On This Day — 4 August

2020

Beirut Port explosion: At least 220 people are killed and over 5,000 are wounded when 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate explodes in Beirut, Lebanon.

2020 Beirut explosion

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.

2019 Dayton shooting

2018

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) expel the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the Iraq–Syria border, concluding the second phase of the Deir ez-Zor campaign.

Syrian civil war

2018

Crisis in Venezuela: Seven people are injured when two drones detonate explosives on Avenida Bolívar, Caracas while president Nicolás Maduro is giving a speech to the Venezuelan National Guard.

Crisis in Venezuela

2007

NASA's Phoenix Mars lander is launched.

NASA

2006

A massacre is carried out by Sri Lankan government forces, killing 17 employees of the French INGO Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF).

2006 Trincomalee massacre of NGO workers

1995

Operation Storm, the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence begins.

Operation Storm

1987

The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to give equal time to opposing views.

Federal Communications Commission

1984

The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.

Republic of Upper Volta

1983

Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, president of the military government of Upper Volta, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Captain Thomas Sankara.

Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo

1977

U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.

President of the United States

1975

The Japanese Red Army takes more than 50 hostages at the AIA Building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The hostages include the U.S. consul and the Swedish Chargé d'affaires. The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya.

Japanese Red Army

1974

A bomb explodes in the Italicus Express train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Italy, killing 12 people and wounding 22.

Italicus Express bombing

1972

Ugandan President Idi Amin announces that Uganda is no longer responsible for the care of British subjects of Asian origin, beginning the expulsions of Ugandan Asians.

President of Uganda

1969

Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, American representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuân Thuỷ begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.

Vietnam War

1965

The Constitution of the Cook Islands comes into force, giving the Cook Islands self-governing status within New Zealand.

Politics of the Cook Islands

1964

Civil rights movement: Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21.

Civil rights movement

1964

Second Gulf of Tonkin Incident: U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy mistakenly report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Gulf of Tonkin incident

1947

The Supreme Court of Japan is established.

Supreme Court of Japan

1946

An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern Dominican Republic. One hundred are killed and 20,000 are left homeless.

1946 Dominican Republic earthquake

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.

The Holocaust

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.

Parliament of Finland

1936

Prime Minister of Greece Ioannis Metaxas suspends parliament and the Constitution and establishes the 4th of August Regime.

List of prime ministers of Greece

1924

Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.

Mexico–Russia relations

1921

Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict: Mikhail Frunze declares victory over the Makhnovshchina.

Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict

1915

World War I: The German 12th Army occupies Warsaw during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive and the Great Retreat of 1915.

12th Army (German Empire)

1914

World War I: In response to the German invasion of Belgium, Belgium and the British Empire declare war on Germany. The United States declares its neutrality.

World War I

1892

The father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. She will be tried and acquitted for the crimes a year later.

Lizzie Borden

1889

The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.

Great Spokane Fire

1887

Granny, a sea anemone, died in Edinburgh after nearly 60 years in captivity. Her death was reported in The Scotsman and The New York Times.

Granny (sea anemone)

1873

American Indian Wars: While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the United States 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer clashes for the first time with the Cheyenne and Lakota people near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed.

American Indian Wars

1863

Matica slovenská, Slovakia's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation, is established in Martin.

Matica slovenská

1854

The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.

Flag of Japan

1821

The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper.

The Saturday Evening Post

1796

French Revolutionary Wars: Napoleon leads the French Army of Italy to victory in the Battle of Lonato.

French Revolutionary Wars

1791

The Treaty of Sistova is signed, ending the Ottoman–Habsburg wars.

Treaty of Sistova

1790

A newly passed tariff act creates the Revenue Cutter Service (the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard).

Tariff

1789

France: abolition of feudalism by the National Constituent Assembly.

France

1783

Mount Asama erupts in Japan, killing about 1,400 people (Tenmei eruption). The eruption causes a famine, which results in an additional 20,000 deaths.

Mount Asama

1781

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, a fleet of six East India Company ships sets sail from Fort Marlborough to raid the Dutch VOC factories on the West coast of Sumatra including the major port of Padang.

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War

1704

War of the Spanish Succession: Gibraltar is captured by an English and Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles.

War of the Spanish Succession

1701

Great Peace of Montreal between New France and First Nations is signed.

Great Peace of Montreal

1693

Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of champagne; it is not clear whether he actually invented champagne, however he has been credited as an innovator who developed the techniques used to perfect sparkling wine.

Dom Pérignon (monk)

1578

Battle of Al Kasr al Kebir: The Moroccans defeat the Portuguese. Sebastian, King of Portugal is killed in the battle, leaving his elderly uncle, Cardinal Henry, as his heir. This initiates a succession crisis in Portugal.

Battle of Alcácer Quibir

1327

First War of Scottish Independence: James Douglas leads a raid into Weardale and almost kills Edward III of England.

First War of Scottish Independence

1265

Second Barons' War: Battle of Evesham: The army of Prince Edward (the future king Edward I of England) defeats the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, killing de Montfort and many of his allies.

Second Barons' War

598

Goguryeo-Sui War: In response to a Goguryeo (Korean) incursion into Liaoxi, Emperor Wéndi of Sui orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong), to conquer Goguryeo during the Manchurian rainy season, with a Chinese army and navy.

Goguryeo–Sui War