March 4
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March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). There are 302 days remaining.
From 1789, this was Inauguration Day, the day on which the President of the United States was sworn in and took office. Originally held every four years on March 4, the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution changed the time for the President and Vice President's terms to begin to noon on January 20, beginning with Franklin Roosevelt's second term in 1937.
Events
- 303 or 304 - Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
- 852 - Croatian Duke Trpimir I issued a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
- 1152 - Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of the Germans.
- 1191 - King Richard I the Lionheart concludes an alliance with Prince John of England through signing a treaty.
- 1215 - King John of England makes an oath to the Pope as a crusader to gain the support of Innocent III.
- 1238 - Battle of the Sit River was fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia between the Mongol Hordes of Batu Khan and the Russians under George II of Vladimir-Suzdal (also known as Yuri II) during the Mongol invasion of Russia.
- 1275 - Chinese astronomers observe a total eclipse of the Sun in China.
- 1351 - Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam.
- 1386 - Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) was crowned King of Poland.
- 1455 - Wars of the Roses in England: Yorkist Richard Lyon is dismissed as Captain of Calais by King Henry VI.
- 1461 - Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his Yorkist cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.
- 1492 - King James IV of Scotland concludes an alliance with France against England.
- 1493 - Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives in America aboard his ship Niña.
- 1570 - King Philip II bans foreign Dutch students.
- 1611 - George Abbot is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
- 1621 - Jakarta, Java renamed Batavia.
- 1629 - Massachusetts Bay Colony, which had the role of colonizing the Americas, is granted a Royal charter.
- 1634 - Samuel Cole opens the first tavern in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1646 - During his exile, King Charles II lands at St Mary's in the Scilly Isles exactly one year since leaving Oxford.
- 1665 - English King Charles II declares war on The Netherlands which marked the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
- 1675 - John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal of England.
- 1681 - Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.
- 1699 - Jews are expelled from Lubeck, Germany.
- 1714 - British fleet under Admiral Charles Ogle reaches Cartagena.
- 1774 - First sighting of Orion Nebula by William Herschel.
- 1776 - The American War of Independence: The Americans capture "Dorchester Heights" dominating the port of Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1789 - In New York City, the first U.S. Congress meets and declares the new Constitution of the United States is in effect.
- 1790 - France is divided into 83 départements, which cut across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on noble ownership of land.
- 1791 - Vermont is admitted as the 14th U.S. state.
- 1791 - A Constitutional Act is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Low-Canada (Quebec) and High-Canada (Ontario).
- 1793 - French troops conquer Geertruidenberg, Netherlands.
- 1800 - Introduction of the breeding of sheep in Australia.
- 1801 - Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the USA, becomes the first U.S. president inaugurated in Washington, DC.
- 1804 - The Battle of Vinegar Hill, colony of New South Wales (Australia).
- 1804 - The British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) was founded at a large interdenominational meeting in London.
- 1812 - Stewart Castlereagh is appointed Foreign Minister under Lord Liverpool for the Tory Government.
- 1813 - Russian troops fighting the army of Napoleon reach Berlin in Germany and the French garrison evacuate the city without a fight.
- 1813 - Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington is awarded the Order of the Garter.
- 1824 - The "National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck" was founded in Britain, later to be renamed The Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1858.
- 1829 - Unruly crowd mobs White House during the President Jackson inaugural ball.
- 1830 - Vincenzo Bellini's opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi, premieres in Venice.
- 1837 - Chicago is granted a city charter by Illinois.
- 1841 - Inauguration of William Henry Harrison as 9th President of the USA. Harrison died exactly one month into his term — the briefest presidency in the history of the office - and was the first president to die in office.
- 1848 - Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia
- 1848 - Lajos Kossuth's speech to the Hungarian Diet is distributed.
- 1849 - Zachary Taylor refuses to be sworn in office as 12th President of the USA on a Sabbath (Sunday). Consequently the office of President of the United States of America is vacant for a single day. Urban legend instead holds that David Rice Atchison, President pro tempore of the United States Senate was President de jure for a single day.
- 1853 - Pope Pius IX recovers Catholic hierarchy in Netherlands.
- 1861 - President Lincoln opens Government Printing Office.
