October 4 in History

Joint Nigerien-American Special Forces are ambushed by Islamic State militants outside the village of Tongo Tongo.

The Ajka plant accident in Hungary releases a million cubic metres of liquid alumina sludge, killing nine, injuring 122, and severely contaminating two major rivers.

WikiLeaks is launched.

SpaceShipOne wins the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.

The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Israel kills twenty-one Israelis, both Jews and Arabs.

Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes after being struck by an errant Ukrainian missile. Seventy-eight people are killed.

The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs in North Carolina.

Battle of Mogadishu occurs killing 18 U.S. Special Forces, two UN Peacekeepers and at least 600 Somalian militia men and civilians.

Tanks bombard the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Yeltsin rally outside.

The Rome General Peace Accords end a 16-year civil war in Mozambique.

El Al Flight 1862 crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.

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

The Free Software Foundation is founded.

Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 miles per hour (1,019.468 km/h) at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.

Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son.

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

Pope Paul VI begins the first papal visit to the Americas.

Hurricane Flora kills 6,000 in Cuba and Haiti.

Eastern Airlines flight 375 crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 people of the 72 aboard.

The current constitution of France is adopted.

Sputnik 1 becomes the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

The Metropolitan Police and various anti-fascist organizations violently clash in the Battle of Cable Street.

Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.

Great Syrian Revolt: Rebels led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji capture Hama from the French Mandate of Syria.

S2, 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.

The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, a Finnish non-governmental organization, is founded on the initiative of Sophie Mannerheim.

World War I: An explosion kills more than 100 people and destroys a Shell Loading Plant in New Jersey.

World War I: The Battle of Broodseinde is fought between the British and German armies in Flanders.

Horace Rawlins wins the first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship.

First run of the Orient Express.

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

The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now known as Texas A&M) opens as the first public college in Texas.

American Civil War: The two-day Second Battle of Corinth ends in a Union victory, with General William Rosecrans protecting the critical rail junction of Corinth, Mississippi from Confederate forces under General Earl Van Dorn.

The Crimean War begins when the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Russian Empire.

The Belgian Revolution takes legal form when the provisional government secedes from the Netherlands.

Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.

Napoleon first rises to prominence by suppressing counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the National Convention.

American Revolutionary War: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under William Howe.

Nine Years' War: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.

Thirty Years' War: The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.

Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War: A fleet of Spanish galleys are defeated by English and Dutch galleons in the English Channel.

Governor Gonzalo Méndez de Canço begins to suppress a native uprising against his rule in what is now the US state of Georgia.

The Gregorian Calendar is introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.

The Coverdale Bible is printed, with translations into English by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.

Formation of the Holy League of Aragon, the Papal States and Venice against France.

Battle of Lake Poyang: In one of the largest naval battles in history, Zhu Yuanzhang's rebels defeat rival Chen Youliang.

The Byzantine–Venetian War comes to an end.

Otto IV is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.

Rebels sack the Chinese capital Chang'an during a peasant rebellion.

