This Day in History on 4th April

The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam. 

On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on the 4th of April. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.

Important Days

  • Children’s Day (Hong Kong, Taiwan)
  • Christian feast day:
  •  International Day For Mine Awareness

Important Events

1786: In the British Parliament, Berk alleged 11 corruption charges against Indian Governor-General Warren Hastings.

1858: Rani Laxmibai fled to Gwalior through Kalpi after giving a solid blow to British troops.

1889: Makhanlal Chaturvedi, famous Hindi poet, writer, Hindi litterateur and President of All India, was born in Babai village, Madhya Pradesh.

1898: Hiralal Sen and his brother Motilal Sen purchased a Bioscope Cinematographic Machine from London. The first show of imported films was arranged by them at Classic Theatre on April 4, after which they formed ‘The Royal Bioscope Co.,’ controlled by H. L. Sen & Bros., 85/2, Maszid Badi Street, Calcutta. The Bioscope Company started touring the provinces of Bengal, Orissa and Bihar.

1905: In India, an earthquake hits the Kangra Valley, killing 20,000, and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamsala.

1910: Sri Aurobindo left politics and reached Pondicherry, where he made the seat of Yoga.

1926: Martial law is declared in Calcutta as rioting continues.

1942: Japanese Navy destroyed 3 British battleships to sink in the Bay of Bengal during the Second World War.

1944: World War II, a bombing of Bucharest, Romania, by British and American forces killed 3,000 civilians.

1947: San Francisco’s Henry Grady was chosen as the first U.S. ambassador to India.

1949: Eleven countries in Western Europe together with the United States, established NATO.

1951: West Germany establishes full diplomatic relations with India.

1968: James Earl Ray assassinated Martin Luther King Jr.

1968: Apollo Program – NASA launched Apollo 6.

1971: Pakistan reports the seizure of nine Indian army vehicles.

1975: Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1984: Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian Astronaut to go in space from Baikanaur aboard Soviet Space Craft ‘Soyuz 11’ and revolved around the earth.

1990: Hindi film ‘Bagh Bahadur’ received the best feature film award of 1989.

1990: Lata Mangeshkar wins 1989 Dada Saheb Phalke award.

1990: MI-4 was re-equipped with the mighty Mi-35, thus becoming a dedicated Attack Helicopter unit of the IAF.

1990: Lata Mangeshkar honored with Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

1991: Gujarat CM Chimanbhai Patel JD (Gujarat)-to contest the elections with poll understanding with Congress (I).

1994: Ravi Naik, Goa CM, resigns.

1996: Supreme Court rules that political parties without audited accounts cannot take advantage of an election law that exempts tax expenditure on candidates.

1997: World Bank Atlas for 1997 put India as the world’s fifth-largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity estimated at around $1318 trillion.

1999: India routed China 5-0 in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I second-round play-off in Calcutta.

2000: A. B. Vajpayee, Prime Minister, inaugurates Samvidhan.com, a website about the Constitution. The site is a part of the Hindi portal, Webdunia.com.

2013: In Thane, Maharashtra, 74 people were killed when an illegally constructed building collapsed.

Birthday / Anniversary

1823: Carl Wilhelm Siemens, a German-British electrical engineer, and businessman.

1889: Pandit Makhanlal Chaturvedi, an Indian poet, writer, essayist, playwright, and journalist.

1902: Narayanrao Vyas, a Hindustani musician of Gwalior Gharana.

1928: Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist.

1949: Parveen Babi, an Indian film actress.

1965: Robert Downey Jr., an American actor, and producer.

1970: Parvathy Jayaram, a former Indian film actress, costume designer, and classical dancer

1984: Kundan Lal Saigal, golden-voiced singer, a legend in his lifetime, actor and film-maker, was born in Jammu. Some of his famous songs are “Ek Bangla Bane Nayara”, “Diya Jalao”,

1912: Dhundiraj Gopal Sapre, Sahityaratna and Sanskrit litterateur, was born.

1932: Rameshchandra Gangaram Nadkarni alias “Bapu Nadkarni”, cricketer (economical Indian slow left-arm 1956-68), was born in Nasik, Maharash

1889: Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Indian journalist, poet, and playwright (d. 1968)

1962: Kailasho Devi, Indian social worker and politician

Death / Death Anniversary

1617: John Napier, Scottish mathematician, and father of the logarithm table.

1911: Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan, Agyeya, an Indian writer, poet, novelist, literary critic, journalist, translator, and revolutionary in the Hindi language.

1929: Carl Benz, founder of the Mercedes-Benz Company.

1931: Andre Michelin, a French industrialist.

1968: Martin Luther King Jr., an American Christian minister, and activist.

1979: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan.

1987: Agney, famous Hindi litterateur and Gyanpeeth Award-winning poet passed away

1998: G. Sarala Devi, 62, CPI leader and general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women, passed away in Hyderabad.

1987: Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, Indian journalist and author (b. 1911)

Further Reading

Month-wise This Day in History

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