- 1861 - Confederate States adopt "Stars and Bars" flag, on the same day that Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated.
- 1863 - Territory of Idaho established.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Thompson's Station in Tennessee.
- 1876 - U.S. Congress ends "impeachment" of Minister of War William W. Belknap
- 1877 - Emile Berliner invents the microphone.
- 1877 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake debuts.
- 1880 - New York Daily Graphic publishes the first half-tone engraving.
- 1881 - A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, begins.
- 1881 - South African President Kruger accepts ceasefire.
- 1885 - Gilbert & Sullivan's opera The Mikado premieres in London.
- 1887 - Gottlieb Daimler unveils his first automobile which he test runs in Esslingen and Cannstatt, Germany.
- 1890 - The longest bridge in Britain, the Forth Bridge (railway) (1,710 ft) in Scotland is opened by the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII.
- 1894 - Great fire in Shanghai. Over 1,000 buildings are destroyed.
- 1895 - Premiere of Gustav Mahler's second symphony in Berlin.
- 1899 - Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 m wave that reaches up to 5 km inland - over 300 dead.
- 1902 - In Chicago, the American Automobile Association is established.
- 1904 - Russo-Japanese War: Russian troops in Korea retreat toward Manchuria followed by 100,000 Japanese troops.
- 1905 - Gerhart Hauptmann's 'Elga' premieres in Berlin.
- 1907 - Louis Botha is appointed Prime Minister of the Transvaal, South Africa.
- 1908 - Collingwood Primary School, Ohio catches fire; 180 die.
- 1911 - Victor Berger (Wisconsin) becomes the first socialist congressman in U.S..
- 1913 - The United States Department of Commerce and United States Department of Labor are established by splitting the duties of the 10-year-old Department of Commerce and Labor.
- 1913 - First U.S. law regulating the shooting of migratory birds passed.
- 1917 - Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
- 1917 - Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia's renunciation of the throne is made public, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia publicly issues his abdication manifesto.
- 1921 - Hot Springs National Park created in Arkansas.
- 1923 - Lenin's last article about Red bureaucracy was published in Pravda.
- 1924 - The song 'Happy Birthday To You' is published by Clayton Summy.
- 1925 - Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to have his inauguration broadcasted on radio.
- 1926 - The government of Dirk Jan de Geer takes office in The Netherlands.
- 1927 - A diamond rush in South Africa includes trained athletes that have been hired by major companies to stake claims.
- 1929 - Charles Curtis becomes the first native-American Vice President.
- 1931 - The British Viceroy of India, Governor-General Edward Frederick Lindley Wood and Mohandas Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) meet to sign an agreement envisaging the release of political prisoners and allowing that salt is freely used by the poorest layers of the population.
- 1933 - Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, first female member of the United States Cabinet.
- 1933 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlines his "New Deal" in his inauguration speech.
- 1933 - The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure - Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates authoritarian rule by decree (see Austrofascism).
- 1936 - First flight of airship Hindenburg, Germany.
- 1941 - Britain launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands, during World War II.
- 1941 - Adolf Hitler applies pressure on Yugoslavia to join the Tripartite Pact.
- 1944 - First U.S. bombing of Berlin and Anti-Germany strikes in northern Italy.
- 1944 - In Ossining, New York, Louis Buchalter, the leader of 1930s crime syndicate Murder, Inc., is executed at Sing Sing.
- 1945 - In Britain, Princess Elizabeth, later to become Queen Elizabeth II, joins the British Army as a driver.
- 1945 - Lapland War: Finland declares war on nazi-Germany.
- 1946 - The Voice Of Frank Sinatra, the first Frank Sinatra album ever, is released by Columbia Records.
- 1946 - C.G.E. Mannerheim resigns from the post of President of Finland.
- 1949 - Andrey Vyshinsky succeeds Vyacheslav Molotov as Soviet Foreign minister.
- 1949 - Security Council of UN recommends membership for Israel.
- 1950 - U.S. Premiere of Walt Disney's animated film Cinderella.
- 1952 - Ernest Hemingway completes his short novel The Old Man and the Sea.
- 1952 - Ronald Reagan marries his second wife Nancy Davis in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.
- 1954 - Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston announces the first successful kidney transplant.