Rishabh Pant, Indian cricketer

Yuju, South Korean singer

Ella Balinska, English actress

Jeonghan, South Korean singer

Kenny Clark, American football player

Mikolas Josef, Czech singer and songwriter

Mike Williams, American football player

Mitchell Swepson, Australian cricketer

Leigh-Anne Pinnock, English singer and songwriter

Signy Aarna, Estonian footballer

Saki, Japanese guitarist and songwriter

Sergey Shubenkov, Russian hurdler

Dakota Johnson, American actress

Melissa Benoist, American actress and singer

Lonnie Chisenhall, American baseball player

Caner Erkin, Turkish footballer

Evgeni Krasnopolski, Israeli figure skater

Derrick Rose, American basketball player

Marina Weisband, German politician

Shontelle, Barbadian singer-songwriter

Thorsten Wiedemann, German rugby player

Lena Katina, Russian singer-songwriter

Petri Kontiola, Finnish ice hockey player

Karolina Tymińska, Polish heptathlete

Vicky Krieps, Luxembourgish actress

Kurt Suzuki, American baseball player

Tony Gwynn Jr., American baseball player

Ilhan Omar, American politician

Jered Weaver, American baseball player

Justin Williams, Canadian-American ice hockey player

Sarah Fisher, American race car driver

James Jones, American basketball player

Tomáš Rosický, Czech footballer

Caitríona Balfe, Irish actress

Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress

Adam Voges, Australian cricketer

Dana Davis, American actress and author

Kyle Lohse, American baseball player

Richard Reed Parry, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer

Mauro Camoranesi, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager

Alicia Silverstone, American actress, producer, and author

Ueli Steck, Swiss mountaineer and rock climber (died 2017)

Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian footballer and manager

Paco León, Spanish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

M. Ward, American singer-songwriter

Darren Middleton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Abraham Benrubi, American actor

Richard Hancox, English footballer and manager

Tim Wise, American activist and author

Vicky Bullett, American basketball player and coach

Nick Green, Australian rower

Liev Schreiber, American actor and director

Olaf Backasch, German footballer

Skip Heller, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Steve Olin, American baseball player (died 1993)

Micky Ward, American boxer

Francis Magalona, Filipino rapper, producer, and actor (died 2009)

Yvonne Murray, Scottish runner

A. C. Green, American basketball player

Koji Ishikawa, Japanese author and illustrator

Carlos Carsolio, Mexican mountaineer

Philippe Russo, French singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jon Secada, Cuban-American singer-songwriter

Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author and illustrator, created Yu-Gi-Oh! (died 2022)

Joe Boever, American baseball player

Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer (died 2016)

Chris Lowe, English singer and keyboard player

Tony Meo, English snooker player

Hitonari Tsuji, Japanese author, composer, and director

Barbara Kooyman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Wendy Makkena, American actress

Anneka Rice, Welsh radio and television host

Bill Fagerbakke, American actor

Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (died 2013)

Russell Simmons, American businessman, founded Def Jam Recordings and Phat Farm

Lesley Glaister, English author and playwright

Charlie Leibrandt, American baseball player

Sherri Turner, American golfer

Christoph Waltz, Austrian-German actor

John Rutherford, Scottish rugby player

Jorge Valdano, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager

Gil Moore, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer

Andreas Vollenweider, Swiss harp player

Anita DeFrantz, American rower and sports administrator

Jody Stephens, American rock drummer

Zinha Vaz, Bissau-Guinean women's rights activist and politician

Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov, Kazakh poet and author

Truck Robinson, American basketball player and coach

Alan Rosenberg, American actor

Armand Assante, American actor and producer

Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Iain Hewitson, New Zealand-Australian chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality

Linda McMahon, American businesswoman and politician

Duke Robillard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Julien Clerc, French singer-songwriter and pianist

Jim Fielder, American bass player

Ann Widdecombe, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health

Larry Clapp, American lawyer and politician (died 2013)

Chuck Hagel, American sergeant and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Defense

Michael Mullen, American admiral

Susan Sarandon, American actress and activist

Clifton Davis, American singer-songwriter, actor, and minister

Colin Bundy, South African-English historian and academic

Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (died 2006)

Tony La Russa, American baseball player and manager

John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith, Scottish educator and politician

H. Rap Brown, American activist (died 2025)

Owen Davidson, Australian tennis player (died 2023)

Karl-Gustav Kaisla, Finnish ice hockey player and referee (died 2012)

Dietmar Mürdter, German footballer

Jimy Williams, American baseball player and manager (died 2024)

Bernice Johnson Reagon, American singer-songwriter (died 2024)

Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (died 1967)

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Icelandic politician, 24th Prime Minister of Iceland

Christopher Stone, American actor and screenwriter (died 1995)

Roy Blount Jr., American humorist and journalist

Karen Cushman, American author

Karl Oppitzhauser, Austrian race car driver

Anne Rice, American author (died 2021)

Frank Stagg (Irish republican), died on hunger strike (died 1976)

Robert Wilson, American director and playwright (died 2025)

