Friday 4th of March 1678

Composer Antonio Lucio Vivaldi is born in Venezia, Veneto, Italy.

Saturday 4th of March 1702

Thief and gaol-breaker Jack Sheppard aka Gentleman Jack aka Jack the Lad is born in White's Row, London, Spitalfields, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Friday 4th of March 1791

Vermont is admitted as 14th of the United States in Montpelier, Vermont, United States.

Thursday 4th of March 1852

Writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol dies of anaemia due to self-starvation at the age of 43 in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

On the night of 24 February 1852 Gogol burned some of his manuscripts which contained most of the second part of 'Dead Souls'. He explained this as a mistake, a practical joke played on him by the Devil. Soon thereafter he took to bed, refused all food and died in great pain nine days later.

Sunday 4th of March 1877

The ballet 'Swan Lake' by 37-year-old Composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is performed for the first time by the Bolshoi Ballet in Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

The Russian ballerina Anna Sobeshchanskaya for whom the role of Odette was intended was pulled from the première performance when a governing official in Moscow complained about her, stating that she had accepted several pieces of expensive jewelry from him only to then marry a fellow danseur and sell the pieces for cash.

Wednesday 4th of March 1908

175 die in Lake View School fire in Lake View School, Collinwood, Ohio, United States.

4 March 1908 was 'Ash Wednesday'.

Thursday 4th of March 1915

Alleged Nazi war criminal László Csatáry is born in Mány, Fejér, Austria-Hungary.

Monday 4th of March 1918

306 die in USS Cyclops collier disappearance in the Bermuda Triangle.

The Naval History & Heritage Command has stated she "probably sank in an unexpected storm" but the ultimate cause of the ship's fate is unknown.

Wednesday 4th of March 1936

Formula One racer Jim James Clark is born in Kilmany House Farm, Main Street, Kilmany, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Friday 4th of March 1938

Musician, poet and occultist Angus MacLise known from The Velvet Underground is born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States.

Saturday 4th of March 1944

Mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc Louis Buchalter is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 47 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

A few minutes before Buchalter's execution, his lieutenants Mindy Weiss and Louis Capone were also executed.

Thursday 4th of March 1948

Playwright, poet, actor and theatre director Antonin Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud known for le Théâtre de la Cruauté dies of a lethal dose of chloral hydrate at the age of 52 in Clinique Esquirol, Ivry-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne, France.

Artaud was found at the foot of his bed clutching his shoe. It is unknown whether Artaud was aware of the lethality of the drug chloral hydrate.

Tuesday 4th of March 1952

119 die in train derailment and collision in Anchieta, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tuesday 4th of March 1952

Victim of Andrew Cunanan aka American Gigolo/American Psycho William R. Reese is born in Vineland, New Jersey, United States.

Friday 4th of March 1955

Murderer Carl J. Folk is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 57 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Friday 4th of March 1960

100 die in La Coubre freighter explosion in Havana, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba.

The 4.310-ton French vessel was carrying 76 tons of Belgian munitions from the port of Antwerpen. Thirty minutes after the first explosion, while hundreds of people were involved in a FAR-organized operation to rescue victims and secure the ship, a second even more powerful explosion occurred, resulting in many further fatalities. At the time of the explosion, Che Guevara was in a meeting in the INRA building nearby. The explosion is often attributed to the CIA who wished to overthrow the new government of Fidel Castro.

Saturday 4th of March 1961

36-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey assaults an unidentified 11-year-old boy in Saint Saviour, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Sunday 4th of March 1962

111 die in Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 Flight 153 crash in Douala International Airport, Douala, Région du Littoral, Cameroon.

Sunday 4th of March 1962

Murderer Willie Ervin Fisher is born in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States.

Monday 4th of March 1968

Mass murderer Julian Knight is born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Tuesday 4th of March 1969

36-year-old Gangster Reginald Kray aka Reggie Kray and his twin brother Ronald are sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 30 years for the murders of George Cornell and Jack 'the Hat' McVitie in Old Bailey Criminal Court, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

The Krays got the longest sentences ever passed at the Old Bailey for murder.

Wednesday 4th of March 1970

46-year-old Jadwiga Kucianka is strangled by serial killer Zdzisław Marchwicki aka The Zagłębie Vampire in Siemianowice Śląskie, Województwo Sląskie, Poland.

Kucianka was Marchwicki's last victim.

Tuesday 4th of March 1980

34-year-old Performance and installation artist Chris Christopher Burden performs 'Show the Hole' at the Per/for/mance festival in Firenze, Toscana, Italy.

Friday 4th of March 1983

27-year-old Edgar Underkofler is beaten and stabbed to death by serial killer Larry Eyler aka The Leather Boy Killer in Danville, Illinois, United States.

Wednesday 4th of March 1987

Spree killer Eliseo Hernandez Moreno is executed by lethal injection at the age of 28 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Moreno's last meal request was for four cheese enchiladas, two fish patties, french fries, milk catsup and lemon pie.

Friday 4th of March 1994

27-year-old Musician Kurt Donald Cobain aka The Pope of Grunge is found in a coma due to a suicidal cocktail of Rohypnol and champagne by his wife Courtney Love in Westin Excelsior Hotel Suite 541, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Cobain was immediately rushed to the hospital, and spent the rest of the day unconscious. After five days in the hospital he was released and returned to Seattle. Courtney Love later stated that the incident was Cobain's first suicide attempt.

Sunday 4th of March 2007

Spring on our rooftop terrace in Oudstrijdersstraat 35, Antwerpen, Borgerhout, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Sunday 4th of March 2018

Noise music band Club Moral play their 150th concert at the 'NoisExistance' festival in Kampnagel, Jarrestraße 20, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

Monday 4th of March 2019

Musician Keith Charles Flint known from the electronic music band The Prodigy commits suicide at the age of 50 in Brook Hill, Great Waltham, North End, Essex, United Kingdom.

Flint died by hanging and had unspecified amounts of cocaine, alcohol and codeine in his system.