This is a list of selected August 4 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Before doing so, please review the selected anniversaries guidelines. If your suggestion is potentially controversial or relates to a day currently or soon to appear on the Main Page, post it on the talk page instead.
Please note:
- Events listed on the Main Page are selected based on article quality and to provide a diverse range of topics, rather than solely on the importance or significance of the events.
- Only four or five events are featured each day; therefore, not all important or significant events can be included.
- An event is generally excluded if it is already the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error in content currently on the Main Page, see Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors. If a listed event is inaccurate, please first seek consensus and update the corresponding article before making changes here.
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Pope Pius X
Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto (later Pope Pius X)
King Sebastian I of Portugal
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yōhei Kōno
Flag of Burkina Faso
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1578 – King Sebastian I disappeared at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir near Ksar-el-Kebir, Morocco, leading to a dynastic crisis in Portugal. | Sebastian and Battle both need more footnotes |
| 1704 – War of the Spanish Succession: A combined Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles captured Gibraltar from Spain. | dates inconsistent: Capture says Aug 3, Gibraltar says Aug 4 |
| 1790 – A newly passed tariff act in the United States established the Revenue Cutter Service, an armed maritime law enforcement service that was the forerunner of the U.S. Coast Guard. | needs more footnotes |
| 1903 – Italian cardinal Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was elected to become Pope Pius X. | unreferenced section |
| 1914 – First World War: Adhering to the terms in the 1839 Treaty of London, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in response to the latter's invasion of Belgium. | refimprove |
Eligible
- 1265 – Second Barons' War: Royal forces under Prince Edward defeated Baronial forces under Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester at the Battle of Evesham near Evesham, Worcestershire.
- 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: The French Army of Italy under Napoleon crushed an Austrian brigade in the Battle of Lonato.
- 1964 – A second U.S. Navy destroyer was reportedly attacked by North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin, leading Congress to authorize the use of military force in Southeast Asia.
- 1974 – A bomb placed by a neo-fascist group exploded on a train of the Ferrovie dello Stato while on the Bologna–Florence railway.
- 1991 – An explosion on the Greek cruise ship MTS Oceanos ruptured its hull, causing it to sink off the east coast of South Africa, but all 571 people on board were saved.
- 1992 – Yōhei Kōno, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, issued a formal apology for forcing women into sexual slavery during World War II.
- 2007 – Airport police officer María del Luján Telpuk discovered a suitcase containing US$800,000 as it went through an x-ray machine in Buenos Aires, sparking an international scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina known as "Maletinazo".
August 4: Constitution Day in the Cook Islands (1965)
- 70 – First Jewish–Roman War: The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, conquered the city of Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple (model pictured).
- 1327 – First War of Scottish Independence: James Douglas led a raid into Weardale and almost killed Edward III of England.
- 1783 – A cataclysmic eruption of Mount Asama, the most active volcano in Japan, killed roughly 1,400 people and exacerbated a famine, resulting in another 20,000 deaths.
- 1983 – A coup d'état organised by Blaise Compaoré and supported by Libya made Thomas Sankara President of the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso).
- 2006 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Seventeen employees of the French INGO ACF International were massacred in Muttur.