November 4 in history — What Happened Today in History

Iran hostage crisis: A group of Iranian college students overruns the U.S. embassy in Tehran and takes 90 hostages.

The Netherlands experiences the first car-free Sunday caused by the 1973 oil crisis. Highways are used only by cyclists and roller skaters.

Vietnam War: The United States turns over control of the air base at Bình Thủy in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam.

Salvador Allende takes office as President of Chile, the first Marxist to become president of a Latin American country through open elections.

Iberia Flight 062 crashes in Blackdown, West Sussex, killing all 37 people on board including British actress June Thorburn.

The Arno River floods Florence, Italy, to a maximum depth of 6.7 m (22 ft), leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. Venice is also submerged on the same day at its record all-time acqua alta of 194 cm (76 in).

The United States concludes Operation Fishbowl, its final above-ground nuclear weapons testing series, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Jane Goodall observes chimpanzees creating tools, the first-ever observation in non-human animals.

Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.

The United States government establishes the National Security Agency, or NSA.

World War II: The 7th Macedonian Liberation Brigade liberates Bitola for the Allies.

World War II: Operation Pheasant, an Allied offensive to liberate North Brabant in the Netherlands, ends successfully.

World War II: Disobeying a direct order by Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel begins a retreat of his forces after a costly defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein. The retreat would ultimately last five months.

World War II: U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons by belligerents.

Spanish Civil War: Largo Caballero reshuffles his war cabinet, persuading the anarcho-syndicalist CNT to join the government.

Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female elected as governor in the United States.

In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

The Saalschutz Abteilung (hall defense detachment) of the Nazi Party is renamed the Sturmabteilung (storm detachment) after a large riot in Munich.

Japanese prime minister Hara Takashi is assassinated in Tokyo.

World War I: The Armistice of Villa Giusti between Italy and Austria-Hungary is implemented.

City and South London Railway: London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell.

Camagüey, Cuba, revolts against Spain during the Ten Years' War.

American Civil War: Confederate troops bombard a Union supply base and destroy millions of dollars in materiel at the Battle of Johnsonville.

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, becomes the prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, which soon expands to become Italy.

Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish medical doctor, discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.

Newport Rising: The last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain.

The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu begins.

Northwest Indian War: The Western Confederacy of American Indians wins a major victory over the United States in the Battle of the Wabash.

Taylor Tomlinson, American stand-up comedian

Yurii Bieliaiev, Belarusian ice dancer

Hiroki Nakada, Japanese footballer

Julian Wießmeier, German footballer

Alon Day, Israeli race car driver

Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, Dutch tennis player

Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Canadian actor

Dez Bryant, American football player

David Mead, Papua New Guinean rugby league player

Nathan Ross, Australian rugby league player

Tim Breukers, Dutch footballer

Laura Geitz, Australian netball player

Artur Jędrzejczyk, Polish footballer

Lee Robinson, American lawyer and politician (born 1943)

Enrique Olivera, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 2nd Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires (born 1940)

George Edgar Slusser, American author and academic (born 1939)

S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare (born 1915)

John D. Hawk, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1924)

Leonid Stolovich, Russian-Estonian philosopher and academic (born 1929)

Ray Willsey, Canadian-American football player and coach (born 1928)

David Resnick, Brazilian-Israeli architect, designed Yad Kennedy (born 1924)

Arnold Green, Latvian-Estonian soldier and politician (born 1920)

Andy Rooney, American author, critic, journalist, and television personality (born 1919)

Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (born 1934)

Hubertus Brandenburg, German bishop (born 1923)

Michael Crichton, American medical doctor, author, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1942)