Vic Hadfield, Canadian ice hockey player

Silvio Marzolini, Argentinian footballer and manager (died 2020)

Steve Swallow, American bass player and composer

Alberto Vilar, American businessman and philanthropist (died 2021)

Ivan Mauger, New Zealand speedway rider (died 2018)

Norman D. Wilson, American actor (died 2004)

Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate

Jackie Collins, English-American author and actress (died 2015)

David Crocker, American philosopher and academic

Gail Gilmore, Canadian-American actress and dancer (died 2014)

Lloyd Green, American steel guitar player

Jim Sillars, Scottish lawyer and politician

Charlie Hurley, Irish footballer and manager (died 2024)

Giles Radice, Baron Radice, English politician (died 2022)

Jimmy Orr, American football player (died 2020)

Sam Huff, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2021)

German Moreno, Filipino television host and actor (died 2016)

Ann Thwaite, English author

Felicia Farr, American actress and model

Terence Conran, English designer and businessman (died 2020)

Basil D'Oliveira, South African-English cricketer and footballer (died 2011)

Richard Rorty, American philosopher and author (died 2007)

Scotty Beckett, American actor and singer (died 1968)

John E. Mack, American psychiatrist and author (died 2004)

Leroy Van Dyke, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Alvin Toffler, German-American journalist and author (died 2016)

Torben Ulrich, Danish-American tennis player (died 2023)

Wolf Kahn, American painter and academic (died 2020)

Raymond Watson, American businessman (died 2012)

Roger Wood, Belgian-American journalist (died 2012)

Donald J. Sobol, American soldier and author (died 2012)

Charlton Heston, American actor, director and gun rights activist (died 2008)

Malcolm Baldrige Jr., American businessman and politician, 26th United States Secretary of Commerce (died 1987)

Shin Kyuk-ho, South Korean-Japanese businessman, founded Lotte Group (died 2020)

Don Lenhardt, American baseball player and coach (died 2014)

Stella Pevsner, American children's author (died 2020)

Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998)

Violeta Parra, Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1967)

Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2009)

Jan Murray, American comedian, actor, and game show host (died 2006)

George Sidney, American director and producer (died 2002)

Ken Wood, inventor of the Kenwood Chef food mixer (died 1997)

Jim Cairns, Australian economist and politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (died 2003)

Brendan Gill, American journalist and essayist (died 1997)

Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti (died 2011)

Mary Two-Axe Earley, Canadian indigenous women's rights activist (died 1996)

Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach (died 2002)

Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Turkish poet and author (died 1956)

Alain Daniélou, French-Swiss historian and academic (died 1994)

Mary Celine Fasenmyer, American mathematician (died 1996)

Bona Arsenault, Canadian genealogist, historian, and politician (died 1993)

John Vincent Atanasoff, American physicist and academic, invented the Atanasoff–Berry computer (died 1995)

Pierre Garbay, French general (died 1980)

Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Austrian-German lawyer and general, convicted Nuremberg war criminal (died 1946)

August Mälk, Estonian author and playwright (died 1987)

Dorothy Lawrence, English reporter, who secretly posed as a man to become a soldier during World War I (died 1964)

Buster Keaton, American film actor, director, and producer (died 1966)

Richard Sorge, German journalist and spy (died 1944)

Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian soldier and politician, 14th Federal Chancellor of Austria (died 1934)

Hermann Glauert, English aerodynamicist and author (died 1934)

Robert Lawson, American author and illustrator (died 1957)

Alan L. Hart, American physician and author (died 1962)

Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish writer and journalist (died 1945)

Lucy Tayiah Eads, American tribal chief (died 1961)

Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (died 1954)

Ramchandra Shukla, Indian historian and author (died 1941)

Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (died 1948)

Damon Runyon, American newspaperman and short story writer. (died 1946)

Robert Edwards, American artist, musician, and writer (died 1948)

Razor Smith, English cricketer (died 1946)

Florence Eliza Allen, American mathematician and suffrage activist (died 1960)

John Ellis, English executioner (died 1932)

Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 20th President of Argentina (died 1942)

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, who is credited with promoting his posthumous fame (died 1925).

