On This Day — 4 November

2025

UPS Airlines Flight 2976, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F crashes into multiple buildings during takeoff at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing 15 people, including the 3 crew members.

UPS Airlines Flight 2976

2022

The Khash massacre, which refers to the repression of protesters by Iranian security forces, resulting in 18 deaths and more than 20 injuries.

2022 Khash massacre

2020

The Tigray War begins with Tigrayan rebels launching attacks on Ethiopian command centers.

Tigray war

2015

A cargo plane crashes shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan, killing at least 37 people.

2015 Juba Antonov An-12 crash

2015

A building collapses in the Pakistani city of Lahore resulting in at least 45 deaths and at least 100 injuries.

2015 Lahore factory disaster

2010

Aero Caribbean Flight 883 crashes into Guasimal, Sancti Spíritus; all 68 passengers and crew are killed.

Aero Caribbean Flight 883

2010

Qantas Flight 32, an Airbus A380, suffers an uncontained engine failure over Indonesia shortly after taking off from Singapore, crippling the jet. The crew manage to safely return to Singapore, saving all 469 passengers and crew.

Qantas Flight 32

2008

Barack Obama becomes the first person of biracial or African-American descent to be elected as President of the United States.

Barack Obama

2002

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

He Depu

1995

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by an extremist Israeli.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

1993

China Airlines Flight 605, a brand-new 747-400, overruns the runway at Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport.

China Airlines Flight 605

1980

Ronald Reagan is elected as the 40th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.

Ronald Reagan

1979

Iran hostage crisis: A group of Iranian college students overruns the U.S. embassy in Tehran and takes 90 hostages.

Iran hostage crisis

1973

The Netherlands experiences the first car-free Sunday caused by the 1973 oil crisis. Highways are used only by cyclists and roller skaters.

1973 oil crisis

1970

Vietnam War: The United States turns over control of the air base at Bình Thủy in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam.

Vietnam War

1970

Salvador Allende takes office as President of Chile, the first Marxist to become president of a Latin American country through open elections.

Salvador Allende

1967

Iberia Flight 062 crashes in Blackdown, West Sussex, killing all 37 people on board including British actress June Thorburn.

Iberia Flight 062

1966

The Arno River floods Florence, Italy, to a maximum depth of 6.7 m (22 ft), leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. Venice is also submerged on the same day at its record all-time acqua alta of 194 cm (76 in).

Arno

1962

The United States concludes Operation Fishbowl, its final above-ground nuclear weapons testing series, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Operation Fishbowl

1960

At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Jane Goodall observes chimpanzees creating tools, the first-ever observation in non-human animals.

Kasakela chimpanzee community

1956

Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.

Soviet Union

1952

The United States government establishes the National Security Agency, or NSA.

Federal government of the United States

1944

World War II: The 7th Macedonian Liberation Brigade liberates Bitola for the Allies.

Macedonian Partisans

1944

World War II: Operation Pheasant, an Allied offensive to liberate North Brabant in the Netherlands, ends successfully.

Operation Pheasant

1942

World War II: Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel begins a retreat of his forces after a costly defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein. The retreat would ultimately last five months.

Adolf Hitler

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.

World War II

1936

Spanish Civil War: Largo Caballero reshuffles his war cabinet, persuading the anarcho-syndicalist CNT to join the government.

Spanish Civil War

1924

Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female elected as governor in the United States.

Nellie Tayloe Ross

1922

In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

Howard Carter

1921

The Saalschutz Abteilung (hall defense detachment) of the Nazi Party is renamed the Sturmabteilung (storm detachment) after a large riot in Munich.

Nazi Party

1921

Japanese prime minister Hara Takashi is assassinated in Tokyo.

Prime Minister of Japan

1918

World War I: The Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria-Hungary is implemented.

World War I

1890

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

City and South London Railway

1868

Camagüey, Cuba, revolts against Spain during the Ten Years' War.

Camagüey

1864

American Civil War: Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in materiel at the Battle of Johnsonville.

American Civil War

1852

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, becomes the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon expands to become Italy.

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour

1847

Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.

James Young Simpson

1839

Newport Rising: The last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain.

Newport Rising

1798

The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu begins.

Siege of Corfu (1798–1799)

1791

Northwest Indian War: The Western Confederacy of American Indians wins a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash.

Northwest Indian War

1783

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 36 is performed for the first time in Linz, Austria.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1780

The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of Peru begins.

Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II

1737

The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is inaugurated in Naples, Italy.

Teatro di San Carlo

1677

The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange; they later jointly reign as William and Mary.

Mary II

1576

Eighty Years' War: In Flanders, Spain captures Antwerp (which is nearly destroyed after three days).

Eighty Years' War

1501

Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's first wife) meets Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII's older brother – they would later marry.

Catherine of Aragon

1493

Christopher Columbus reaches the Leeward Islands.

Christopher Columbus

1429

Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.

Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War

1354

War of the Straits: The Genoese fleet under Paganino Doria defeats and captures the entire Venetian fleet under Niccolò Pisani at the Battle of Sapienza.

War of the Straits

512

Following Byzantine emperor Anastasius' deposition of Chalcedonian patriarchs and attempts to make Monophysite changes to liturgy, riots break out in Constantinople with a mob trying to proclaim Areobindus as emperor.

List of Byzantine emperors