Born on August 4
August 4 birthdays & history
If you were born on August 4, you share a birthday with Barack Obama, Louis Armstrong and Percy Bysshe Shelley. August 4 babies are Leo, with peridot as their birthstone and the gladiolus as their birth flower. August 4 is the 217th day of the year in leap years (216th in other years).
Famous people born on August 4
- 1961Barack Obama, American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1901Louis Armstrong, American trumpet player and singer
- 1792Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright
- 1859Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1805William Rowan Hamilton, Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician
- 1521Pope Urban VII, Head of the Catholic Church in 1590
- 1983Greta Gerwig, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1955Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1971Jeff Gordon, American race car driver and actor
- 1985Antonio Valencia, Ecuadorean footballer
What happened on August 4
- 1821The Saturday Evening Post is published for the first time as a weekly newspaper.
- 1830American surveyor James Thompson produced the first plat of Chicago for the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners.
- 1854The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships.
- 1863Matica slovenská, Slovakia's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation, is established in Martin.
- 1924Diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Soviet Union are established.
- 1947The Supreme Court of Japan is established.
- 1953Alfred C. Glassell Jr. caught a black marlin weighing 1,560 lb (710 kg) off the coast of Peru, setting the record for the largest bony fish caught by hand.
- 1965The Constitution of the Cook Islands comes into force, giving the Cook Islands self-governing status within New Zealand.
- 1984The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.
- 1984The Ariane 3 rocket is launched for the first time, carrying the Eutelsat I F-2 and Télécom 1A satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit.
- 1987The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to give equal time to opposing views.
- 2007NASA's Phoenix Mars lander is launched.
Also observed on August 4
- Coast Guard Day (United States)
- Constitution Day (Cook Islands); first Monday in August
- Matica slovenská Day (Slovakia)
- Barack Obama Day in Illinois in the United States
Questions, answered
What star sign is August 4?
People born on August 4 are Leo. Their birthstone is peridot and their birth flower is the gladiolus.
Which famous people were born on August 4?
Barack Obama (1961), Louis Armstrong (1901), Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792), Knut Hamsun (1859), William Rowan Hamilton (1805), Pope Urban VII (1521) were all born on August 4.
What happened on August 4 in history?
Among other things: in 1984, The Ariane 3 rocket is launched for the first time, carrying the Eutelsat I F-2 and Télécom 1A satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit; in 1987, The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine which had required radio and television stations to give equal time to opposing views; in 2007, NASA's Phoenix Mars lander is launched.
Can I get a newspaper front page from August 4?
Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any August 4 birth year, with their name in the headline, events, famous birthdays and typical US prices. The preview is free and the print files cost $9.
Events, birthdays and observances are adapted from Wikipedia contributors, “August 4”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.