Did you know
In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
Notable Deaths on April 4
2013 — Roger Ebert
American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (born 1942)
April 4 has 138 recorded notable deaths across history, from 397 to 2025. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
138 source records
397 – 2025
Today in history
Major events on April 4
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 2002 The MPLA government of Angola and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War. Source
- 1958 The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London. Source
- 1949 Cold War: Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Source
- 1814 Napoleon abdicates (conditionally) for the first time and names his son Napoleon II as Emperor of the French, followed by unconditional abdication two days later. Source
Did you know
In 1984, Manowar was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record that they have since broken on two occasions.
Did you know
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was the first African American to be elected to Congress from New York, as well as the first from any state in the Northeast.
Did you know
Pope Formosus was the pope and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896.
Did you know
An heir to the Heinz family fortune, Heinz entered politics in 1971 when he won a special election to replace Robert Corbett to represent Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district.
More major people who died on April 4
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2011
Scott Columbus
American drummer (born 1956)
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience.
1972
Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
American pastor and politician (born 1908)
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971.
896
Formosus
pope of the Catholic Church (born 816)
Pope Formosus was the pope and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896.
1991
H. John Heinz III
American soldier and politician (born 1938)
Henry John Heinz III was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Pennsylvania from 1977 until his death in 1991.
1774
Oliver Goldsmith
Irish novelist, playwright and poet (born 1728)
Oliver Goldsmith was an Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer. He produced literary works in a variety of genres and is considered one of the most versatile writers of the Georgian era.
1661
Alexander Leslie
1st Earl of Leven, Scottish field marshal (born 1580)
Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven was a Scottish army officer.
968
Abu Firas al-Hamdani
Arab prince and poet (born 932)
Al-Harith ibn Abi’l-ʿAlaʾ Saʿid ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi (932–968), better known by his pen name Abu Firas al-Hamdani, was an Arab prince and poet.
1972
Stefan Wolpe
German-American composer and academic (born 1902)
Stefan Wolpe was a German-born American composer. He was associated with interdisciplinary modernism, with affiliations ranging from the Bauhaus, Berlin agitprop theater and the kibbutz movement to the Eighth Street…
2007
Karen Spärck Jones
English computer scientist and academic (born 1935)
Karen Ida Boalth Spärck Jones was a self-taught programmer and a pioneering British computer and information scientist responsible for the concept of inverse document frequency (IDF), a technology that underlies most…
1959
Florence Goodenough
American child psychologist (born 1886)
Florence Laura Goodenough was an American psychologist and professor at the University of Minnesota who studied child intelligence and various problems in the field of child development.
814
Plato of Sakkoudion
Byzantine monk and saint (born 735)
Plato the Studite, also Plato of Sakkoudion, was a Byzantine minor official who became a monk in 759.
1957
E. Herbert Norman
Canadian historian and diplomat (born 1909)
Egerton Herbert Norman was a Canadian diplomat and historian. Born in Japan to missionary parents, he became a historian of modern Japan before joining the Canadian foreign service.
1999
Lucille Lortel
American actress, artistic director and producer (born 1900)
Lucille Lortel was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer.
1987
Chögyam Trungpa
Tibetan guru, poet, and scholar (born 1939)
Chögyam Trungpa, formally named the 11th Zurmang Trungpa, Chokyi Gyatso, was a Tibetan Buddhist master and holder of both Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.
1923
John Venn
English mathematician and philosopher, created the Venn diagram (born 1834)
John Venn, FRS, FSA was an English mathematician, logician and philosopher noted for introducing Venn diagrams, which are used in logic, set theory, probability, statistics, and computer science.
1963
Oskari Tokoi
Finnish socialist and the Chairman of the Senate of Finland (born 1873)
Antti Oskari Tokoi was a Finnish socialist politician who served as a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland.
2013
Carmine Infantino
American illustrator (born 1925)
Carmine Infantino was an American comics artist and editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books.
1919
Francisco Marto
Portuguese saint (born 1908)
Francisco de Jesus Marto and Jacinta de Jesus Marto were siblings from Aljustrel, a small hamlet near Fátima, Portugal, who, with their cousin Lúcia dos Santos (1907–2005), reportedly witnessed three apparitions of the…
1406
Robert III
king of Scotland (born 1337)
Robert III, born John Stewart, was King of Scots from 1390 to his death in 1406.