Historical EventsToday: 04 October

Events

• 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas and becomes Emperor.


• 1209 - Otto IV is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.


• 1227 - Assassination of Caliph al-Adil.


• 1363 - End of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the Chinese rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang defeat that of his rival, Chen Youliang, in one of the largest naval battles in history.


• 1511 - Formation of the Holy League of Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Papal States and the Republic of Venice against France.


• 1537 - The first complete English-language Bible (the Matthew Bible) is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.


• 1582 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.


• 1636 - The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.


• 1693 - Battle of Marsaglia: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.


• 1725 - Foundation of Rosario in Argentina.


• 1777 - Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.


• 1779 - The Fort Wilson Riot takes place.


• 1795 - Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence with a "Whiff of Grapeshot", using cannon to suppress armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the French Legislature (National Convention).


• 1824 - Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.


• 1830 - Creation of the state of Belgium after separation from The Netherlands.


• 1853 - Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.


• 1883 - First run of the Orient Express.


• 1883 - First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.


• 1895 - The first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship administered by the United States Golf Association is played at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island.


• 1910 - Declaration of the Portuguese Republic. King Manuel II flees to the United Kingdom.


• 1910 - Adoption of the Flag of Bermuda.


• 1918 - An explosion kills more than 100 and destroys the T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in Sayreville, New Jersey. Fires and explosions continue for three days forcing massive evacuations and spreading ordnance over a wide area, pieces of which are still being found in 2007.


• 1921 - Riccardo Zanella becomes first elected president of Free State of Fiume.


• 1927 - Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mt. Rushmore.


• 1940 - Meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini at the Brenner Pass.


• 1943 - World War II: U.S. captures Solomon Islands.


• 1957 - Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.


• 1957 - Avro Arrow roll-out ceremony at Avro Canada plant in Malton, Ontario.


• 1958 - Fifth Republic of France is established.


• 1960 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes after a bird strike on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 of 72 on board.


• 1965 - The first Pope to ever visit the United States of America, Pope Paul VI arrives in New York.


• 1966 - Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.


• 1967 - Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.


• 1975 - A Cessna 310Q airplane crashes over Wilmington, North Carolina, killing the pilot and severely injuring several pro wrestlers affiliated with the NWA's Mid-Atlantic promotion. One of the survivors is the legendary Ric Flair.


• 1976 - Official launch of the Intercity 125 High Speed Train (HST).


• 1983 - Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph (1,019 km/h), driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.


• 1985 - Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, USA.


• 1988 - U.S. televangelist Jim Bakker is indicted for fraud.


• 1991 - The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is opened for signature.


• 1992 - The Rome General Peace Accords ends a 16 year civil war in Mozambique.


• 1992 - El Al Flight 1862: an El Al Boeing 747-258F crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.


• 1993 - Russian Constitutional Crisis: In Moscow, tanks bombard the White House, a government building that housed the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Boris Yeltsin rally outside.


• 1997 - The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Loomis, Fargo and Company. An FBI investigation eventually results in 24 convictions and the recovery of approximately 95% of the $17.3 million in cash which had been taken.


• 2001 - Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.


• 2003 - Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel: 21 Israelis, Jews and Arabs, are killed, and 51 others wounded.


• 2004 - SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.