November 4
Subject to Britannica's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
1922
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb
On this day in 1922, according to the popular account, a boy working for Howard Carter tripped on a stone and kicked off one of the greatest archaeological finds in history. He had inadvertently found the first step of a staircase that led to a doorway bearing the Royal Necropolis seal. It was some three weeks before Carter opened the door and confirmed it was King Tut’s tomb. Why did it take so long?
READ MORE
© The History Collection/Alamy; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
© Laurence Agron/Dreamstime.com
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, corecipient with Shimon Peres and Yāsir ʿArafāt of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994, was assassinated this day in 1995 by a Jewish extremist while attending a peace rally.
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© Featureflash/Shutterstock.com
Born this day in 1969, American actor Matthew McConaughey, who excelled at playing romantic leading men roles as well as flawed, unpleasant characters, won an Academy Award for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club (2013).
Famous Birthdays
More on November 4
© Jam Sta Rosa—AFP/Getty Images
2025
Typhoon Kalmaegi made its first landfall in the Philippines, on southern Leyte island. It went on to kill 188 people in the Philippines and cause widespread flooding that displaced more than 500,000 people.
Courtesy of the Office of U.S. Senator Barack Obama
2008
Democratic politician Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected president of the United States. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about U.S. presidents.]
© 2001 Warner Bros.
2001
The first film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, premiered in London. [Take our quiz about famous novels.]
Courtesy, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
1980
Conservative Republican Ronald Reagan was elected the 40th president of the United States. [How much do you know about U.S. presidents?]
MPI—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1979
A hostage crisis in Iran began as the U.S. embassy in Tehrān was seized by militants in the wake of the Iranian Revolution.
© UNESCO/Eclair Mondial
1946
UNESCO was officially established as its constitution entered into force; this specialized agency of the UN called for the promotion of international collaboration in education, science, and culture. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about world organizations.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; neg. no. LC USZ62 79430
1924
Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state (Wyoming). [Test your knowledge of famous firsts for women.]
Richard Mildenhall/Shutterstock.com
1908
British scientist Joseph Rotblat, a leading critic of nuclear weapons who jointly (with the Pugwash Conferences) won the 1995 Nobel Prize for Peace, was born. [How much do you know about the Nobel Prize?]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC USZ 62 15325)
1842
Future U.S. president Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd. [Take our quiz about first ladies of the United States.]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1791
In what became known as St. Clair’s Defeat, U.S. General Arthur St. Clair was beaten by the British-supported Northwest Indian Confederation. [Test your knowledge of military history.]