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610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas and becomes Emperor.

1209 - Otto IV is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.

1537 - The first complete English-language Bible (the Matthew Bible) is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.

1582 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.

1777 - Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe

1795 - Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence with a "Whiff of Grapeshot", using cannon to suppress armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the French Legislature (National Convention).

1824 - Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.

1830 - Creation of the state of Belgium after separation from The Netherlands

1853 - Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.

1883 - First run of the Orient Express.

1883 - First meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland.

1895 - The first U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship run by the United States Golf Association was played on a nine-hole course in Newport, Rhode Island.

1921 - Riccardo Zanella has become first elected president of Free State of Fiume

1927 - Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mt. Rushmore.

1931 - Debut appearance of the "Dick Tracy" comic strip, created by cartoonist Chester Gould.

1957 - Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

1957 - Avro Arrow roll-out ceremony at Avro Canada plant in Malton, Ontario.

1957 - The CBS television show Leave it to Beaver debuts (starring Jerry Mathers as "The Beaver").

1958 - Fifth Republic of France established.

1960 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 of 72 on board after a bird strike.

1966 - Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.

1975 - A Cessna 310Q airplane crashes over Wilmington, North Carolina, killing the pilot and severely injuring several pro wrestlers affiliated with the NWA's Mid-Atlantic promotion. One of the survivors is the legendary Ric Flair

1983 - Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph (1,019 km/h), driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

1983 - The first Hooters restaurant opens in Clearwater, Florida.

1988 - U.S. televangelist Jim Bakker indicted for fraud.

1991 - The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was opened for signature.

1992 - The Rome General Peace Accords end a 16 years' civil war in Mozambique.

1992 - An El Al Boeing 747-200F crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 38 on the ground. See Bijlmerramp

1993 - Russian constitutional crisis of 1993: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders tanks to storm the Russian parliament building.

2001 - A Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.

2003 - Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel: 21 Israelis, Jews and Arabs, are killed, and 51 others wounded.

2004 - SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.

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1160 - Alys, Countess of the Vexin, daughter of Louis VII of France

1289 - King Louis X of France (d. 1316)

1379 - King Henry III of Castile (d. 1406)

1515 - Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (d. 1586)

1542 - Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (d. 1621)

1550 - King Charles IX of Sweden (d. 1611)

1562 - Christian Sørensen Longomontanus, Danish astronomer (d. 1647)

1570 - Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal (d. 1637)

1625 - Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy (d. 1661)

1626 - Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland (d. 1712)

1720 - Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian artist (d. 1778)

1723 - Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, German entomologist (d. 1798)

1759 - Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician (d. 1803)

1787 - François Guizot, French statesman (d. 1874)

1807 - Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, French Canadian politician, prime minister of the Province of Canada (d. 1864)

1814 - Jean-François Millet, French painter (d. 1875)

1822 - Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States (d. 1893)

1841 - Prudente José de Morais Barros, President of Brazil (d. 1912)

1858 - Michael Pupin, Serbian-born telephone pioneer (d. 1935)

1861 - Frederic Remington, American painter (d. 1909)

1862 - Edward Stratemeyer, American author (d. 1930)

1877 - Razor Smith, English cricketer (d. 1946)

1880 - Damon Runyon, American writer (d. 1946)

1881 - Walther von Brauchitsch, German Commander-in-Chief (d. 1948)

1886 - Luis Alberni, Spanish actor (d. 1962)

1888 - Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1954)

1892 - Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian politician (d. 1934)

1895 - Buster Keaton, American comedian (d. 1966)

1903 - John Vincent Atanasoff, American computer pioneer (d. 1995)

1903 - Ernst Kaltenbrunner, German military officer and senior Nazi (d. 1946)

1903 - Bona Arsenault, French Canadian politician, historian and genealogist (d. 1993)

1907 - Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong media mogul

1910 - Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player (d. 2002)

1914 - Jim Cairns, Australian politician (d. 2003)

1914 - Brendan Gill, American writer (d. 1997)

1916 - Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate

1916 - George Sidney, American film director (d. 2002)

1918 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)

1922 - Malcolm Baldrige, 26th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1987)

1924 - Charlton Heston, American actor

1928 - Alvin Toffler, American author

1929 - Leroy Van Dyke, American singer

1931 - Richard Rorty, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Stanford University

1932 - Milan Chvostek, Canadian television director

1934 - Sam Huff, American football player

1937 - Jackie Collins, British author

1938 - Kurt Wüthrich, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate

1940 - Silvio Marzolini, Argentine footballer

1941 - Roy Blount, Jr., American writer

1941 - Jackie Collins, British writer

1941 - Anne Rice, American writer

1942 - Karl W. Richter, American aviator (d. 1967)

1943 - H. Rap Brown, American civil rights activist

1944 - Tony La Russa, American baseball manager

1944 - Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (d. 2006)

1945 - Clifton Davis, American actor

1946 - Chuck Hagel, American politician

1946 - Susan Sarandon, American actress

1947 - Ann Widdecombe, British politician

1947 - Julien Clerc, French singer

1947 - Jim Fielder, American bassist (Blood, Sweat & Tears)

