May 4
May 4 is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 241 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
- 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
- 1436 – Assasination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
- 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales.
- 1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
- 1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
- 1675 – King Charles II of England orders the construction of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
- 1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
- 1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
- 1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
- 1814 – Emperor Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
- 1814 – King Ferdinand VII of Spain signs the Decrete of the 4th of May, returning Spain to absolutism.
- 1855 – American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.
- 1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking the counties of Devon and Cornwall in England.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with a Union retreat.
- 1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay is fought in Japan.
- 1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
- 1886 – Haymarket Square Riot: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, Illinois, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
- 1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
- 1904 – Charles Stewart Rolls meets Frederick Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England.
- 1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
- 1912 – Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes.
- 1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
- 1932 – In Atlanta, Georgia, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
- 1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
- 1945 – World War II: The North Germany Army surrenders to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
- 1946 – In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz federal prison. Five people are killed in the riot.
- 1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy.
- 1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
- 1959 – The 1st Grammy Awards are held.
- 1961 – American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.
- 1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: the Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the United States' invasion of Cambodia.
- 1972 – The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation".
- 1974 – An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak.
- 1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
- 1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of space shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.
- 1989 – Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal.
- 1990 – Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.
- 1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord regarding Palestinian autonomy granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
- 1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
- 2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London.
- 2001 – The Milwaukee Art Museum addition, the first Santiago Calatrava-designed structure in the United States, opens to the public.
- 2002 – An EAS Airlines BAC 1-11-500 crashes in a suburb of Kano, Nigeria shortly after takeoff killing more than 148 people.
- 2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7 mi wide EF-5 tornado.
Births
- 1008 – Khajeh Abdollah Ansari, The Persian Sufi (d. 1088)
- 1008 – King Henry I of France (d. 1060)
- 1649 – Maharaja Chhatrasal (d. 1731)
- 1654 – Kangxi Emperor of China (d. 1722)
- 1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian maker of musical instruments (d. 1731)
- 1715 – Richard Graves, English writer (d. 1804)
- 1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor (d. 1799)
- 1752 – John Brooks, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
- 1767 – Tyāgarāja, Composer of Indian classical Carnatic music (d. 1847)
- 1772 – Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
- 1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher (d. 1832)
- 1796 – Horace Mann, American educator (d. 1859)
- 1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian (d. 1859)
- 1820 – Julia Tyler, First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
- 1822 – Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Quebec politician (d. 1915)
- 1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English scientist (d. 1895)
- 1825 – Augustus Le Plongeon, French antiquitarian (d. 1908)
- 1826 – Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
- 1827 – John Hanning Speke, British explorer (d. 1864)
- 1852 – Alice Pleasance Liddell, English schoolgirl model for Alice in Wonderland (d. 1934)
- 1864 – Marie Booth, the third daughter of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1937)
- 1870 – Alexandre Benois, Russian artist (d. 1960)
- 1873 – Joe De Grasse, Canadian film director (d. 1940)
