4 November 2024 (MIA)

1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.

1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII’s first wife) meets Arthur Tudor, Henry VIII’s older brother – they would later marry.

1576 – Eighty Years’ War: In Flanders, Spain captures Antwerp (after three days the city is nearly destroyed).

1677 – The future Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange; they later jointly reign as William and Mary.

1737 – The Teatro di San Carlo is inaugurated.

1780 – The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of Peru begins.

1783 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 is performed for the first time in Linz, Austria.

1791 – The Western Confederacy of American Indians wins a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash.

1798 – Beginning of the Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu.

1839 – Newport Rising: The last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain.

1847 – Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, discovers the anesthetic properties of chloroform.

1852 – Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour becomes the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon expands to become Italy.

1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Johnsonville: Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in material.

1868 – Camagüey, Cuba revolts against Spain during the Ten Years’ War.

1890 – City and South London Railway: London’s first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.

1893 – The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (VMRO) was formed in Thessaloniki, with participation of the famous Macedonian revolutionaries Dame Gruev, a teacher from Smilevo; Petar Pop Arsov, a teacher from Bogomila; Dr. Hristo Tatarchev, a doctor from Resen; Ivan Hadzi Nikolov, a bookseller from Kukus; Andon Dimitrov, a teacher from Ajvatovo, and Hristo Batondziev, a teacher from Gumendza. VMRO’s biggest success was the Ilinden Uprising in 1903. Other members included Goce Delcev, Gjorce Petrov, Pere Tosev, Dimo Hadzi Dimov, Jane Sandanski, Nikola Karev, and other revolutionaries.

1912 – First Balkan War: The First Battle of Çatalca begins – an attempt by Bulgaria to break through the last defensive line before the Turkish capital Constantinople.

1918 – World War I: The Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria-Hungary is implemented.

1921 – The Saalschutz Abteilung (hall defense detachment) of the Nazi Party is renamed the Sturmabteilung (storm detachment) after a large riot in Munich.

1921 – Japanese Prime Minister Hara Takashi is assassinated in Tokyo.

1922 – In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

1924 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is elected the first female governor in the United States.

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.

1942 – World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein: Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel leads his forces on a five-month retreat.

1944 – World War II: Bitola Liberation Day.

1952 – The United States government establishes the National Security Agency, or NSA.

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.

1960 – At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Dr. Jane Goodall observes chimpanzees creating tools, the first-ever observation in non-human animals.

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.

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. Also, Venice was submerged on the same day at its record all-time acqua alta of 194 cm.

1970 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization: The United States turns control of the air base at Bình Thủy in the Mekong Delta over to South Vietnam.

1970 – Salvador Allende takes office as President of Chile, the first Marxist to become president of a Latin American country through open elections.

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

1979 – Iran hostage crisis: A mob of Iranians, mostly students, overruns the US embassy in Tehran and takes 90 hostages (53 of whom are American).

1995 – Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by an extremist Israeli.

2002 – Chinese authorities arrest cyber-dissident He Depu for signing a pro-democracy letter to the 16th Communist Party Congress.

2004 – United States recognized Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name.

2008 – Barack Obama becomes the first person of biracial or African descent to be elected President of the United States.

2010 – Aero Caribbean Flight 883 crashes into Guasimal, Sancti Spíritus. All 68 passengers and crew were killed.

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 manages to safely return to Singapore, saving all 469 passengers and crew.

2015 – A cargo plane crashes shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan, killing 37 people.

2015 – A building collapses in the Pakistani city of Lahore resulting in at least 45 deaths, at least 100 injured.

2015 – Justin Trudeau sworn in as Canadian Prime Minister with a cabinet split equally between men and women.

2019 – Largest mass commutation in US history when 462 non-violent inmates freed from Oklahoma prisons as part of state prison reforms.

2019 – Major investigation finds unsafe lead levels in 11 Canadian cities between 2014 and 2018 mostly due to antiquated pipes.

2020 – Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed orders military offensive and state of emergency in northern region of Tigray, amid fears of a civil war.

2021 – COP26 climate pledges, if kept, could help limit global warning to 1.8 °C (above pre-industrial averages) according to the International Energy Agency.

2021 – WHO says Europe is again the Epicenter for COVID-19 after cases rise 50% in a month.