4 September 1563

A Wednesday in history

Weekday

Wednesday

Season

Autumn (N. Hemisphere)

Century

16th century

Records

403

  1. 2010

    A magnitude-7.1 earthquake (damage pictured) struck the Canterbury Region of New Zealand, causing two deaths and up to NZ$40 billion in damages.

    Source
  2. 2007

    Three terrorists suspected to be part of al-Qaeda were arrested in Germany after planning attacks on Frankfurt Airport and Ramstein Air Base.

    Source
  3. 1995

    Three African-American U.S. sea servicemen stationed at Camp Hansen in Okinawa raped a 12-year-old local girl, after kidnapping, beating, and torturing her.

    Source
  4. 1977

    The Golden Dragon massacre occurred in Chinatown, San Francisco, leaving five dead and spurring police to end Chinese gang violence in the city.

    Source
  5. 1957

    Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine African-American students from attending Little Rock Central High School (pictured).

    Source
  6. 1956

    The final novel of the The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle, was released.

    Source
  7. 1955

    A white U.S. soldier raped and murdered a five-year-old local girl in Kadena, Okinawa.

    Source
  8. 1934

    Evelyn Waugh's novel A Handful of Dust was first published in full.

    Source
  9. 1920

    Peasants in and around Križ began a rebellion to protest economic and conscription policies enacted by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

    Source
  10. 1912

    The Albanian revolt ended when the Ottoman government agreed to meet most of the rebels' demands.

    Source
  11. 1886

    After more than 25 years of fighting against the United States Army and the armed forces of Mexico, Geronimo of the Chiricahua Apache surrendered at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.

    Source
  12. 1843

    The state wedding of Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies and Emperor Pedro II of Brazil took place at the Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro.

    Source
  13. 1839

    First Opium War: British vessels opened fire on Chinese war junks enforcing a food sales embargo on the British community on the Kowloon Peninsula.

    Source
  14. 1813

    Future US President Andrew Jackson was shot and severely injured in a tavern brawl with future US Senator Thomas Hart Benton.

    Source
  15. 1800

    French Revolutionary Wars: Facing starvation and a death rate of 100 soldiers per day, the French garrison in Malta surrendered to British forces, ending a two-year siege.

    Source
  16. 1666

    The most destructive damage from the Great Fire of London (depicted) occurred.

    Source
  17. 476

    Germanic leader Odoacer captured Ravenna and deposed Emperor Romulus Augustus, marking the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

    Source

Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.