- 1889 – Francis Cardinal Spellman, American religious leader (d. 1967)
- 1890 – Franklin Carmichael, Canadian artist, a founder of the Group of Seven (d. 1945)
- 1903 – Luther Adler, American stage actor (d. 1984)
- 1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American impresario (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Lady Katherine Brandram, née Princess of Greece and Denmark (d. 2007)
- 1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
- 1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian author and activist (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Richard Proenneke, American naturalist (d. 2003)
- 1918 – Tanaka Kakuei, Japanese political leader (d. 1993)
- 1918 – Thomas Mead, Australian politician and journalist (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Dory Funk, Professional wrestler (d. 1973)
- 1921 – Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (d. 2005)
- 1923 – Ed Cassidy, American musician (Spirit)
- 1923 – Stanley Biber, American physician, pioneer of transgender surgery (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian
- 1923 – Godfrey Quigley, British actor (d. 1994)
- 1923 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and author
- 1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman
- 1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian musician (d. 2006)
- 1928 – Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt
- 1928 – Wolfgang von Trips, German racing driver (d. 1961)
- 1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Anglo-Dutch actress (d. 1993)
- 1929 – Sidney Lamb, American linguist
- 1929 – Ronald Golias, Brazilian comedian and actor (d. 2005)
- 1930 – Roberta Peters, American soprano
- 1930 – Katherine Jackson, mother of the Jackson musical family
- 1931 – Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor
- 1931 – Thomas Stuttaford, British doctor and writer
- 1933 – J. Fred Duckett, Texan sports announcer and teacher
- 1936 – El Cordobés, Spanish matador
- 1937 – Ron Carter, American jazz bassist
- 1937 – Dick Dale, American guitarist
- 1937 – Mr. Fuji, Former professional wrestler
- 1938 – Tyrone Davis, American soul singer (d. 2005)
- 1938 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican writer
- 1939 – Paul Gleason, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1939 – Amos Oz, Israeli writer, novelist, and journalist
- 1939 – Léon Rochefort, Quebec ice hockey player
- 1940 – Robin Cook, American novelist
- 1941 – George Will, American writer
- 1942 – Nickolas Ashford, American record producer, songwriter, and musician (Ashford and Simpson)
- 1943 – Mikhail Chemiakin, Russian painter
- 1943 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1945 – Narasimhan Ram, Indian journalist
- 1946 – John Watson, Northern Irish racecar driver
- 1946 – Gary Bauer conservative American politician, former presidential candidate
- 1947 – Willem van Beusekom, Dutch broadcaster and Radio DJ (d. 2006)
- 1947 – Richard Jenkins, American actor
- 1948 – Hurley Haywood, American race car driver, and three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
- 1949 – John Force, American race car driver
- 1949 – Stella Parton, American country music singer
- 1949 – Graham Swift, British author
- 1950 – Darryl Hunt, English musician (The Pogues)
- 1951 – Colin Bass, British bassist (Camel)
- 1951 – Jackie Jackson, American singer and musician (The Jackson 5)
- 1951 – Gérard Jugnot, French actor, film director, screenwriter and producer
- 1951 – Mick Mars, American guitarist (Mötley Crüe)
- 1951 – Tirso Cruz III, Filipino actor and singer.
- 1952 – Michael Barrymore, English comedian, actor, quiz master and entertainer
- 1953 – Oleta Adams, American singer
- 1953 – Salman Hashimikov, Soviet heavyweight wrestler
- 1954 – Robert Michael Snyder, American author and convicted sex offender
- 1954 – Pia Zadora, American actress
- 1955 – Robert Ellis Orrall, American singer
- 1955 – Avram Grant, Israeli football manager
- 1956 – David Guterson, American author
- 1956 – Ulrike Meyfarth, German athlete
- 1956 – Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player
- 1958 – Delbert Fowler, American football player
- 1958 – Keith Haring, American graphical artist (d. 1990)
- 1958 – Antonis Minou, Greek footballer
- 1959 – Scott Armstrong, American professional wrestling referee
- 1959 – Inger Nilsson, Swedish actress
- 1959 – Randy Travis, American musician
- 1960 – Andrew Denton, Australian television presenter and comedian
- 1960 – Werner Faymann, Chancellor of Austria
- 1961 – Luis Herrera, Colombian cyclist
- 1961 – Jay Aston, British singer (Bucks Fizz)
- 1964 – Mónica Bardem, Spanish actress
- 1964 – Zsuzsa Mathe, Hungarian painter and visual artist, founder of transrealism
- 1964 – Rocco Siffredi, Italian porn actor
- 1966 – Jane McGrath, co-founder of the McGrath Foundation for breast cancer (d. 2008)
- 1967 – Ana Gasteyer, American actress
- 1967 – Kate Garraway, English GMTV Presenter
- 1968 – Julian Barratt, English comedian and musician, one half of The Mighty Boosh
