May 4, 1903 - GOTSE DELCHEV, one of the most important Bulgarian revolutionaries, leader and ideologist of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Edirne Revolutionary Committees, later known as the Internal Macedonian-Edirne Revolutionary Organization, dies.
National hero in Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia.
In March 1903, Gotse Delchev's detachment blew up the bridge over the Angista River on the Thessaloniki-Edirne railway. In early May of the same year, on his way to meet with the leaders of the Sersko Revolutionary District, his detachment was surrounded in the village of Banitsa, Sersko. The loss, commanded by Major Hussein Tefikov, a classmate of Gotse Delchev, blocked the village on the night of May 3-4. Gotse Delchev decided to take the rebels out of the village, but the attempt failed.
The battle near the village of Banitsa ended with the deaths of Gotse Delchev and Dimitar Gushtanov, while the others managed to escape.
The death of Gotse Delchev is perceived by contemporaries and historians as one of the worst losses for the IMRO.