- 1954 - U.S. warns Latin America against international communism.
- 1955 - First radio facsimile transmission sent across the continent of America.
- 1959 - U.S. Pioneer IV misses Moon and becomes the second (U.S. first) artificial planet.
- 1960 - French freighter 'La Coubre' explodes in Havana, Cuba killing 100. Fidel Castro blames the U.S.
- 1961 - Paul-Henri Spaak resigns as Secretary General of NATO.
- 1962 - AEC announces that the first atomic power plant in Antarctica is in operation.
- 1963 - In Paris six people are sentenced to death for conspiring to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle.
- 1964 - Jimmy Hoffa, President of the Teamsters, is convicted by a Federal jury of tampering with a Federal jury.
- 1966 - John Lennon says The Beatles are "more popular than Jesus" which sparks controversy in the United States.
- 1966 - Canadian Pacific airliner explodes on landing at Tokyo, killing 64 people.
- 1967 - The first North Sea gas is pumped ashore at Easington, County Durham by BP (British Petroleum).
- 1968 - Martin Luther King Jr announces plans for Poor People's Campaign.
- 1970 - French submarine Eurydice explodes.
- 1972 - Libya and the Soviet Union sign a co-operation treaty.
- 1974 - Harold Wilson becomes British Prime Minister following the resignation of his predecessor Edward Heath.
- 1975 - Charlie Chaplin is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of England.
- 1976 - The Maguire Seven were found guilty of the offence of possessing explosives and were subsequently jailed for 14 years.
- 1977 - The 1977 Bucharest Earthquake in southern and eastern Europe kills more than 1,500.
- 1977 - First Cray-1 supercomputer shipped to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico.
- 1979 - U.S. Voyager I photo reveals Jupiter's rings.
- 1978 - Chicago Daily News, founded in 1875, publishes last issue.
- 1980 - Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister.
- 1981 - A jury in Salt Lake City convicted Joseph Paul Franklin, an avowed racist, of violating the civil rights of two black men who were shot to death.
- 1982 - NASA launches "Intelsat V".
- 1985 - The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
- 1989 - Six people die and 80 are injured, some of them seriously, in a train crash at Purley in Surrey, England.
- 1987 - President Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra Affair, acknowledging his overtures to Iran had “deteriorated” into an arms-for-hostages deal.
- 1989 - Time, Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans for a merger forming Time-Warner.
- 1989 - The first ACT (Australian Capital Territory) elections are held.
- 1990 - Space Shuttle program: STS-36 (Atlantis VI) U.S. 65th manned space mission returns from space.
- 1990 - Afrisecal movement/ Afrisecaism introduced as an intellectual school of thought to the Literary collective of Jos by Francis Okechukwu Ohanyido on his birthday as part of the "Afriquest initiative".
- 1991 - Most primitive form of World Wide Web is put online.
- 1991 - Bank of Credit and Commerce International divests itself of First American National Bank.
- 1993 - Authorities announce the capture of suspected World Trade Center bombing conspirator Mohammad Salameh.
- 1994 - Four terrorists are convicted for their roles in the World Trade Center bombing which killed six and injured more than a thousand.
- 1995 - Michael Johnson runs world record 400m indoor (44.63 sec).
- 1995 - George Foreman loses WBA boxing title, refusing to fight Tony Tucker.
- 1996 - A train carrying propane and sodium hydroxide derails in Weyauwega, Wisconsin and catches fire. 2,200 homes near the accident site are evacuated for 16 days.
- 1997 - President Clinton bans federally funded human cloning research.
- 1997 - In London, the match-fixing trial of footballers Bruce Grobbelaar, John Fashanu and Hans Segers ends in deadlock with the jury failing to reach verdicts.
- 1997 - Comet Hale-Bopp directly above the Sun (1.04 AU).
- 1997 - "Zeya Start-1" is launched in (Russia).
- 1998 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
- 1998 - Government, naval and university computers running Windows NT across the United States crash as a result of a hacker. The crash affects computers running at MIT, Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
- 1999 - In a military court, Captain Richard Ashby of the United States Marines is acquitted of the charge of reckless flying which resulted in the deaths of 20 skiers in the Italian Alps when his low-flying jet hit a gondola cable.
