Holidays Calendar for November 4, 2012

Unity Day (also known as the Day of National Unity) is a Russian public holiday celebrated on November 4. It was established to commemorate the popular uprising against the Polish invasion that took place in 1616.

Panama's Flag Day is celebrated on November 4, next day after Independence Fay. This public holiday is part of Independence Day celebrations. On this day, all government offices and banks are closed, but many businesses prefer to remain open.

National Day of Tonga is celebrated on November 4. Before 2006, it had been known as Tonga Constitution Day. It commemorates the enactment of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Tonga in November 1875.

Community Service Day, also known as National Day of Community Service or Community Day of Service, is a public holiday in Dominica celebrated on November 4. It is a nationwide clean-up that follows Independence Day celebrations.

Citizenship Day is an official public holiday in the Northern Mariana Islands. It was established in 1986. The holiday is celebrated on November 4.

Railroad Workers' Day is an official professional holiday in Ukraine. It was established by President Leonid Kravchuk in 1993. Originally, the Day of Railroad Workers was celebrated on the first Sunday in August, but in 2002 the date was moved to November 4.

Social Workers’ Day is an Armenian professional holiday celebrated on November 4. It was created in 2009 to commemorate the establishment of the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1918.

Customs Officers’ Day is an official professional holiday in Turkmenistan. It is celebrated on November 4. The holiday was officially established in October 2017 by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow as one of the country’s new observances and remembrances which are not non-working days.

Students’ Day in Iran is celebrated on November 4 (13 Aban according to the official calendar of Iran – the Solar Hijri calendar). It commemorates two important events in the history of Iran’s student community.

Social Workers’ Day is an official professional holiday in Ukraine celebrated on the first Sunday in November. It was established in 1999 by President Leonid Kuchma, who supported the initiative of Ukrainian social workers.

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Civil Aviation Workers' Day is a Belarusian professional holiday celebrated on the first Sunday in November. It was established in 1998 to commemorate the first flight from Minsk to Moscow that tool place in 1933.

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National Unity and Armed Forces Day is an Italian observance held on November 4 every year. It commemorates the victory of Italy (as member of the Allies) over Austria-Hungary in 1918 during the First World War.

National Candy Day is celebrated every year on November 4. It is the perfect occasion to honor sugary confections that have been around for centuries.

TransParentDay is an annual LGBTQI+ observance held on the first Sunday of November. It celebrates the love between transgender children and their parents and transgender parents and their children.

