April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 271 days remain until the end of the year.
We have some interesting facts & historic events all about April 4th, including areas in religion, crime, health and more.
Keep reading for more interesting facts about April 4th in history!
Table of Contents
Global Celebrations
- International Day For Mine Awareness.
- International Carrot Day
- National Walk Around Things Day
- National Cordon Bleu Day
- World Rat Day
- Vitamin C Day
- National Tell A Lie Day
Historic Events
What Happened On This Day – April 4
1979: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is executed
The former President of Pakistan had been deposed by a coup d’etat. He was hanged despite international calls to stop the execution.
1975: Bill Gates and Paul Allen establish Microsoft
Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates, age 19, and Paul Allen, age 22, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The company was created to develop the BASIC programming environment for the MITS Altair 8800. MITS was headquartered in Albuquerque so Gates and Allen moved there from Boston to launch their company. Eventually they decide to move Microsoft to the Seattle, Washington area, where both men were from originally and met in high school.
Microsoft has developed into a multinational corporation, and it is the world’s largest software maker by revenue.
1969: Denton Cooley implants the first artificial heart
The machine kept patient Haskell Karp alive for 65 hours. He died before a human heart could become available.
1968: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated
The civil rights activist was killed by James Earl Ray. Ray, a segregationist, received a 99-year prison sentence. He died in jail in 1998.
1949: NATO is formed
12 nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty to establish what is today one of the world’s most important military alliances.
1975: Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800 in 1975.
1968: On 4th April in 1968 civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. His slaying was followed by a wave of rioting.
1938: Spanish women to protest State Department. Washington DC, led by Mrs. Ernestina Gonzales, PH.D. and former Director of the Madrid University Library, April 4, 1938
1868: British troops capture Addis Ababa Ethiopia in 1868.
Famous Birthdays
Births On This Day, April 4
1979: Heath Ledger, Australian actor, director
1979: Roberto Luongo, Canadian ice hockey player
1952: Gary Moore, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer
1928: Maya Angelou, American author, poet, actress, director
1875: Pierre Monteux, French conductor
Robert Downey Jr. was born.
Heath Ledger was born.
Parveen Babi was born.
Heartbreaking Deaths
Deaths On This Day, April 4
2013: Roger Ebert, American journalist, critic, screenwriter
1984: Oleg Antonov, Soviet aircraft designer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company
1979: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani politician, 4th President of Pakistan
1968: Martin Luther King, Jr., American minster, activist, Nobel Prize laureate
1929: Karl Benz, German engineer, businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz
Martin Luther King Jr. died.
Karl Benz died.
William Henry Harrison died.
