Holidays Calendar for May 4, 2024
Restoration of Independence Day is a Latvian public holiday observed annually on May 4. It commemorates the declaration “On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia” adopted in 1990, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The incumbent King of Thailand Rama X (Vajiralongkorn) was crowned on May 4, 2019. The anniversary of this event is a Thai public holiday named Coronation Day. It is marked with a military parade, fireworks display, and other festive events.
Greenery Day is a public holiday in Japan that occurs during the Golden Week. It is celebrated each year on May 4. From 1989 to 2006, it was observed on April 29.
Cassinga Day is a public holiday in Namibia that commemorates the Battle of Cassinga, also known as Cassinga Massacre or Cassinga Raid, that occurred on May 4, 1978, during the South Africa Border War.
Martyrdom of imam Ja'far al-Sadiq is an important religious and public holiday in Iran. It is celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Shawwal. Al-Sadiq is the last person to be recognized as an imam by all Shiite sects.
Religious Holidays →
Bulgaria,
Lebanon,
Cyprus,
Georgia,
Sudan
Holy Saturday in Eastern Christianity
Holy Saturday, also known as Great Saturday and Holy and Great Saturday, is the Saturday before Easter and the last day of Holy Week which commemorates the last days of Jesus’s life. In Orthodox Christianity, it is the last day of Great Lent.
Saint Florian is the patron of Upper Austria, where an entire town of Sankt Florian was named in his honor. Saint Florian Day, celebrated on May 4, is an official holiday and a day off for government workers and school students in this Austrian state.
International Firefighters' Day (IFFD) is observed annually on May 4. It was created in 1999 to honor the memory of five firefighters who died in a wildfire in Australia.
Every May 4 many people around the world put on pink shirts to show their support for Anti-Bullying Day. This event was started in 2012 and has since become known in more than 25 countries around the world.
World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD) is an annual gardening event held across the world on the first Saturday of May (with some exceptions). It is mostly celebrated by two categories of people: avid gardeners and naturists (and, of course, by those who are both avid gardeners and naturists).
World Ankylosing Spondylitis Day, also known as World AS Day or WAS Day, is typically observed on the first Saturday of May, but it moves to the next Saturday if the first one falls on May 1. It was created to raise awareness of a form of arthritis that usually affects the joints where the spine meets the pelvis.
Civil Aviation Worker’s Day is a Turkmen professional holiday celebrated on May 4. On this day in 1992, President Saparmurat Niyazov issued a decree on the creation of a modern civil aviation infrastructure in Turkmenistan.
Firefighter’s Day (Dzień Strażaka) is an official professional holiday in Poland. It is celebrated on May 4, coinciding with International Firefighters’ Day.
Coal Miners Day in India is celebrated on May 4. It is the professional holiday of all workers engaged in the country’s coal industry.
Tax Authority Employees Day is a professional holiday celebrated in Tajikistan on May 4 every year. Like all official professional observances in Tajikistan, it was established by the law “On Holidays” adopted in 2011.
There are several ecological observances to honor birds. Bird Day in the USA, that falls on May 4, is one of the oldest observances.
Youth Day is a Chinese holiday celebrated annually on May 4. It commemorates the May Fourth Movement. A similar holiday is observed in Taiwan, where it is called Literary Day.
On May 4, jazz lovers all over the United States and abroad celebrate Dave Brubeck Day. This informal holiday is dedicated to a famous jazz composer, pianist and bandleader, considered to be one of the foremost exponents of cool jazz.
National Black Authors Day is observed annually on May 4. It was created to celebrate Black authors of the past and present, help current Black authors gain exposure, and raise awareness of the unique challenges that Black authors face in the literary world.
Remembrance of the Dead is an official memorial day in the Netherlands held annually on May 4. It commemorates all those who have died in wars or peacekeeping operations since the involvement of the Netherlands in the Second World War.
Anniversaries and Memorial Days →
Slovakia
Death Anniversary of Milan Rastislav Štefánik in Slovakia
Anniversary of the decease of Milan Rastislav Štefánik is an official remembrance day in Slovakia observed on May 4. It honors one of the leading members of the Czechoslovak National Council.
Ilagan Day (Aggaw na Ilagan) is a special non-working holiday in the city of Ilagan, Isabela, Philippines. It is celebrated annually on May 4 to commemorate Ilagan’s founding anniversary.
May 4 is National Candied Orange Peel Day. You might not be familiar with this type of candy, unless you're a baker or confectioner. Today is a perfect day to find out what candied orange peel is.
The first Saturday of May is Free Comic Book Day in the USA. This an annual promo effort by the North American comic book industry aimed to find new readers and attract them to comic book stores.
Star Wars Day is an informal observance celebrated by fans of the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. It is held annually on May 4.
Orange juice is one of the most popular beverages in the United States, so it is not surprising that it has its own holiday, albeit an unofficial one. National Orange Juice Day is celebrated annually on May 4.
Join Hands Day is an annual event launched by the American Fraternal Alliance and organized by Assured Life Association. Held on the first Saturday of May, it celebrates volunteering and its role in bringing different generations together.
National Homebrew Day is observed annually on the first Saturday of May. It was created to raise the profile of homebrewing and bring homebrewers from across the nation together to share and learn from each other.
National Scrapbook Day, also referred to as International Scrapbook Day and National Scrapbooking Day, is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of May. It was created to raise awareness of a fun creative hobby that is popular in many parts of the world.
