04 April History
- 527 - In Constantinople, Justin, seriously ill, crowns his nephew Justinian as his co-emperor.
- 1581 - Francis Drake completes circumnavigation of the world.
- 1812 - The territory of Orleans becomes the 18th state and will become known as Louisiana.
- 1818 - The United States flag is declared to have 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars.
- 1841 - President William Henry Harrison, aged 68, becomes the first president to die in office, just a month after being sworn in.
- 1862 - The Battle of Yorktown begins as Union gen. George B. McClellan closes in on Richmond, Va.
- 1917 - The U.S. Senate votes 90-6 to enter World War I on Allied side.
- 1918 - The Battle of the Somme ends.
- 1941 - Field Marshal Erwin Rommel captures the British held town of Benghazi in North Africa.
- 1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty is signed.
- 1968 - Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
- 1974 - Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth's home-run record.
- 1979 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the president of Pakistan is executed.
- 1985 - A coup in Sudan ousts President Nimeiry and replaces him with General Dahab.
04 April Birthdays
- 1780 - Edward Hicks, Quaker preacher and painter (The Peaceable Kingdom).
- 1792 - Thaddeus Stevens, U.S. Republican congressional leader.
- 1802 - Dorothea Dix, American social reformer.
- 1821 - Linus Yale, inventor of the Yale lock.
- 1884 - Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese naval commander during WWII.
- 1896 - Arthur Murray, ballroom dance instructor.
- 1896 - Robert Sherwood, playwright.
- 1914 - Marguerite Duras, French author (The Lover).
- 1915 - Muddy Waters, American blues musician.
- 1928 - Maya Angelou, American poet and author.
- 1932 - Anthony Perkins, actor (Psycho).
- 1938 - Bart Giamatti, baseball commisioner, president of Yale.