Edward Stratemeyer, American author and publisher (died 1930)

Walter Rauschenbusch, American pastor and theologian (died 1918)

Frederic Remington, American painter, sculptor, and illustrator (died 1909)

Léon Serpollet, French businessman (died 1903)

Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, Palestinian nun and Catholic Saint (died 1927)

Prudente de Morais, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Brazil (died 1912)

Maria Sophie of Bavaria (died 1925)

Auguste-Réal Angers, Canadian judge and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (died 1919)

Juliette Adam, French author (died 1936)

Jenny Twitchell Kempton, American opera singer and educator (died 1921)

Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (died 1893)

Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (died 1875)

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Canada East (died 1864)

Charles Pearson, English lawyer and politician (died 1862)

François Guizot, French historian and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of France (died 1874)

Francisco José de Caldas, Colombian naturalist, executed by royalists in the war of independence (died 1816)

Louis François Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician and academic (died 1803)

Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German entomologist and author (died 1798)

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian sculptor and illustrator (died 1778)

Lord George Murray, Scottish Jacobite General (died 1760)

Francesco Solimena, Italian painter and illustrator (died 1747)

Bernardino Ramazzini, Italian physician (died 1714)

Richard Cromwell, English academic and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (died 1712)

Jacqueline Pascal, French nun and composer (died 1661)

Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress (died 1618)

Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal (died 1644)

Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal and philosopher (died 1637)

Christen Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer and author (died 1647)

Charles IX of Sweden (died 1611)

Robert Bellarmine, Italian cardinal and saint (died 1621)

Francisco de Toledo, Catholic cardinal (died 1596)

Francisco Vallés, Spanish physician (died 1592)

Gabriele Paleotti, Catholic cardinal (died 1597)

Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (died 1586)

Francis Bigod, English noble (died 1537)

Henry III of Castile (died 1406)

James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, Irish politician, Lord Justice of Ireland (died 1382)

Louis X of France (died 1316)

Margaret of Brabant (died 1311)

Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria (died 1319)

Alys, Countess of the Vexin, daughter of Louis VII of France (died c. 1220)

Christopher Ciccone, American artist (born 1960)

Billy Shaw, American football player (born 1938)

Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician (born 1932)

Clark Middleton, American actor (born 1957)

Kenzō Takada, Japanese-French fashion designer (born 1939)

Dave Pike, American vibraphone player and songwriter (born 1938)

Edida Nageswara Rao, Indian director and producer (born 1934)

Neal Walk, American basketball player (born 1948)

Konrad Boehmer, German-Dutch composer and educator (born 1941)

Hugo Carvana, Brazilian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1937)

Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (born 1959)

Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian politician, 41st President of Haiti (born 1951)

John Cloudsley-Thompson, Pakistani-English commander (born 1921)

Ulric Cross, Trinidadian navigator, judge, and diplomat (born 1917)

Akira Miyoshi, Japanese composer (born 1933)

Diana Nasution, Indonesian singer (born 1958)

Võ Nguyên Giáp, Vietnamese general and politician, 3rd Minister of Defence for Vietnam (born 1911)

Nicholas Oresko, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1917)

David Atkinson, Canadian actor and singer (born 1921)

Stan Mudenge, Zimbabwean historian and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1941)

Tom Stannage, Australian footballer, historian, and academic (born 1944)

Doris Belack, American actress (born 1926)

Norman Wisdom, English actor, comedian, and singer-songwriter (born 1915)

Gerhard Kaufhold, German footballer (born 1928)

Günther Rall, German general and pilot (born 1918)

Qassem Al-Nasser, Jordanian general (born 1925)

Stanley K. Hathaway, American lawyer and politician, 40th United States Secretary of the Interior (born 1924)

Gordon Cooper, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (born 1927)

Sid McMath, American lawyer and politician, 34th Governor of Arkansas (born 1912)