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This Day in History

  • 2014 Died: S. Donald Stookey, American chemist and inventor, holder of 60 patents, mostly related to glass and ceramics. He invented CorningWare, a unique pyroceramic glass cookware resistant to thermal shock.
  • 2012 Died: Frances Hashimoto, American businesswoman and activist, best known for her invention of mochi ice cream that she introduced to American consumers.
  • 2008 Barack Obama won the presidency, becoming the first person of African-American descent to be elected President of the USA. He was inaugurated as president of the USA on January 20, 2009.
  • 2005 Died: Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet and journalist. She is best known for a book of poetry Dark Flower that became popular in Afghanistan and its neighboring countries. She was beaten to death by her husband, who believed, that publishing the book was a disgrace to their family reputation.
  • 1998 Died: Nagarjun, Indian poet, author of a number of novels, short stories, travelogues and literary biographies. His works in Hindi and Maithili brought him a nickname Janakavi, the People's Poet.
  • 1996 Born: Kaitlin Hawayek, American ice dancer. With her skating partner, Jean-Luc Baker, she is the 2018 Four Continents champion, and a four-time U.S. national bronze medalist (as of October 2023).
  • 1995 Died: Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli politician, statesman and general, the 5th Prime Minister of Israel serving from 1972 to 1977. In 1994 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the creation of the Oslo Accords.
  • 1992 Died: George Klein, Canadian inventor, often called to be the most productive Canadian inventor of the 20th century. His inventions included key contributions to the first electric wheelchair.
  • 1979 A mob of Iranians, consisting of mostly students, overran the US embassy in Tehran and took 66 American diplomats and citizens hostages. The hostages were held for 444 days, 8 were killed in accidental destruction of two aircraft.
  • 1970 A 13-year-old feral child Genie was found in Los Angeles, who had been locked in her bedroom for most of her life. Her father had been treating her as mentally retarded from the age of 20 months till the day, when her abuse came to attention of Los Angeles child welfare authorities.
  • 1969 Born: Matthew McConaughey, American actor, producer. He rose to fame thanks to his roles in romantic comedies, including How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Wedding Planner, Ghost of Girlfriends Past etc.
  • 1966 Thousands of people were left homeless and millions of masterpieces of art and rare books were destroyed in Florence, Italy, when the Arno river flooded the city to a maximum depth of 22 ft (6.7 m). On the same day Venice was also submerged at its record of all time 6.3 ft (194 cm).
  • 1962 The United States of America conducted its last atmospheric nuclear test detonating a bomb 69,000 feet above Johnston Atoll.
  • 1960 Born: Kathy Griffin, American actress, comedian, writer, and television host. She achieved recognition for a supporting role on the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan and made a breakthrough on the reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.
  • 1960 English primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees creating tools at the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania. It was the first-ever observation of this kind in non-human animals.
  • 1953 Born: Peter Lord, British animator, director, and producer, one of co-founders of Aardman Animations studio. This studio is best known for clay-animated films and shorts, including Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas, and Shaun the Sheep Movie.
  • 1946 Born: Laura Bush, American wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, the First Lady from 2001 to 2009.
  • 1937 Born: Loretta Swit, American actress, known for her character roles, including the most famous as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on M*A*S*H.
  • 1933 Born: Charles K. Kao, Chinese physicist and engineer, the Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication. He received this prestigious award in 2009.
  • 1922 British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men found the entrance to Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. The clearance of the tomb lasted till 1932.
  • 1918 Died: Wilfred Owen, English poet, soldier, one of the leading poets of World War I. He is known for shocking, realistic poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare during WWI. His most famous works include Insensibility, Dulce et Decorum est, Anthem for Doomed Youth, Futility, and Strange Meeting.
  • 1916 Born: Ruth Handler, American businesswoman and inventor, president of toy manufacturer Mattel Inc. She is known for creation of the Barbie doll.
  • 1916 Born: John Basilone, American sergeant, recipient of the US highest military award for valor, the Medal of Honor. He received the award posthumously, leading his 15-memeber unit reduced to 2 men to held off 3,000 Japanese troops in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
  • 1908 Born: Joseph Rotblat, Polish physicist, a member of the Manhattan Project during World War II on creation of the first atomic bomb. He was the only one physicist to leave the project on the grounds of conscience. In 1955 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts towards disarmament.
  • 1895 Died: Eugene Field, American writer, remembered for his children's poetry and humorous essays. Several of his poems were set to music with commercial success.
  • 1856 Died: Paul Delaroche, French painter and educator, famous for his life-size historical subjects. He received world recognition for The Hémicycle, a 88.5 feet long mural in the hemicycle of the award theater of the École des Beaux Arts in France.
  • 1847 Died: Felix Mendelssohn, German composer, pianist of the early Romantic period. His most famous work is Wedding March, that is played at many weddings around the world.
  • 1847 British physician Sir James Young Simpson discovered the anesthetic properties of chloroform during an experiment with friends.
  • 1783 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 36 was performed for the first time in Linz, Austria.
  • 1575 Born: Guido Reni, Italian painter of high-Baroque style. His most notable works include Saint Joseph and the Christ Child, Europa and the Bull, The Holy Family, The Rape of Europa, etc.
  • 1493 Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Guadeloupe. He named it Santa María de Guadalupe de Extremadura after the image of the Virgin Many venerated at the Spanish monastery of Villuercas, in Guadalupe, Extremadura.