41st year - Nº 94 Saturday, 4 April 2026

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
41st year - Nº 94 Saturday, 4 April 2026

4 April / Today's 38 Events:

---

(+) 1838 years ago He Was a Gallic Hoodie Friday 4th of April 0188 Roman Emperor Caracalla, originally Lucius Septimius Bassianus aka Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus is born in Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France. At the time Lyon was called Lugdunum, Gaul. According to Aurelius Victor in his 'Epitome de Caesaribus', Antoninus became known by the agnomen 'Caracalla' after a Gallic hooded tunic that he habitually wore and made fashionable.

---

(x) 351 years ago Thursday 4th of April 1675 10-year-old Soldier and adventurer Francis Charteris aka The Rape-Master General is baptised in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. Charteris was born in Edinburgh in about 1665, the exact date is unknown.

---

(+) 180 years ago He Embarked on a Dangerous Philosophical Journey Saturday 4th of April 1846 Poet Isidore Ducasse de Lautréamont, originally Isidore-Lucien Ducasse known for Les Chants de Maldoror is born in Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.

---

(-) 138 years ago She Was the First of Eleven Wednesday 4th of April 1888 Emma Elizabeth Smith is possibly attacked by unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper in The London Hospital, Whitechapel Road, Whitechapel, London, Greater London, United Kingdom. Smith was assaulted at the junction of Osborn Street and Brick Lane the night before. She was taken to the hospital, fell into a coma and died. Medical investigation by duty surgeon Dr G. H. Hillier revealed that a blunt object had been inserted into her vagina rupturing her peritoneum. The case was listed as the first of eleven Whitechapel murders in Metropolitan Police files.

---

(x) 130 years ago Saturday 4th of April 1896 59-year-old Baby farm murderess Amelia Elizabeth Dyer, originally Hobley aka The Ogress of Reading is arrested in London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

---

(+) 112 years ago Saturday 4th of April 1914 Writer and experimental filmmaker Marguerite Duras, originally Marguerite Donnadieu is born in Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Area, Vietnam.

---

(-) 97 years ago Thursday 4th of April 1929 Automobile designer and manufacturer Carl Benz, originally Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant dies of bronchial inflammation at the age of 85 in Dr.-Carl-Benz-Platz 2, Ladenburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

---

(+) 94 years ago Monday 4th of April 1932 Actor Anthony Perkins known for portraying Norman Bates in the movie ‘Psycho’ is born in New York City, New York, United States.

---

(+) 94 years ago Monday 4th of April 1932 Film director Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky is born in Zavrazhye, Ivanovo Industrial Oblast, Russia.

---

(x) 90 years ago Saturday 4th of April 1936 39-year-old Doctor and serial killer Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot aka The Triangular Chamber of Death Murderer is caught in flagrante delicto stealing a book in Librairie Gibert, 26 Boulevard Saint-Michel, VIe, Paris, Île-de-France, France. Petiot spent a month in an asylum in Ivry.

---

(-) 85 years ago Friday 4th of April 1941 Murderer Samuel Morgan is executed by hanging by Thomas Pierrepoint at the age of 29 in Walton Prison, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom.

---

(+) 84 years ago Saturday 4th of April 1942 Serial killer Michel Paul Fourniret aka The Ogre of the Ardennes is born in Sedan, Ardennes, France.

---

(+) 83 years ago Sunday 4th of April 1943 Murderer Peter Anthony Allen is born in Wallasey, Cheshire, United Kingdom.

---

(+) 83 years ago Sunday 4th of April 1943 Presumed multiple murderess Judy Judias V. Buenoano, originally Judias Welty aka Florida's Black Widow is born in Quanah, Texas, United States.

---

(x) 80 years ago Thursday 4th of April 1946 49-year-old Doctor and serial killer Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot aka The Triangular Chamber of Death Murderer is sentenced to death in Cour d'Assises, 34 Quai des Orfèvres, Ier, Paris, Île-de-France, France.

---

(+) 72 years ago Sunday 4th of April 1954 Multiple murderer Michael Eugene Sharp is born in Eastland, Texas, United States.

---

(+) 69 years ago He Still Had a Past Thursday 4th of April 1957 Film director Aki Olavi Kaurismäki is born in Orimattila, Päijänne Tavastia, Finland.

---

(-) 64 years ago Wednesday 4th of April 1962 Murderer James Hanratty aka The A6 Lay-By Murderer is executed by hanging by Harry Allen at the age of 26 in Bedford Gaol, Bedford, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom.

---

(-) 61 years ago Sunday 4th of April 1965 Presumed murderer Gaston Dominici known from L’Affaire Dominici dies of unknown causes at the age of 88 in Digne-les-Bains, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

---

(x) 59 years ago Tuesday 4th of April 1967 A group of soldiers of the Korps Mariniers and the Royal Marine clears the main hall of 'thugs', hippies and assembled youngsters in Centraal Station, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.