- 2001 - During the early hours a massive bomb located in a taxi explodes in front of BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring 11 people. The attack was attributed to dissident Irish republicans.
- 2001 - Swiss referendum overwhelmingly rejects a proposal for immediate membership talks with the European Union.
- 2001 - Hintze Ribeiro disaster, a bridge collapses in northern Portugal, killing up to 70 people.
- 2004 - The guilty verdict for Moroccan al-Qaeda suspect Mounir el Motassadeq's involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks is overturned by the German appeals court, which orders a retrial.
- 2004 - The files of Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun are released to the public five years after his death.
- 2005 - The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by US soldiers in Iraq, causing the death of one passenger and injuring two more.
- 2005 - United Nations warns that about 90 million Africans could be infected by the HIV virus in the future without further action against the spread of the disease.
- 2006 - The central Papeete power station is damaged by a fire, resulting in limited power for some areas of Tahiti for a couple of weeks.
- 2006 - Anti-war campaigners criticised British Prime Minister Tony Blair after he suggested his decision to go to war in Iraq would ultimately be judged by God.
Births
- 1188 - Blanche de Castile, Queen of France, wife of King Louis VIII (d. 1252)
- 1394 - Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese patron of exploration (d. 1460)
- 1492 - Francesco de Layolle, Italian composer (d. c1540)
- 1651 - John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1716)
- 1665 - Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (d. 1694)
- 1678 - Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer (d. 1741)
- 1719 - George Pigot, Baron Pigot, British governor of Madras (d. 1777)
- 1745 - Charles Dibdin, England, composer/author, Sea Songs (d.1814)
- 1747 - Kazimierz Pułaski, Count/American Revolutionary War general (d. 1779)
- 1756 - Sir Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter (d. 1823)
- 1782 - Johann Rudolf Wyss, Swiss folklorist/writer, Swiss Family Robinson (d. 1830)
- 1792 - Samuel Slocum, American inventor (d. 1861)
- 1793 - Karl Lachmann, German philologist (d. 1851)
- 1819 - Charles Oberthur, Munich-born harp virtuoso and composer (d. 1895)
- 1822 - Jules Antoine Lissajous, French mathematician, inventor of the harmonograph (d. 1880)
- 1826 - Theodore Judah, American railroad engineer (d. 1863)
- 1835 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer, “discovered” canals of Mars (d. 1910)
- 1847 - Karl Bayer, Austrian chemist (d. 1904).
- 1859 - Alexander Popov, Russian physicist (d. 1905)
- 1870 - Thomas Sturge Moore, English poet, author and artist (d. 1944)
- 1876 - Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet (d. 1947)
- 1877 - Garrett Morgan, American inventor (d. 1963)
- 1877 - Alexander Fyodorovich Gedike, composer (d. 1957)
- 1888 - Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (d. 1931)
- 1889 - Pearl White, [Victoria], U.S. actress/stunt woman, Perils of Pauline (d. 1938)
- 1895 - Shemp Howard, American actor, comedian (Three Stooges) (d. 1955)
- 1897 - Lefty O'Doul, baseball player and restaurateur (d. 1969)
- 1898 - Georges Dumézil, philologist, French academic (d. 1940)
- 1901 - Charles Goren, bridge expert (d. 1991)
- 1903 - Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish statesman (d. 1973)
- 1904 - George Gamow, Ukrainian-born physicist (d. 1968)
- 1906 - Meindert DeJong American author of children's books (d. 1991)
- 1909 - Harry Helmsley, American real estate entrepreneur(d. 1997)
- 1910 - Tancredo Neves, Civil rights activist (d. 1985)
- 1913 - John Garfield, American actor (d. 1952)
- 1914 - Ward Kimball, American cartoonist (d. 2002)
- 1915 - Carlos Surinach, Spanish composer, Monte Carlo (d. 1997)
