April 4 in History

Historical Events on April 4

1814 Napoleon abdicates for the first time and names his son Napoleon II as Emperor of the French.

1818 The United States Congress adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (then 20).

1865 American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.

1944 World War II: First bombardment of oil refineries in Bucharest by Anglo-American forces kills 3000 civilians.

1945 World War II: Soviet troops liberate Hungary from German occupation and occupy the country itself.

1960 France agrees to grant independence to the Mali Federation, a union of Senegal and French Sudan.

1967 Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech in New York City's Riverside Church.

1984 President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.

2002 The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.

All Events

Famous Birthdays on April 4

1932 Richard Lugar

1932 Anthony Perkins

1979 Heath Ledger

1979 Roberto Luongo

All Births

Famous Deaths on April 4

1953 Carol II of Romania

1968 Martin Luther King Jr.

1979 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

2013 Roger Ebert

All Deaths

Choose Another Date