---

(x) 58 years ago Thursday 4th of April 1968 30-year-old Wiener Aktionist Hermann Nitsch performs his 28. Aktion 6. Abreaktionsspiel im Rahmen des Spring Art Festivals in University Great Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

---

(-) 58 years ago His Dream Ended Thursday 4th of April 1968 Martin Luther King, originally Michael King is shot dead by assassin James Earl Ray aka The Man Who Shot Martin Luther King in Lorraine Motel, 450 Mulberry Street, Memphis, Tennessee, United States. King stood on the motel's second-floor balcony when the bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. After emergency chest surgery, King was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7.05 pm.

---

(x) 58 years ago Thursday 4th of April 1968 Members of die Rote Armee Fraktion aka Baader-Meinhof Gruppe Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Thorwald Proll and Horst Sohnlein are arrested for an arson-attack on Kaufhaus Schneider in Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany.

---

(x) 56 years ago Saturday 4th of April 1970 27-year-old Leader of the Baader-Meinhof-Gruppe aka Rote Armee Fraktion Andreas Bernd Baader is arrested during a traffic control in Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Baader was using a fake ID in the name of Peter Chotjewitz but was placed under arrest when he failed to answer personal questions like the names and ages of Chotjewitz's children.

---

(x) 53 years ago Wednesday 4th of April 1973 13-year-old Son and victim of Joseph Kallinger aka The Shoemaker Joey Kallinger is arrested and charged with vandalism, trespassing and conspiracy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

---

(x) 51 years ago Friday 4th of April 1975 153 die in Lockheed C-5A Galaxy crash in Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Area, Vietnam. There were 175 survivors. The flight was part of 'Operation Babylift', in which American caregivers were paired with South Vietnamese orphans.

---

(-) 47 years ago Wednesday 4th of April 1979 Josephine Whitaker is beaten and stabbed to death by serial killer Peter Sutcliffe aka The Yorkshire Ripper in Saville Park, Halifax, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Whitaker was hit from behind with a ball-pein hammer. Sutcliffe then proceeded to stab her twenty-one times with the screwdriver in the chest and stomach, and six times in the right leg, and also thrust the screwdriver into her vagina. Her skull had been fractured from ear to ear.

---

(-) 47 years ago Wednesday 4th of April 1979 Founder of the Pakistan People's Party Zulfikar Ali Buttho is executed by hanging at the age of 51 in Central Jail, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.

---

(+) 47 years ago Wednesday 4th of April 1979 Actor Heath Andrew Ledger is born in Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

---

(-) 43 years ago Monday 4th of April 1983 Actress Gloria May Josephine Swanson dies of heart failure at the age of 84 in New York Hospital, New York City, New York, United States.

---

(x) 42 years ago He Gave Her a Ticket to Ride Wednesday 4th of April 1984 Tina Marie Risico is abducted, raped and tortured by serial killer Christopher Wilder aka The Beauty Queen Killer in Del Amo Fashion Center, Torrance, California, United States. After 9 days of torture Risico was taken to Logan Airport in Boston where Wilder bought her a ticket to Los Angeles.

---

(-) 38 years ago Monday 4th of April 1988 An unidentified woman is stabbed to death by serial killer Andrei Chikatilo aka The Rostov Ripper in Krasny Sulin, Rostov Oblast, Russia. Her body was found on 6 April in the grounds of a metals factory near the railway station.

---

(+) 38 years ago Monday 4th of April 1988 Spree killer Jakrapanth Thomma known for the Nakhon Ratchasima shooting is born in Chaiyaphum, Chaiyaphum, Thailand.

---

(-) 36 years ago Wednesday 4th of April 1990 Lyubov Zuyeva is stabbed to death by serial killer Andrei Chikatilo aka The Rostov Ripper in Donleskhoz, Rostov Oblast, Russia. Zuyeva encountered Chikatilo while travelling from Novocherkassk to Shakhty. Zuyeva's skeletonized body was found in woodland close to Donleskhoz station on 24 August.

---

(-) 32 years ago Monday 4th of April 1994 Murderer Richard Lee Beavers is executed by lethal injection at the age of 39 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States. Beavers' last meal request was for six pieces of french toast with syrup, jelly, butter, six barbecued spare ribs, six pieces of well-burned bacon, four scrambled eggs, five well-cooked sausage patties, french fries with ketchup, three slices of cheese, two pieces of yellow cake with chocolate fudge icing, and four cartons of milk.

---

11 years ago The Eyes had it Saturday 4th of April 2015 An early morning procession during the Holy Week in Calanda, Teruel, Spain.

---

7 years ago The Eyes had it Thursday 4th of April 2019 A sturdy metal gate in Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland.

---

(-) 2 years ago He Was Good Thursday 4th of April 2024 Triple murderer Michael Dewayne Smith aka The Hoover Killer is executed by lethal injection at the age of 42 in Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester, Oklahoma, United States. Smith's last words were "Nah, I'm good."

---