- 1916 - Hans Eysenck, German-born psychologist (d. 1997)
- 1916 - Giorgio Bassani, Italian writer (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Jean Lecanuet, French politician
- 1921 - Joan Greenwood, English actress and director (d. 1987)
- 1923 - Sir Patrick Moore, British astronomer and broadcaster
- 1925 - Paul Mauriat, French musician
- 1927 - Thayer David, actor (d. 1978)
- 1927 - Robert Orben, US magician and comedy writer
- 1928 - Alan Sillitoe, English writer
- 1928 - Samuel Adler, composer
- 1929 - Bernard Haitink, Dutch conductor, conductor of London Philharmonic Orchestra 1969-78
- 1932 - Miriam Makeba, South African singer, Grammy 1965
- 1932 - Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, American custom car designer (d. 2001)
- 1934 - Janez Strnad, Slovenian physicist
- 1934 - Mario Davidovsky, Argentinian composer, Synchronisms
- 1934 - John Duffey, bluegrass musician (d. 1996)
- 1935 - Bent Larsen, Danish chess player
- 1936 - Jim Clark Scottish race car driver, Indianapolis 500 (d. 1968)
- 1936 - David Thompson, British food magnate and multi-millionaire
- 1936 - Aribert Reimann, German opera composer
- 1937 - Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
- 1938 - Don Perkins, American football player
- 1939 - Paula Prentiss, American actress
- 1941 - Adrian Lyne, English film director
- 1942 - Charles C. Krulak, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps
- 1943 - Zoltan Jeney, composer
- 1944 - Bobby Womack, American R&B singer and songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 - Dieter Meier, Swiss singer and children book writer
- 1946 - Harvey Goldsmith, impresario
- 1946 - Michael Ashcroft, English entrepreneur/multi-millionaire
- 1947 - Jan Garbarek, Norwegian musician
- 1948 - Chris Squire, British musician (Yes)
- 1948 - Shakin' Stevens (Michael Barratt), Welsh rocker
- 1948 - James Ellroy, American writer
- 1950 - Rick Perry, Governor of Texas
- 1950 - Billy Gibbons, American singer & guitarist (ZZ Top)
- 1951 - Kenny Dalglish Scottish footballer and football manager
- 1951 - Chris Rea, British singer, rock guitarist and musician
- 1952 - Umberto Tozzi, Italian singer
- 1952 - Ronn Moss, actor
- 1952 - Scott Hicks, movie director
- 1953 - Emilio Estefan, Cuban percussianist
- 1953 - Kay Lenz, actress
- 1954 - Willie Thorne, English snooker player
- 1954 - Adrian Zmed, American actor and dancer
- 1954 - Catherine O'Hara, Canadian actress and comedienne
- 1954 - Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian writer
- 1955 - Dominique Pinon, French actor
- 1956 - Léon-Bernard Giot, Belgian musician
- 1958 - Patricia Heaton, American actress
- 1958 - Lennie Lee, British performance artist
- 1960 - Mykelti Williamson, American actor
- 1961 - Ray Mancini, American boxer
- 1961 - Steven Weber, American actor
- 1963 - Jason Newsted, American bassist (Metallica)
- 1965 - Gary Helms, American kickboxer
- 1965 - Paul W.S. Anderson, British filmmaker, producer and screenwriter
- 1966 - Kevin Johnson, American basketball player
- 1966 - Grand Puba (Brand Nubian), American rapper
- 1966 - Dav Pilkey, American author and illustrator
- 1966 - Patrick Hannan, English pop drummer (The Sundays)
- 1967 - Evan Dando, American musician (The Lemonheads)
- 1968 - Patsy Kensit, English actress
- 1969 - Chastity Bono, actress, daughter of Sonny and Cher
- 1971 - Fergal Lawler, Irish drummer (The Cranberries)
- 1971 - Nick Stabile, American actor
- 1972 - Jos Verstappen, former Dutch Formula 1 driver
- 1977 - Jason Marsalis, jazz musician
- 1982 - Landon Donovan, American soccer player
- 1986 - Margo Harshman, American actress
- 1990 - Andrea Bowen, American actress
- 1993 - Jenna Boyd, American actress
Deaths
- 1193 - Saladin, Turkish sultan (b. 1137)
- 1238 - Joan of England, wife of Alexander II of Scotland (b. 1210)
- 1238 - George II of Vladimir-Suzdal (Yuri II, Grand Prince of Vladimir) (b. 1189)
