1400s / 15th century history on the 4th of March

1493 : CHRiSTOPHER COLUMBUS the explorer arrived back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña, after a voyage to the islands in the Caribbean, now known as The Bahamas.

1500s / 16th century history on the 4th of March

1519 : Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and their wealth. Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire.

1600s / 17th century history on the 4th of March

1628 ~ The Massachusetts Bay Colony was granted a Royal charter.

1665 ~ Charles II of England declared war on the Netherlands, which marked the beginning of the 2nd Anglo-Dutch War.

1675 ~ John Flamsteed was appointed as the first Astronomer Royal of England.

1678 : ANTONiO ViVALDi the Italian violinist and composer was born in Venice, Italy (died in 1741 aged 63). He was a Baroque composer and virtuoso violinist, and also an impresario, teacher, and Roman Catholic priest. Vivaldi was best known for The Four Seasons series of violin concertos.

1700s / 18th century history on the 4th of March

1789 : The United States Bill of Rights was written and proposed to Congress, which put the United States Constitution into effect, in New York City, where the 1st Congress of the United States met.

1791 ~ Vermont became the 14th state of America.

1794 ~ The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress.

1797 ~ John Adams was inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America.

1800s / 19th century history on the 4th of March

1804 ~ The Castle Hill Rebellion occurred when Irish convicts rebelled against British colonial authority, in the Colony of New South Wales.

1837 ~ The city of Chicago in Illinois was incorporated.

1847 : CARL JOSEF BAYER the Austrian chemist was born in the Austrian Empire, which is now part of Poland (died in 1904 aged 57). He is best known for inventing the Bayer process to produce aluminium oxide.

1861 ~ The 1st national flag of the Confederate States of America was adopted. This was the “Stars and Bars” version of the flag.

1865 ~ The 3rd and final national flag of the Confederate States of America was adopted by the Confederate Congress.

1882 ~ Britain’s 1st electric trams began to run in east London.

1890 ~ The Forth Bridge in Scotland, the longest bridge in Great Britain, was opened by the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII. The length of the bridge measured 520 metres (1710 feet).

1899 ~ Cyclone Mahina hit north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metre (39 feet) wave that travelled inland up to 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) and killed more than 300 people.

1900s / 20th century history on the 4th of March

1906 : AVERY FiSHER the American engineer was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA (died in 1994 aged 87). He was a pioneer in the field of high fidelity sound reproduction, and founded Fisher Electronics and the Philharmonic Radio Company, but prior to this he worked in book design and publishing. Avery donated millions of dollars to universities and arts organizations.

1933 ~ FRANKLiN D. ROOSEVELT was inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States, at the height of the Great Depression. In his famous inaugural address, delivered outside the east wing of the U.S. Capitol, Roosevelt outlined his “New Deal”, an expansion of the federal government as an instrument of employment opportunity and welfare, and also told Americans that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Although it was a rainy day in Washington, and gusts of rain blew over Roosevelt as he spoke, he still delivered a speech radiating optimism and competence, and a broad majority of Americans united behind their new president and his radical economic proposals to lead the nation out of the Great Depression.

1948 : SHAKiN’ STEVENS the British singer and songwriter was born Michael Barratt in Cardiff, Wales. He was the biggest-selling singles artist during the 1980s in the UK. Shakin’ Stevens was best known for the songs “This Ole House”, “You Drive Me Crazy”, “Green Door”, “Oh Julie” & “Merry Christmas everyone” which hit number one in the UK and many other countries. He’s had approximately 18 songs in the top 10 charts around the world in the 80s.

1948 : Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, the New Zealand-Australian author was born in Whakatāne, New Zealand. She was wrongfully convicted of killing her baby daughter Azaria, before an inquest found it was the result of being taken by a dingo.

1951 : Chris Rea the English singer was born Christopher Anton Rea in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire. He is also songwriter and guitarist. Chris Rea is best known for his songs : Fool If You Think It’s Over (1978), Diamonds (1979), Lets Dance (1987), On The Beach (1986) and Driving Home for Christmas (1988).

1957 : The S&P 500 stock market index was introduced, to replace the S&P 90. The S&P 500 is an index that measures the stock performance of 500 large companies on the U.S stock market.

1962 : Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashed 2 kilometres away from  Douala International Airport in Cameroon, shortly after take off. It was the worst crash of a DC-7, with 111 deaths.

1966 : Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 exploded when landing at Tokyo International Airport, causing 64 deaths.

1966 : John Lennon declared The Beatles are “more popular than Jesus now”, in an interview with the London Evening Standard.

1966 : Helmut Mayer the Austrian skier was born in Treffen, Austria. He’s best known for winning an Olympics silver medal in the Super-G during the 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary. Helmut Mayer is the father of Matthias Mayer, an Olympic gold medalist in downhill skiing in 2014.

1966 : Dav Pilkey the American author and illustrator was born David Murray Pilkey Jr. in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Dav is best known for creating the Captain Underpants children’s book series. The official website : Pilkey.com

1968 : Patsy Kensit the English actress and singer was born in Hounslow, London, UK. She is best known internationally as an actress, especially as Rika Van Den Haas in the Lethal Weapon 2 movie released in 1989. In 1988 Patsy formed the band Eighth Wonder with her brother Jamie Kensit, and had 2 Top 40 singles: “I’m Not Scared”, and “Cross My Heart”. Patsy Kensit has been married 3 times : Dan Donovan from Big Audio Dynamite, Jim Kerr lead singer of Simple Minds, and Liam Gallagher from Oasis.

1970 : French submarine Eurydice exploded underwater, causing the death of all 57 of the crew on board.

1977 : The Vrancea earthquake in Europe’s south east region caused over 1,500 deaths, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.

1980 : Robert Mugabe become Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister when he won a sweeping election victory. 1986 : The Soviet Vega 1 began sending images of Halley’s Comet, which included the first images of the comets nucleus.

1994 : John Candy the Canadian actor died from a heart attack at the age of 43 (born in 1950). he is best known for the movies : Stripes, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Splash, Brewster’s Millions, Spaceballs, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Who’s Harry Crumb?, Uncle Buck, Home Alone, Cool Runnings, and many more movies.

2000s / 21st century history on the 4th of March

2019 : Luke Perry the American actor died from a massive ischemic stroke (born in 1966). He is best known as Luke Perry from the Beverly Hills 90210 television series from 1990 to 1995.

Today in History for March 4th by Associated Press

Video features : Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in as president and vowed to lead America out of the Great Depression, President Ronald Reagan took responsibility for the Iran-Contra affair, and the AAA was founded…

see more interesting events on all the other days of MARCH (History On This Day @ Azoosh)

This page was last updated on the 25th April 2021

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