852)

● 1836 - Henry J. Lutcher, Business leader (d. 1912)

● 1837 - James Douglas, Canadian industrialist (d. 1918)

● 1845 - Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary

● 1873 - George Edward Moore, British philosopher (d. 1958)

● 1874 - Charles Despiau, French sculptor (d. 1946)

● 1874 - Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (d. 1920)

● 1879 - Will Rogers, American humorist (d. 1935)

● 1883 - Nikolaos Plastiras, Greek general (d. 1953)

● 1884 - Harry George Ferguson, British designer (d. 1960)

● 1896 - Carlos Garcia, Philippine president (1957-61) (d. 1971)

● 1899 - Nicolas Frantz, Luxembourgish cyclist (d. 1985)

● 1901 - Princess Bang-ja of Korea (d. 1989)

● 1908 - Józef Rotblat, Polish physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 2005)

● 1909 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (d. 1986)

● 1912 - Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer (d. 1978)

● 1913 - Gig Young, American actor (d. 1978)

● 1914 - Martin Balsam, American actor (d. 1996)

● 1916 - Walter Cronkite, American news broadcaster

● 1918 - Art Carney, American actor (d. 2003)

● 1922 - Benno Besson, Swiss actor (d. 2006)

● 1923 - Freddy Heineken, Dutch businessman (d. 2002)

● 1929(30? NYT) - Doris Roberts, American actress

● 1930 - Dick Groat, baseball player

● 1932 - Thomas Klestil, President of Austria (d. 2004)

● 1933 - Tito Francona, baseball player (d. 2004)

● 1937 - Loretta Swit, American actress (''M.A.S.H.'')

● 1937 - Michael Wilson, Canadian politician

● 1938 - Harry Elston, R&B singer (Friends of Distinction)

● 1940 - Delbert McClinton, Blues singer

● 1944 - Scherrie Payne, American singer (The Supremes)

● 1944 - Linda Gary, American voice-actress (d. 1995)

● 1946 - Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States

● 1946 - Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer (d. 1989)

● 1950 - Markie Post, Actress (''Night Court'')

● 1951 - Traian Băsescu, President of Romania

● 1953 - Carlos Gutierrez, American politician

● 1954 - Chris Difford, Rock singer-musician (Squeeze)

● 1955 - Steve Mariucci, Football coach

● 1955 - Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland

● 1956 - Jordan Rudess, American musician (Dream Theater)

● 1960 - Marc Awodey, American artist and writer

● 1960 - Kim Forester, Country singer (The Forester Sisters)

● 1961 - Kathy Griffin, American comedienne

● 1961 - Edward Knight, American composer

● 1961 - Daron Hagen, American composer

● 1961 - Ralph Macchio, American actor

● 1961 - Les Sampou, American musician

● 1961 - Nigel Worthington, Northern Irish footballer

● 1962(61? NYT) - Jeff Probst, American television host (''Survivor'')

● 1965 - Wayne Static, American musician (Static-X)

● 1965 - Jeff Scott Soto, American musician (Yngwie Malmsteen Band, Journey)

● 1967 - Eric Karros, American baseball player

● 1968 - Carlos Baerga, Puerto Rican baseball player

● 1969 - Matthew McConaughey, American actor

● 1969 - Sean Jean "Diddy" Combs, American rapper

● 1971 - Shawn Rivera, R&B singer (Az Yet)

● 1972 - Luís Figo, Portuguese footballer

● 1972 - Tabassum Hashmi, Indian actress

● 1974 - Cedric Bixler-Zavala, American musician (At the Drive-in, The Mars Volta)

● 1975 - Eduard Kokcharov, Russian handball player

● 1975 - Orlando Pace, Football player

● 1975 - Heather Tom, Actress (''One Life to Live'')

● 1976 - Mario Melchiot, Dutch footballer

● 1976 - Bruno Junqueira, Brazilian racing driver

● 1977 - Larry Bigbie, American baseball player

● 1978 - Carmen Cali, American baseball player

● 1978 - John Grabow, American baseball player

● 1979 - Audrey Hollander, American pornographic actress

● 1980 - George Huff, R&B-gospel singer (''American Idol'')

● 1985 - Marcell Jansen, German footballer

● 1986 - Alexz Johnson, Canadian singer

● 1990 - Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Canadian actor

DEATHS

● 1254 - John III Ducas Vatatzes, Emperor of the Empire of Nicaea (b. circa 1192).

● 1411 - Khalil Sultan, ruler of Transoxonia (b. 1384)

● 1584 - Saint Charles Borromeo, Italian cardinal (b. 1538)

● 1652 - Jean-Charles de la Faille, Belgian mathematician (b. 1597)

● 1669 - Johannes Cocceius, Dutch theologian (b. 1603)

● 1698 - Rasmus Bartholin, Danish physician and mathematician (b. 1625)

● 1702 - John Benbow, English admiral (b. 1653)

● 1704 - Andreas Acoluthus, German orientalist (b. 1654)

● 1781 - Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet (b. 1721)

● 1801 - William Shippen, American physician and delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1712)

● 1847 - Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (b. 1809)

● 1856 - Hippolyte Delaroche, French painter (b. 1797)

● 1893 - Pierre Tirard, French politician (b. 1827)

● 1918 - Wilfred Owen, English poet (b. 1893)

● 1924 - Gabriel Fauré, French composer (b. 1845)

● 1924 - Richard Conner, American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient (b. 1843)

● 1928 - Arnold Rothstein, American gambler (b. 1882)

● 1930 - Buddy Bolden, American musician (b. 1877)

● 1950 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Baseball player (b. 1887)

● 1955 - Cy Young, baseball player and Hall of Fame member (b. 1867)

● 1957 - Shoghi Effendi, Guarduan of the Bahá'í Faith (b. 1897)

● 1968 - Michel Kikoine, Belarusian painter (b. 1892)

● 1980 - Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (b. 1905)

● 1982 - Dominique Dunne, American actress (b. 1959)

● 1986 - Kurt Hirsch, German mathematician (b. 1906)

● 1994 - Fred Sonic Smith, American guitar player MC5 (b. 1949)

● 1995 - Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1922)

● 1995 - Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher (suicide) (b. 1925)

● 1999 - Malcolm Marshall, West Indian cricketer (b. 1958)

● 2003 - Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (b. 1923)

● 2005 - Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet & journalist (b. 1980)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Panama's Flag Day

● Roman festivals - start of the Ludi Plebeii

● Roman Catholic Saints:
● Saint Charles Borromeo
● St. Birrstan
● St. Clarus
● St. Emeric
● St. Joannicus
● St. Modesta
● St. Nicander and Hermas
● St. Philologus and Patrobas
● St. Pierius
● St. Vitalis

● Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Qudrat (Power) - First day of the 13th month of the Bahá'í calendar

● Italy - celebration of victory in World War I, the date of the Armed Forces

● Russia - Day of People's Unity (or National Unity Day), concides with the feast of the Theotokos of Kazan.


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

Permanent Backlink to Post