June 04

781 BC – The first historic solar eclipse is recorded in China.
1769 – A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in history.
1783 – The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
1996 – The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 37 seconds. It was a "Cluster mission", designed with four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation.