October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 88 days remain until the end of the year.

• AD 23 – Rebels sack the Chinese capital Chang'an during a peasant rebellion.
• 1209 – Otto IV is crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.^[1]
• 1302 – The Byzantine–Venetian War comes to an end.
• 1363 – Battle of Lake Poyang: In one of the largest naval battles in history, Zhu Yuanzhang's rebels defeat rival Chen Youliang.
• 1511 – Formation of the Holy League of Aragon, the Papal States and Venice against France.
• 1535 – The Coverdale Bible is printed, with translations into English by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.^[2]
• 1582 – The Gregorian Calendar is introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.
• 1597 – Governor Gonzalo Méndez de Canço begins to suppress a native uprising against his rule in what is now the US state of Georgia.

• 1602 – Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War: A fleet of Spanish galleys are defeated by English and Dutch galleons in the English Channel.^[3]
• 1636 – Thirty Years' War: The Swedish Army defeats the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.
• 1693 – Nine Years' War: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under William Howe.
• 1795 – Napoleon first rises to prominence by suppressing counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the National Convention.
• 1824 – Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.
• 1830 – The Belgian Revolution takes legal form when the provisional government secedes from the Netherlands.
• 1853 – The Crimean War begins when the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Russian Empire.
• 1876 – The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas opens as the first public college in Texas.
• 1883 – First run of the Orient Express.
• 1883 – First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.
• 1895 – Horace Rawlins wins the first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship.

• 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Broodseinde is fought between the British and German armies in Flanders.
• 1918 – World War I: An explosion kills more than 100 people and destroys a Shell Loading Plant in New Jersey.
• 1920 – The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, a Finnish non-governmental organization, is founded on the initiative of Sophie Mannerheim.^[4]
• 1925 – Great Syrian Revolt: Rebels led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji captured Hama from the French Mandate of Syria.^[5]
• 1925 – S2, a Finnish Sokol class torpedo boat, sinks during a fierce storm near the coast of Pori in the Gulf of Bothnia, taking with it the whole crew of 53.^[6]
• 1927 – Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.
• 1936 – The Metropolitan Police and various anti-fascist organizations violently clash in the Battle of Cable Street.
• 1941 – Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis character debuts on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
• 1957 – Sputnik 1 becomes the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.^[7]
• 1958 – The current constitution of France is adopted.
• 1960 – An airliner crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 people.
• 1963 – Hurricane Flora kills 6,000 in Cuba and Haiti.
• 1965 – Pope Paul VI begins the first papal visit to the Americas.
• 1966 – Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.
• 1967 – Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son.
• 1983 – Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 miles per hour (1,019.468 km/h) at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
• 1985 – The Free Software Foundation is founded.
• 1991 – The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is opened for signature.
• 1992 – The Rome General Peace Accords end a 16-year civil war in Mozambique.
• 1992 – El Al Flight 1862 crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.
• 1993 – Battle of Mogadishu occurs killing 18 U.S. Special Forces, two UN Peacekeepers and at least 600 Somalian militia men and civilians.
• 1993 – Tanks bombard the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Yeltsin rally outside.
• 1997 – The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs in North Carolina.
• 2001 – Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashes after being struck by an errant Ukrainian missile. Seventy-eight people are killed.
• 2003 – The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Israel kills twenty-one Israelis, both Jews and Arabs.
• 2004 – SpaceShipOne wins the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
• 2006 – WikiLeaks is launched.
• 2010 – The Ajka plant accident in Hungary releases a million cubic metres of liquid alumina sludge, killing nine, injuring 122, and severely contaminating two major rivers.
• 2017 – Joint Nigerien-American Special Forces are ambushed by Islamic State militants outside the village of Tongo Tongo.

• 1160 – Alys, Countess of the Vexin, daughter of Louis VII of France (d. c. 1220)
• 1274 – Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1319)
• 1276 – Margaret of Brabant (d. 1311)
• 1289 – Louis X of France (d. 1316)
• 1331 – James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, Irish politician, Lord Justice of Ireland (d. 1382)
• 1379 – Henry III of Castile (d. 1406)
• 1507 – Francis Bigod, English noble (d. 1537)
• 1515 – Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (d. 1586)
• 1522 – Gabriele Paleotti, Catholic cardinal (d. 1597)
• 1524 – Francisco Vallés, Spanish physician (d. 1592)
• 1532 – Francisco de Toledo, Catholic cardinal (d. 1596)
• 1542 – Robert Bellarmine, Italian cardinal and saint (d. 1621)
• 1550 – Charles IX of Sweden (d. 1611)^[8]
• 1562 – Christen Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer and author (d. 1647)
• 1570 – Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal and philosopher (d. 1637)
• 1579 – Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal (d. 1644)
• 1585 – Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1618)

• 1625 – Jacqueline Pascal, French nun and composer (d. 1661)
• 1626 – Richard Cromwell, English academic and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (d. 1712)
• 1633 – Bernardino Ramazzini, Italian physician (d. 1714)
• 1657 – Francesco Solimena, Italian painter and illustrator (d. 1747)
• 1694 – Lord George Murray, Scottish Jacobite General (d. 1760)
• 1720 – Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian sculptor and illustrator (d. 1778)
• 1723 – Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German entomologist and author (d. 1798)
• 1759 – Louis François Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician and academic (d. 1803)
• 1768 – Francisco José de Caldas, Colombian naturalist, executed by royalists in the war of independence (d. 1816)
• 1787 – François Guizot, French historian and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1874)
• 1793 – Charles Pearson, English lawyer and politician (d. 1862)
• 1807 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Canada East (d. 1864)
• 1814 – Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (d. 1875)
• 1822 – Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (d. 1893)
• 1835 – Jenny Twitchell Kempton, American opera singer and educator (d. 1921)
• 1836 – Juliette Adam, French author (d. 1936)^[9]
• 1837 – Auguste-Réal Angers, Canadian judge and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1919)
• 1841 – Prudente de Morais, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Brazil (d. 1912)
• 1841 – Maria Sophie of Bavaria (d. 1925)
• 1843 – Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, Palestinian nun and Catholic Saint (d. 1927)
• 1858 – Léon Serpollet, French businessman (d. 1903)
• 1861 – Walter Rauschenbusch, American pastor and theologian (d. 1918)
• 1861 – Frederic Remington, American painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 1909)
• 1862 – Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, who is credited with promoting his posthumous fame (d. 1925).^[10]
• 1862 – Edward Stratemeyer, American author and publisher (d. 1930)
• 1868 – Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 20th President of Argentina (d. 1942)
• 1874 – John Ellis, English executioner (d. 1932)
• 1876 – Florence Eliza Allen, American mathematician and suffrage activist (d. 1960)
• 1877 – Razor Smith, English cricketer (d. 1946)
• 1879 – Robert Edwards, American artist, musician, and writer (d. 1948)^[11]
• 1880 – Damon Runyon, American newspaperman and short story writer. (d. 1946)
• 1881 – Walther von Brauchitsch, German field marshal (d. 1948)
• 1884 – Ramchandra Shukla, Indian historian and author (d. 1941)
• 1888 – Lucy Tayiah Eads, American tribal chief (d. 1961)
• 1888 – Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1954)
• 1890 – Alan L. Hart, American physician and author (d. 1962)
• 1890 – Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish writer and journalist (d. 1945)
• 1892 – Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian soldier and politician, 14th Federal Chancellor of Austria (d. 1934)
• 1892 – Hermann Glauert, English aerodynamicist and author (d. 1934)
• 1892 – Robert Lawson, American author and illustrator (d. 1957)
• 1895 – Buster Keaton, American film actor, director, and producer (d. 1966)
• 1895 – Richard Sorge, German journalist and spy (d. 1944)
• 1896 – Dorothy Lawrence, English reporter, who secretly posed as a man to become a soldier during World War I (d. 1964)
• 1900 – August Mälk, Estonian author and playwright (d. 1987)

• 1903 – Bona Arsenault, Canadian genealogist, historian, and politician (d. 1993)
• 1903 – John Vincent Atanasoff, American physicist and academic, invented the Atanasoff–Berry computer (d. 1995)
• 1903 – Pierre Garbay, French general (d. 1980)
• 1903 – Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Austrian-German lawyer and general (d. 1946)
• 1906 – Mary Celine Fasenmyer, American mathematician (d. 1996)
• 1907 – Alain Daniélou, French-Swiss historian and academic (d. 1994)
• 1910 – Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach (d. 2002)
• 1910 – Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Turkish poet and author (d. 1956)
• 1911 – Mary Two-Axe Earley, Canadian indigenous women's rights activist (d. 1996)^[12]
• 1913 – Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti (d. 2011)
• 1914 – Jim Cairns, Australian economist and politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2003)
• 1914 – Brendan Gill, American journalist and essayist (d. 1997)
• 1916 – Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
• 1916 – Jan Murray, American comedian, actor, and game show host (d. 2006)
• 1916 – George Sidney, American director and producer (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Ken Wood, inventor of the Kenwood Chef food mixer (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Violeta Parra, Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
• 1918 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1921 – Stella Pevsner, American children's author (d. 2020)^[13]
• 1922 – Malcolm Baldrige Jr., American businessman and politician, 26th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1987)
• 1922 – Shin Kyuk-ho, South Korean-Japanese businessman, founded Lotte Group (d. 2020)
• 1922 – Don Lenhardt, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Charlton Heston, American actor, director and gun rights activist (d. 2008)^[14]
• 1924 – Donald J. Sobol, American soldier and author (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Roger Wood, Belgian-American journalist (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Raymond Watson, American businessman (d. 2012)
• 1927 – Wolf Kahn, American painter and academic (d. 2020)
• 1928 – Alvin Toffler, German-American journalist and author (d. 2016)
• 1928 – Torben Ulrich, Danish-American tennis player (d. 2023)
• 1929 – Scotty Beckett, American actor and singer (d. 1968)
• 1929 – John E. Mack, American psychiatrist and author (d. 2004)
• 1929 – Leroy Van Dyke, American singer-songwriter and guitarist^[15]
• 1931 – Terence Conran, English designer and businessman (d. 2020)
• 1931 – Basil D'Oliveira, South African-English cricketer and footballer (d. 2011)
• 1931 – Richard Rorty, American philosopher and author (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Felicia Farr, American actress and model^[15]
• 1933 – German Moreno, Filipino television host and actor (d. 2016)
• 1933 – Ann Thwaite, English author
• 1934 – Sam Huff, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2021)^[14]
• 1935 – Jimmy Orr, American football player (d. 2020)^[16]
• 1936 – Charlie Hurley, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2024)
• 1936 – Giles Radice, Baron Radice, English politician (d. 2022)
• 1937 – Jackie Collins, English-American author and actress (d. 2015)^[14]
• 1937 – David Crocker, American philosopher and academic
• 1937 – Gail Gilmore, Canadian-American actress and dancer (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Lloyd Green, American steel guitar player
• 1937 – Jim Sillars, Scottish lawyer and politician
• 1938 – Norman D. Wilson, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1938 – Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1939 – Ivan Mauger, New Zealand speedway rider (d. 2018)
• 1940 – Vic Hadfield, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1940 – Silvio Marzolini, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 2020)
• 1940 – Steve Swallow, American bass player and composer
• 1940 – Alberto Vilar, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2021)
• 1941 – Roy Blount Jr., American humorist and journalist^[15]
• 1941 – Karen Cushman, American author
• 1941 – Karl Oppitzhauser, Austrian race car driver
• 1941 – Anne Rice, American author (d. 2021)^[14]
• 1941 – Frank Stagg (Irish republican), died on hunger strike (d. 1976)^[17]
• 1941 – Robert Wilson, American director and playwright
• 1942 – Bernice Johnson Reagon, American singer-songwriter (d. 2024)^[18]
• 1942 – Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1967)
• 1942 – Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Icelandic politician, 24th Prime Minister of Iceland
• 1942 – Christopher Stone, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1943 – H. Rap Brown, American activist^[14]
• 1943 – Owen Davidson, Australian tennis player (d. 2023)
• 1943 – Karl-Gustav Kaisla, Finnish ice hockey player and referee (d. 2012)
• 1943 – Dietmar Mürdter, German footballer
• 1943 – Jimy Williams, American baseball player and manager (d. 2024)
• 1944 – Colin Bundy, South African-English historian and academic
• 1944 – Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (d. 2006)
• 1944 – Tony La Russa, American baseball player and manager^[14]
• 1944 – John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith, Scottish educator and politician
• 1945 – Clifton Davis, American singer-songwriter, actor, and minister^[15]
• 1946 – Larry Clapp, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1946 – Chuck Hagel, American sergeant and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Defense
• 1946 – Michael Mullen, American admiral
• 1946 – Susan Sarandon, American actress and activist^[15]
• 1947 – Julien Clerc, French singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1947 – Jim Fielder, American bass player
• 1947 – Ann Widdecombe, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
• 1948 – Iain Hewitson, New Zealand-Australian chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality
• 1948 – Linda McMahon, American businesswoman and politician
• 1948 – Duke Robillard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – Armand Assante, American actor and producer^[15]
• 1949 – Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Alan Rosenberg, American actor^[15]
• 1951 – Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov, Kazakh poet and author
• 1951 – Truck Robinson, American basketball player and coach^[19]
• 1952 – Anita DeFrantz, American rower and sports administrator
• 1952 – Jody Stephens, American rock drummer
• 1952 – Zinha Vaz, Bissau-Guinean women's rights activist and politician
• 1953 – Gil Moore, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
• 1953 – Andreas Vollenweider, Swiss harp player
• 1955 – John Rutherford, Scottish rugby player
• 1955 – Jorge Valdano, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1956 – Lesley Glaister, English author and playwright
• 1956 – Charlie Leibrandt, American baseball player
• 1956 – Sherri Turner, American golfer
• 1956 – Christoph Waltz, Austrian-German actor^[15]
• 1957 – Bill Fagerbakke, American actor^[15]
• 1957 – Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1957 – Russell Simmons, American businessman, founded Def Jam Recordings and Phat Farm^[15]
• 1958 – Barbara Kooyman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1958 – Wendy Makkena, American actress^[15]
• 1958 – Anneka Rice, Welsh radio and television host
• 1959 – Chris Lowe, English singer and keyboard player^[15]
• 1959 – Tony Meo, English snooker player
• 1959 – Hitonari Tsuji, Japanese author, composer, and director
• 1960 – Joe Boever, American baseball player
• 1960 – Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer (d. 2016)
• 1961 – Philippe Russo, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1961 – Jon Secada, Cuban-American singer-songwriter^[15]
• 1961 – Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author and illustrator, created Yu-Gi-Oh! (d. 2022)
• 1962 – Carlos Carsolio, Mexican mountaineer
• 1963 – A.C. Green, American basketball player
• 1963 – Koji Ishikawa, Japanese author and illustrator
• 1964 – Francis Magalona, Filipino rapper, producer, and actor (d. 2009)
• 1964 – Yvonne Murray, Scottish runner^[20]
• 1965 – Olaf Backasch, German footballer
• 1965 – Skip Heller, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1965 – Steve Olin, American baseball player (d. 1993)
• 1965 – Micky Ward, American boxer
• 1967 – Vicky Bullett, American basketball player and coach^[21]
• 1967 – Nick Green, Australian rower
• 1967 – Liev Schreiber, American actor and director^[15]
• 1968 – Richard Hancox, English footballer and manager
• 1968 – Tim Wise, American activist and author
• 1969 – Abraham Benrubi, American actor^[15]
• 1971 – Darren Middleton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1972 – Kurt Thomas, American basketball player
• 1973 – M. Ward, American singer-songwriter^[15]
• 1974 – Paco León, Spanish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1975 – Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian footballer and manager
• 1976 – Mauro Camoranesi, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager
• 1976 – Elisandro Naressi Roos, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Alicia Silverstone, American actress, producer, and author^[15]
• 1976 – Ueli Steck, Swiss mountaineer and rock climber (d. 2017)
• 1977 – Richard Reed Parry, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1978 – Dana Davis, American actress and author^[15]
• 1978 – Phillip Glasser, American actor and producer^[15]
• 1978 – Kei Horie, Japanese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1978 – Kyle Lohse, American baseball player
• 1979 – Caitríona Balfe, Irish actress^[14]
• 1979 – Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress^[15]
• 1979 – Björn Phau, German tennis player
• 1979 – Adam Voges, Australian cricketer
• 1980 – Sarah Fisher, American race car driver
• 1980 – James Jones, American basketball player
• 1980 – Tomáš Rosický, Czech footballer
• 1981 – Shaura, Japanese singer
• 1981 – Justin Williams, Canadian-American ice hockey player
• 1982 – Tony Gwynn Jr., American baseball player
• 1982 – Jered Weaver, American baseball player
• 1983 – Dan Clarke, English race car driver
• 1983 – Vicky Krieps, Luxembourgish actress
• 1983 – Marios Nicolaou, Cypriot footballer
• 1983 – Chansi Stuckey, American football player
• 1983 – Kurt Suzuki, American baseball player
• 1984 – Lena Katina, Russian singer-songwriter
• 1984 – Petri Kontiola, Finnish ice hockey player^[22]
• 1984 – Álvaro Parente, Portuguese race car driver
• 1984 – Karolina Tymińska, Polish heptathlete
• 1985 – Shontelle, Barbadian singer-songwriter
• 1985 – Thorsten Wiedemann, German rugby player
• 1987 – Rawez Lawan, Swedish footballer
• 1987 – Will Puddy, English footballer
• 1987 – Marina Weisband, German politician
• 1988 – Melissa Benoist, American actress and singer^[15]
• 1988 – Lonnie Chisenhall, American baseball player^[23]
• 1988 – Caner Erkin, Turkish footballer
• 1988 – Evgeni Krasnopolski, Israeli figure skater
• 1988 – Derrick Rose, American basketball player^[24]
• 1989 – Dakota Johnson, American actress^[25]
• 1990 – Signy Aarna, Estonian footballer^[26]
• 1990 – Saki, Japanese guitarist and songwriter^[27]
• 1990 – Sergey Shubenkov, Russian hurdler^[28]
• 1991 – Leigh-Anne Pinnock, English singer and songwriter^[15]
• 1993 – Mitchell Swepson, Australian cricketer^[29]
• 1994 – Mike Williams, American football player^[30]
• 1995 – Kenny Clark, American football player^[31]
• 1995 – Mikolas Josef, Czech singer and songwriter^[32]
• 1996 – Ella Balinska, English actress^[14]
• 1997 – Rishabh Pant, Indian cricketer^[33]
• 1997 – Yuju, South Korean singer^[34]

• 744 – Yazid III, Umayyad caliph (b. 701)
• 863 – Turpio, Frankish nobleman
• 1052 – Vladimir of Novgorod (b. 1020)
• 1160 – Constance of Castile, Queen of France (b. 1141)
• 1189 – Gerard de Ridefort, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
• 1221 – William IV Talvas, Count of Ponthieu (b. 1179)
• 1227 – Caliph al-Adil of Morocco^[35]
• 1250 – Herman VI, Margrave of Baden (b. 1226)
• 1305 – Emperor Kameyama of Japan (b. 1249)
• 1361 – John de Mowbray, 3rd Baron Mowbray, English baron (b. 1310)
• 1497 – John, Prince of Asturias, only son of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (b. 1478)
• 1582 – Teresa of Ávila, Spanish nun and saint (b. 1515)
• 1597 – Sarsa Dengel, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1550)

• 1646 – Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English courtier and politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (b. 1586)
• 1660 – Francesco Albani, Italian painter (b. 1578)
• 1661 – Jacqueline Pascal, French nun and composer (b. 1625)
• 1669 – Rembrandt, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1606)
• 1680 – Pierre-Paul Riquet, French engineer, designed the Canal du Midi (b. 1609)
• 1743 – John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish commander and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey (b. 1678)
• 1747 – Amaro Pargo, Spanish corsair (b. 1678)^[36]
• 1749 – Baron Franz von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (b. 1711)
• 1755 – Samuel von Cocceji, Prussian jurist and statesman (b. 1679)^[37]
• 1821 – John Rennie the Elder, Scottish engineer, designed the Waterloo Bridge (b. 1761)
• 1827 – Grigorios Zalykis, Greek-French lexicographer and scholar (b. 1785)
• 1851 – Manuel Godoy, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1767)
• 1852 – James Whitcomb, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Indiana (b. 1795)
• 1859 – Karl Baedeker, German publisher, founded Baedeker (b. 1801)
• 1864 – Joseph Montferrand, Canadian logger and strongman (b. 1802)
• 1867 – Francis Xavier Seelos, German-American priest and missionary (b. 1819)
• 1871 – Sarel Cilliers, South African spiritual leader and preacher (b. 1801)
• 1890 – Catherine Booth, English theologian and saint, co-founded The Salvation Army (b. 1829)

• 1903 – Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher and author (b. 1880)
• 1904 – Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, designed the Statue of Liberty (b. 1834)
• 1904 – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (b. 1847)
• 1910 – Sergey Muromtsev, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1850)
• 1935 – Jean Béraud, French painter and academic (b. 1849)
• 1935 – Marie Gutheil-Schoder, German soprano, actress, and director (b. 1874)
• 1943 – Irena Iłłakowicz, German-Polish lieutenant (b. 1906)
• 1944 – Al Smith, American lawyer and politician, 42nd Governor of New York (b. 1873)
• 1946 – Barney Oldfield, American race car driver and actor (b. 1878)
• 1947 – Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
• 1951 – Henrietta Lacks, American medical patient (b. 1920)
• 1955 – Alexander Papagos, Greek general and politician, 152nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1883)
• 1958 – Ida Wüst, German actress and screenwriter (b. 1884)
• 1961 – Benjamin, Russian metropolitan (b. 1880)
• 1963 – Alar Kotli, Estonian architect (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1943)
• 1974 – Anne Sexton, American poet and author (b. 1928)
• 1975 – Friedrich Lutz, German economist (b. 1901)^[38]
• 1975 – Joan Whitney Payson, American businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1903)
• 1977 – José Ber Gelbard, Argentinian activist and politician (b. 1917)
• 1980 – Pyotr Masherov, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (b. 1918)
• 1981 – Freddie Lindstrom, American baseball player and coach (b. 1905)
• 1982 – Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1932)
• 1982 – Stefanos Stefanopoulos, Greek politician, 165th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1898)
• 1988 – Zlatko Grgić, Croatian-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
• 1989 – Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1941)
• 1990 – Mārtiņš Zīverts, Latvian playwright (b. 1903)
• 1992 – Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1936)
• 1994 – Danny Gatton, American guitarist (b. 1945)
• 1997 – Otto Ernst Remer, German general (b. 1912)
• 1997 – Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese game designer, created the Game Boy (b. 1941)
• 1998 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian and academic (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Bernard Buffet, French painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
• 1999 – Art Farmer, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1928)
• 2000 – Yu Kuo-hwa, Chinese politician, 32nd Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1914)
• 2000 – Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932)
• 2001 – Blaise Alexander, American race car driver (b. 1976)
• 2001 – John Collins, American guitarist (b. 1913)
• 2001 – Ahron Soloveichik, Russian rabbi and scholar (b. 1917)
• 2002 – André Delvaux, Belgian-Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
• 2003 – Sid McMath, American lawyer and politician, 34th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1912)
• 2004 – Gordon Cooper, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Stanley K. Hathaway, American lawyer and politician, 40th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Qassem Al-Nasser, Jordanian general (b. 1925)
• 2009 – Gerhard Kaufhold, German footballer (b. 1928)
• 2009 – Günther Rall, German general and pilot (b. 1918)
• 2010 – Norman Wisdom, English actor, comedian, and singer-songwriter (b. 1915)
• 2011 – Doris Belack, American actress (b. 1926)
• 2012 – David Atkinson, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Stan Mudenge, Zimbabwean historian and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Tom Stannage, Australian footballer, historian, and academic (b. 1944)
• 2013 – John Cloudsley-Thompson, Pakistani-English commander (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Ulric Cross, Trinidadian navigator, judge, and diplomat (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Akira Miyoshi, Japanese composer (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Diana Nasution, Indonesian singer (b. 1958)
• 2013 – Võ Nguyên Giáp, Vietnamese general and politician, 3rd Minister of Defence for Vietnam (b. 1911)
• 2013 – Nicholas Oresko, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1917)
• 2014 – Konrad Boehmer, German-Dutch composer and educator (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Hugo Carvana, Brazilian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1937)
• 2014 – Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1959)
• 2014 – Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian politician, 41st President of Haiti (b. 1951)
• 2015 – Dave Pike, American vibraphone player and songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2015 – Edida Nageswara Rao, Indian director and producer (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Neal Walk, American basketball player (b. 1948)^[39]
• 2020 – Clark Middleton, American actor (b. 1957)^[40]
• 2020 – Kenzō Takada, Japanese-French fashion designer (b. 1939)^[41]
• 2022 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1932)^[42]
• 2024 – Christopher Ciccone, American artist (b. 1960)^[43]
• 2024 – Billy Shaw, American football player (b. 1938)^[44]

• Christian feast day:
  • Amun
  • Francis of Assisi
  • Petronius of Bologna
  • October 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Cinnamon Roll Day (Sweden and Finland)
• Day of Peace and Reconciliation (Mozambique)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Lesotho from the United Kingdom in 1966.
• The beginning of World Space Week (International)
• World Animal Day

• "On This Day". BBC.
• The New York Times: On This Day
• "Historical Events on October 4". OnThisDay.com.