1949 - Armand Assante, American actor

1949 - Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director

1953 - Tchéky Karyo, Turkish-born actor

1955 - Jorge Valdano, Argentine footballer

1957 - Alexander Tkachev, Soviet gymnast

1957 - Bill Fagerbakke, American actor

1959 - Chris Lowe, British singer (Pet Shop Boys)

1959 - Tony Meo, English snooker player

1960 - Afrika Bambaataa, American musician

1960 - Joe Boever, American baseball player

1961 - Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese author

1962 - Jon Secada, Cuban singer and songwriter

1963 - A.C. Green, American basketball player

1967 - Marcus Bentley, British voice actor

1967 - Liev Schreiber, American actor

1970 - Richard Hancox, English footballer

1971 - Friderika Bayer, Hungarian singer

1972 - Murray Happer, American wrestler

1973 - Chris Parks, American wrestler

1975 - Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian football player

1976 - Alicia Silverstone, American actress

1976 - Mauro Camoranesi, Argentine-Italian footballer

1979 - Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress

1980 - Me'Lisa Barber, American athlete

1980 - Sarah Fisher, American race car driver

1980 - Tomáš Rosický, Czech footballer

1981 - Scott Hammond, American Photographer

1981 - Justin Williams, Canadian ice hockey player

1983 - Risa Kudo, Japanese gravure idol

1984 - Elena Katina, Russian singer (t.A.T.u.)

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1052 - Vladimir of Novgorod (b. 1020)

1221 - William III Talvas, Count of Ponthieu (b. 1179)

1250 - Herman VI, Margrave of Baden

1305 - Emperor Kameyama of Japan (b. 1249)

1582 - Teresa of Avila, Spanish saint (b. 1515)

1597 - Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1550)

1646 - Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English statesman (b. 1586)

1660 - Francesco Albani, Italian painter (b. 1578)

1661 - Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy (b. 1625)

1669 - Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Dutch painter (b. 1606)

1680 - Pierre-Paul Riquet, French engineer

1743 - John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish soldier (b. 1678)

1749 - Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (b. 1711)

1754 - Tanacharison, Catawba Indian chief

1785 - David Brearly, American statesman (b. 1703)

1821 - John Rennie, Scottish engineer (b. 1761)

1851 - Manuel de Godoy, Spanish statesman (b. 1767)

1859 - Karl Baedeker, German publisher (b. 1801)

1864 - Joseph Montferrand, French Canadian logger and strong man (b. 1802)

1890 - Catherine Booth, the Mother of The Salvation Army (b. 1829)

1903 - Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher (b. 1880)

1904 - Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor (b. 1834)

1904 - Karl Bayer, Austrian chemist (b. 1847)

1935 - Jean Béraud, French painter (b. 1849)

1944 - Al Smith, American politician (b. 1873)

1946 - Barney Oldfield, American automobile pioneer (b. 1878)

1947 - Max Planck, Nobel laureate (b. 1858)

1951 - Willie Moretti, American gangster (b. 1894)

1969 - Natalino Otto, Italian singer (b. 1912)

1970 - Janis Joplin, American singer (b. 1943)

1974 - Anne Sexton, American poet (b. 1928)

1975 - Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress (b. 1903)

1982 - Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist (b. 1932)

1989 - Graham Chapman, British comedian (b. 1941)

1989 - Secretariat, American race horse (b. 1970)

1991 - J. Frank Wilson, American singer (J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers) (b. 1941)

1992 - Denny Hulme, New Zealand race care driver (b. 1936)

1994 - Danny Gatton, American guitar virtuoso (b. 1945)

1997 - Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese game developer (b. 1941)

1999 - Erik Brødreskift (aka Grim), Norwegian black metal musician (b. 1969)

1999 - Art Farmer, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1928)

1999 - Bernard Buffet, French painter (b. 1928)

2000 - Michael Smith, Nobel laureate (b. 1932)

2002 - Alphonse Chapanis, founder of ergonomics

2002 - André Delvaux, Belgian film director and screenwriter (b. 1926)

2003 - Sid McMath, American politician (b. 1912)

2004 - Gordon Cooper, American astronaut (b. 1927)

2005 - Stanley K. Hathaway, American politician (b. 1924)

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Roman festivals - Ieiunium Cereris (Fast of Ceres) (since 191 BC; that calendar date fell in late spring at that time).

RC Saints - Feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi; also of Saint Amun, Saint Petronius of Bologna.

Also see October 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Australia - Labour Day of 2005 (ACT, NSW, & SA, 2004: first Monday of October).

Lesotho - Independence Day (from Britain, 1966).

Mozambique - Day of Peace and Reconciliation (Dia da Paz e da Reconciliação), in memory of the 1992 Rome General Peace Accords

World Animal Day

French Republican Calendar - Potiron (Pumpkin) Day, thirteenth day in the Month of Vendémiaire

The beginning of World Space Week

Sweden celebrates National Cinnamon bun Day (since 1999).