André Delvaux, Belgian-Spanish director and screenwriter (born 1926)

Blaise Alexander, American race car driver (born 1976)

John Collins, American guitarist (born 1913)

Ahron Soloveichik, Russian rabbi and scholar (born 1917)

Yu Kuo-hwa, Chinese politician, 32nd Premier of the Republic of China (born 1914)

Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1932)

Bernard Buffet, French painter and illustrator (born 1928)

Art Farmer, American trumpet player and composer (born 1928)

S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian and academic (born 1930)

Otto Ernst Remer, German general (born 1912)

Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese game designer, created the Game Boy (born 1941)

Danny Gatton, American guitarist (born 1945)

Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver (born 1936)

Mārtiņš Zīverts, Latvian playwright (born 1903)

Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter, member of Monty Python (born 1941)

Zlatko Grgić, Croatian-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (born 1931)

Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist and conductor (born 1932)

Stefanos Stefanopoulos, Greek politician, 165th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1898)

Freddie Lindstrom, American baseball player and coach (born 1905)

Pyotr Masherov, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (born 1918)

José Ber Gelbard, Argentinian activist and politician (born 1917)

Friedrich Lutz, German economist (born 1901)

Joan Whitney Payson, American businesswoman and philanthropist (born 1903)

Anne Sexton, American poet and author (born 1928)

Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (born 1943)

Alar Kotli, Estonian architect (born 1904)

Benjamin, Russian metropolitan (born 1880)

Ida Wüst, German actress and screenwriter (born 1884)

Alexander Papagos, Greek general and politician, 152nd Prime Minister of Greece (born 1883)

Henrietta Lacks, American medical patient (born 1920)

Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1858)

Barney Oldfield, American race car driver and actor (born 1878)

Al Smith, American lawyer and politician, 42nd Governor of New York (born 1873)

Irena Iłłakowicz, German-Polish lieutenant (born 1906)

Jean Béraud, French painter and academic (born 1849)

Marie Gutheil-Schoder, German soprano, actress, and director (born 1874)

Sergey Muromtsev, Russian lawyer and politician (born 1850)

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, designed the Statue of Liberty (born 1834)

Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (born 1847)

Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher and author (born 1880)

Catherine Booth, English theologian and saint, co-founded The Salvation Army (born 1829)

Sarel Cilliers, South African spiritual leader and preacher (born 1801)

Francis Xavier Seelos, German-American priest and missionary (born 1819)

Joseph Montferrand, Canadian logger and strongman (born 1802)

Karl Baedeker, German publisher, founded Baedeker (born 1801)

James Whitcomb, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Indiana (born 1795)

Manuel Godoy, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (born 1767)

Grigorios Zalykis, Greek-French lexicographer and scholar (born 1785)

John Rennie the Elder, Scottish engineer, designed the Waterloo Bridge (born 1761)

Samuel von Cocceji, Prussian jurist and statesman (born 1679)

Baron Franz von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (born 1711)

Amaro Pargo, Spanish corsair (born 1678)

John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish commander and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey (born 1678)

Pierre-Paul Riquet, French engineer, designed the Canal du Midi (born 1609)

Rembrandt, Dutch painter and illustrator (born 1606)

Jacqueline Pascal, French nun and composer (born 1625)

Francesco Albani, Italian painter (born 1578)

Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English courtier and politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (born 1586)

Sarsa Dengel, Ethiopian emperor (born 1550)

Teresa of Ávila, Spanish nun and saint (born 1515)

John, Prince of Asturias, only son of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (born 1478)

John de Mowbray, 3rd Baron Mowbray, English baron (born 1310)

Emperor Kameyama of Japan (born 1249)

Herman VI, Margrave of Baden (born 1226)

Caliph al-Adil of Morocco

William IV Talvas, Count of Ponthieu (born 1179)

Gerard de Ridefort, Grand Master of the Knights Templar

Constance of Castile, Queen of France (born 1141)

Vladimir of Novgorod (born 1020)

Turpio, Frankish nobleman

Yazid III, Umayyad caliph (born 701)