The first Saturday of May is a perfect day to get moving and pledge to live a healthier lifestyle because it is National Fitness Day. It was created to celebrate strength and empowerment through fitness and inspire people to find new ways to stay fit and healthy.
Festivals on May 4, 2024
- Rochester Sweeps Festival in Rochester, United Kingdom
- Brighton Festival in Brighton, United Kingdom
- Feria de Jerez (Jerez Horse Fair) in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
- Rouketopolemos (Rocket War) in Vrontados, Greece
- Truckfest in Lincoln, United Kingdom
- Medieval Market in Kungsträdgården in Stockholm, Sweden
- Tulip Time Festival in Holland, USA
- Brussels Iris Festival in Brussels, Belgium
- Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race in Baltimore, USA
- Tennessee Renaissance Festival in Arrington, USA
- In the City in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Legazpi, Philippines
- Batabano Carnival in George Town, Cayman Islands
- Hiroshima Flower Festival in Hiroshima, Japan
- Brighton Fringe in Brighton, United Kingdom
This Day in History
- 2023 A shooting spree occurred in the villages of Dubona and Malo Orašje in Serbia, resulting in the deaths of 9 people. It was the second shooting incident in two days in the country.
- 2013 Died: Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate for the discovery concerning the structural and functional organization of the cell.
- 2007 The city of Greensburg, Kansas, was almost completely destroyed by a 1,7 mi wide EF5 tornado. This tornado was the first ever tornado to be rated as sun within the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
- 2002 An EAS Airlines BAC 1-11-500 crashed in a suburb of Kano, Nigeria, shortly after takeoff. 64 of 69 passengers, 7 of 8 crew members on board, and 78 civilians on the ground died.
- 1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat signed a peace accord regarding Palestinian autonomy, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
- 1988 Tons of space shuttle fuel detonated during a fire at the Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada (PEPCORN) plant. The fire caused an estimated US$100 million of damage.
- 1983 Born: Trisha Krishnan, Indian actress who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films. She gained prominence after winning the 1999 Miss Chennai pageant.
- 1981 Born: Ruth Negga, Irish actress known for her roles in Preacher and Loving. In 2022, she was nominated for a Tony Award for her Broadway debut as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.
- 1979 Born: Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, actor, podcaster, film and television producer who rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band NSYNC.
- 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1972 Died: Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate for his work with the hormones of the adrenal gland.
- 1967 Born: Ana Gasteyer, American actress, comedian and singer. She is most notable for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002.
- 1959 The first Grammy Awards were held to recognize musical accomplishments by performers for the year.
- 1953 Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize.
- 1940 Born: Robin Cook, American physician and author. He is best known for combining medical writing with the thriller genre. This technique brought Cook immense success, making his books bestsellers.
- 1939 Born: Amos Oz, Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He is widely regarded as one of "Israel's most prolific writers and respected intellectuals".
- 1938 Died: Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate for his work in exposing the clandestine German re-armament. He was convicted of high treason and espionage after publishing details of Germany's alleged violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
- 1937 Born: Dick Dale, American rock guitarist, known as "The King of the Surf Guitar". He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb.
- 1929 Born: Audrey Hepburn, British actress and singer. Recognized as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema.
- 1924 Died: Edith Nesbit, English author and poet. She wrote and co-wrote over 60 books of fiction for children during her career. Some of her books were adapted for film and television.
- 1916 Born: Richard Proenneke, American meteorologist, who lived alone for almost 30 years in the mountains of Alaska near the shore of Twin Lakes and documented his life in solitude in journals and on film.
- 1903 Died: Gotse Delchev, Bulgarian activist, a very important revolutionary figure in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Thrace. He was one of the leaders of Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.
- 1886 A bomb was thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally at Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois. 8 people were killed, 60 were injured.
- 1858 Died: Aimé Bonpland, French explorer and botanist who traveled with Alexander von Humboldt in Latin America. He co-authored volumes of the scientific results of their expedition.
- 1852 Born: Alice Liddell, English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. She inspired his novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
- 1825 Born: Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Huxley's famous debate with Samuel Wilberforce became a key moment in the wider acceptance of evolution theory.
- 1772 Born: Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher, best known for publishing the Conversations-Lexikon, the encyclopedia that laid the basis for many editions of the Brockhaus encyclopedia.
- 1767 Born: Kakarla Tyagabrahmam, also known as Tyagaraja, one of the greatest Indian composers of Carnatic music, or Indian classical music. Many of his works are still popular today.
- 1734 Died: James Thornhill, English painter who worked in the Italian baroque tradition. He was responsible for some large-scale schemes of murals and the painting on the inside of the dome of St Paul's Cathedral.
- 1677 Died: Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian, generally credited for role in the development of infinitesimal calculus, in particular, for the discovery of the fundamental theorem of calculus.
- 1655 Born: Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, who is generally regarded as the inventor of the piano
- 1556 Died: Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist, notable creator of the first recorded herbarium and the first botanical garden in Europe.
- 1493 The New World was divided between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation by Pope Alexander VI.
- 1471 Wars of Roses: Edward IV defeated a Lancastrian Army during the Battle of Tewkesbury and killed heir to the throne Edward, Prince of Wales. The political stability of England was restored until the death of Edward IV in 1483.
- 1436 Died: Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader and national hero. Engelbrektsson was the leader of the Engelbrekt rebellion against Eric of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union.