122 things happened on 4 November, from 1354 to 2020. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1922 · 104 years ago
A team led by the British Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. An Egyptologist is an expert on ancient Egypt. Most pharaohs' tombs had been robbed long ago, but this one had been hidden unde…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
Catherine of Aragon met Arthur, Prince of Wales, the elder brother of the future King Henry VIII. The two were later married, but Arthur died a short time afterwards. In 1509 Catherine married Henry instead, becoming his first wife and Queen of England. She stayed queen until 1533, when their marriage was annulled, which means officially cancelled.
UK story
The future Queen Mary II married William, Prince of Orange, a leader in the Dutch Republic. In 1689 the couple began ruling England, Scotland and Ireland together. Their shared reign is known as that of ‘William and Mary’. Mary ruled alongside William until her death in 1694, and William reigned on alone until 1702.
UK story
Chartists in Wales took part in the Newport Rising, an armed protest against the authorities. The Chartists were campaigners who wanted democracy, including the right to vote and to vote by secret ballot, so that nobody could see how a person voted. The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain.
UK story
The Scottish doctor James Young Simpson discovered that chloroform could be used as an anaesthetic. An anaesthetic is a drug that causes a temporary loss of feeling or awareness, so that patients do not feel pain during treatment. Simpson was the first doctor to show that chloroform worked in this way on people. He also helped make its use popular in medicine.
UK story
The City and South London Railway officially opened, running for 3.2 miles (5.1 kilometres) between the City of London and Stockwell. It was the world's first successful deep-level ‘tube’ railway, and the first major railway to use electric power to pull its trains. The trains were meant to be pulled by cables, but the cable company went bankrupt. So the builders chose electric locomotives, which were still an experimental idea.
UK story
A team led by the British Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. An Egyptologist is an expert on ancient Egypt. Most pharaohs' tombs had been robbed long ago, but this one had been hidden under rubble for most of its history. It is the only royal burial from ancient Egypt known to have been found nearly untouched.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 36 was first performed in Linz, Austria. Mozart and his wife Constanze had stopped in the town on their way home to Vienna, and a local count announced a concert. Mozart wrote the whole symphony in just four days, and it became known as the ‘Linz’ Symphony. He completed more than 800 works in his lifetime.
Barack Obama won the US presidential election, becoming the first African American to be elected President of the United States. He had been a senator for the state of Illinois, and his running mate was Joe Biden. Obama served as the 44th president from 2009 to 2017.
The Paris Agreement, a worldwide treaty on climate change, came into effect. It had been worked out by 196 parties at a United Nations conference near Paris in 2015. The treaty covers slowing climate change, adapting to its effects and paying for this work. It sits under a wider UN treaty whose main aim is to limit the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
War of the Straits: The Genoese fleet under Paganino Doria defeats and captures the entire Venetian fleet under Niccolò Pisani at the Battle of Sapienza.
Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
Christopher Columbus reaches the Leeward Islands.
Eighty Years' War: In Flanders, Spain captures Antwerp (which is nearly destroyed after three days).
The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is inaugurated in Naples, Italy.
Túpac Amaru II led a rebellion of Aymara, Quechua, and mestizo peasants in protest against the Bourbon Reforms in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru.
Northwest Indian War: The Western Confederacy of American Indians wins a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash.
The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu begins.
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, becomes the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon expands to become Italy.
Camagüey, Cuba, revolts against Spain during the Ten Years' War.
The keel of USS Nevada was laid down, beginning construction on the United States Navy's first "super-dreadnought".
World War I: The Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria-Hungary is implemented.
The remains of an unknown soldier were buried with an eternal flame at the Altare della Patria in Rome.
In a special election in Wyoming, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman to be elected as a governor in the United States.
Spanish Civil War: Largo Caballero reshuffles his war cabinet, persuading the anarcho-syndicalist CNT to join the government.
World War II: U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.
Second World War: Allied forces completed Operation Pheasant, a major operation to clear German troops from the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.
World War II: The 7th Macedonian Liberation Brigade liberates Bitola for the Allies.
Robert A. Lovett, United States Secretary of Defense, issued a memorandum establishing the National Security Agency, with responsibility for all communications intelligence for the government.
At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Jane Goodall observes chimpanzees creating tools, the first-ever observation in non-human animals.
The United States concludes Operation Fishbowl, its final above-ground nuclear weapons testing series, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
The Arno River floods Florence, Italy, to a maximum depth of 6.7 m (22 ft), leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. Venice is also submerged on the same day at its record all-time acqua alta of 194 cm (76 in).
Vietnam War: The United States turns over control of the air base at Bình Thủy in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam.
Authorities in California discovered a 13-year-old feral child, pseudonymously known as Genie, who had spent nearly her entire life in social isolation.
Salvador Allende takes office as President of Chile, the first Marxist to become president of a Latin American country through open elections.
The Netherlands experiences the first car-free Sunday caused by the 1973 oil crisis. Highways are used only by cyclists and roller skaters.
Ronald Reagan is elected as the 40th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.
China Airlines Flight 605, a brand-new 747-400, overruns the runway at Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport.
The Tigray War begins with Tigrayan rebels launching attacks on Ethiopian command centers.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Howard Carter's team discovers the tomb of Tutankhamun”?
B: 1922. 1922 — that’s 104 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The world's first deep-level ‘tube’ railway opens in London”?
B: 1890. 1890 — that’s 136 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: Catherine of Aragon meets Arthur, Prince of Wales. 1890: The world's first deep-level ‘tube’ railway opens in London · 1501: Catherine of Aragon meets Arthur, Prince of Wales · 1922: Howard Carter's team discovers the tomb of Tutankhamun Find it on the page
“Catherine of Aragon meets Arthur, Prince of Wales” happened in 1501. How many years ago was that?
C: 525 years. 2026 − 1501 = 525. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 4 November.
UK story
The English animator Peter Lord was born. He co-founded Aardman Animations, the Bristol studio famous for plasticine characters such as Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph. Lord also directed the film Chicken Run with Nick Park. Aardman's clay-animated films and shorts have won Academy Awards and BAFTAs.
UK story
The Irish engineer and inventor Harry Ferguson was born. He played a big part in developing the modern farm tractor, including its ‘three-point linkage’ system for attaching farm tools. He was also the first person in Ireland to build and fly his own aeroplane. Later, he developed the first four-wheel-drive Formula One car, the Ferguson P99.
Well-known people who died on 4 November.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 4 November somewhere in the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “November 4” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.