- 1484 - Saint Casimir, Prince of Poland (b. 1458)
- 1496 - Archduke Sigismund of Austria (b. 1427)
- 1604 - Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian (b. 1539)
- 1615 - Hans von Aachen, German painter (b. 1552)
- 1619 - Anne of Denmark, wife of James I of England (b. 1574)
- 1710 - Louis III, Prince of Condé (b. 1668)
- 1733 - Claude de Forbin, French naval commander (b. 1656)
- 1793 - Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre, French admiral (b. 1725)
- 1795 - John Collins, American politician (b. 1717)
- 1805 - Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (b. 1725)
- 1827 - Ira Remsen American chemist, discoverer of the artificial sweetener saccharin (b. 1762)
- 1832 - Jean-François Champollion, French classical scholar, philologist, orientalist, and Egyptologist. (b. 1790)
- 1852 - Nikolai Gogol, Russian writer (b. 1809)
- 1853 - Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist (b. 1774)
- 1858 - Matthew Perry, U.S. naval officer (b. 1794)
- 1868 - Jesse Chisholm, American pioneer of the Chisholm Trail (b. 1805)
- 1888 - Amos Bronson Alcott, American reformer, philosopher and teacher (b. 1799)
- 1916 - Franz Marc, German artist (b. 1880)
- 1922 - Bert Williams [Egbert Austin Williams], African American entertainer
- 1925 - John Ward, baseball player (b. 1860)
- 1927 - Ira Remsen American chemist, discoverer of the artificial sweetener saccharin (b. 1846)
- 1940 - Hamlin Garland [Hamlin Hannibal Garland], American novelist, poet, essayist, and short-story writer (b. 1860)
- 1941 - Ludwig Quidde, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1858)
- 1946 - Bror von Blixen-Finecke, Danish big-game hunter (b. 1886)
- 1948 - Antonin Artaud, French actor, director, and author (b. 1896)
- 1952 - Charles Scott Sherrington, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
- 1954 - Noel Gay, English composer, (b. 1898)
- 1959 - Maxey Long, American athlete, (b. 1878)
- 1960 - Leonard Warren, American operatic baritone (b. 1911)
- 1963 - William Carlos Williams, American poet (b. 1883)
- 1969 - Nicholas Schenck, Russian-born film empresario (b. 1881)
- 1977 - Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer (b. 1951)
- 1979 - Willi Unsoeld, American mountain climber (b. 1926)
- 1986 - Richard Manuel, Canadian musician (The Band) (b. 1943)
- 1990 - Hank Gathers, American basketball player (b. 1967)
- 1992 - Art Babbitt, animator (Mister Magoo, Goofy) (b. 1907)
- 1994 - John Candy, Canadian comedian and actor (b. 1950)
- 1995 - Eden Ahbez [Alexander Aberle], composer, unique character of pre-rock American popular music (b. 1908)
- 1996 - Minnie Pearl, American comedian (b. 1912)
- 1999 - Harry A. Blackmun, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (b. 1908)
- 1999 - Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer (b. 1921)
- 2001 - Glenn Hughes (singer), American musician (The Village People)
- 2001 - Harold Stassen, American politician (b. 1907)
- 2003 - Jaba Ioseliani, Georgian politician and bank robber (b. 1926)
- 2004 - John McGeoch, Scottish musician (Siouxsie and the Banshees and Public Image Ltd.) (b. 1955)
- 2004 - Claude Nougaro, French singer (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Nicola Calipari, Italian secret service agent (b. 1953)
Holidays and observances
- Catholicism - Feast day of St Casimir, patron saint of Lithuania.
- Catholicism - Feast day of Saint Adrian, bishop of Saint Andrew's, and his Companions.
- Catholicism - Feast day of Saint Basil and his Companions.
- Catholicism - Feast day of Humbert III of Savoy.
- Catholicism - Feast day of Saint Placide Viel.
- Catholicism - Feast day of Pierre de Cluny.
- Catholicism - Commemoration of Saint Lucius I, pope, martyr.
- Wales - Feast day of Rhiannon, Celtic Moon Goddess.
- Pennsylvania - Charter Day (1681).
- Vermont : Admission Day (1791).
External links
March 3 - March 5 - February 4 - April 4 -- listing of all days