- 1969 – Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Ryan Shamrock, American wrestling valet
- 1970 – Gregg Alexander, American musician (New Radicals)
- 1970 – Paul Wiseman, New Zealand cricketer
- 1970 – Sergio Basañez, Mexican actor
- 1970 – Will Arnett, American actor
- 1971 – Joe Borowski, American baseball player
- 1971 – Luiz Garcia, Jr., Brazilian racing driver
- 1971 – Rudresh Mahanthappa, Indian-American jazz alto saxophonist and composer
- 1972 – Manny Aybar, Dominican baseball player
- 1972 – Mike Dirnt, American musician (Green Day)
- 1972 – Chris Tomlin, American musician
- 1973 – Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentine footballer
- 1973 – John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Miguel Cairo, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1974 – Tony McCoy, Northern Irish National Hunt jockey
- 1975 – Laci Peterson, American murder victim (d. 2002)
- 1976 – Ben Grieve, American baseball player
- 1976 – Jason Michaels, American baseball player
- 1977 – Nestoras Kommatos, Greek basketball player
- 1977 – Emily Perkins, Canadian actress
- 1977 – Mariano Pernía, Argentine-Spanish footballer
- 1978 – Shaenon K. Garrity, American webcomics writer and artist
- 1978 – Brett Burton, Australian football player
- 1978 – Erin Andrews, ESPN sideline reporter
- 1978 – Daisuke Ono, Japanese seiyu
- 1979 – Lance Bass, American singer (*NSYNC)
- 1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan born rugby union and rugby league player
- 1979 – Marie Poissonnier, French pole vaulter
- 1979 – Wes Butters, British broadcaster
- 1980 – Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Franziska Weisz, Austrian actress
- 1981 – Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
- 1982 – Kleopas Giannou, Greek footballer
- 1982 – Hector King, Mexican singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
- 1982 – Rasheeda,American hiphop singer
- 1982 – Giorgos Tsiaras, Greek basketball player
- 1983 – Trisha Krishnan, Indian actress
- 1983 – Jesse Moss, Canadian actor
- 1983 – Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Manjural Islam, Bangladeshi test cricket player (d. 2007)
- 1984 – Kevin Slowey, American baseball player
- 1984 – Montell Owens, American football player
- 1985 – Anthony Fedorov, American singer
- 1985 – Ravinder Bopara, English cricketer
- 1986 – George Hill, American Basketball player
- 1987 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1987 – Anjeza Shahini, Albanian singer
- 1988 – Georgios Ioannidis, Greek footballer
- 1988 – Robert Lacy, American writer
- 1989 – Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer
- 1989 – Aris Tatarounis, Greek basketball player
- 1989 – James van Riemsdyk, American hockey player
- 1990 – Matthias Cuntz, German footballer
- 1992 – Courtney Jines, American actress
- 1994 – Pauline Ducruet, daughter of HSH Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
- 1994 – Alexander Gould, American actor
- 2009 – Prince Henrik of Denmark, Danish royalty
Deaths
- 1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish statesman
- 1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (killed in battle) (b. 1453)
- 1471 – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, English military commander (executed)
- 1506 – Husayn Bayqarah, ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
- 1519 – Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
- 1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
- 1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish mathematician (b. 1561)
- 1626 – Arthur Lake, Bishop of Bath and Wells, English bishop and Bible translator (b. 1569)
- 1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician (b. 1630)
- 1684 – John Nevison, English highwayman (b. 1639)
- 1729 – Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
- 1734 – James Thornhill, English painter
- 1737 – Eustace Budgell, English writer (b. 1686)
- 1774 – Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1714)
- 1776 – Jacques Saly, French sculptor (b. 1717)
- 1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1718)
- 1799 – Tipu Sultan, Indian military leader (b. 1750)
- 1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
- 1824 – Joseph Joubert, French essayist and moralist (b. 1754)
- 1849 – Hokusai, Japanese artist (b. 1760)
- 1858 – Aimé Bonpland, French explorer and botanist (b. 1773)
- 1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician (b. 1771)
- 1880 – Edward Clark, Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
- 1901 – John Jones Ross, Canadian politician (b. 1831)
- 1903 – Gotse Delchev, a revolutionary from the Balkans – leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (b. 1872)
- 1916 – Members of the Easter Rising
- 1919 – Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak politician, French general and astronomer (b. 1880)
- 1922 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian Bolshevik politician (b. 1888)
- 1937 – Noel Rosa, Brazilian songwriter (b. 1910)
- 1938 – Carl von Ossietzky, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1889)
- 1945 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (b. 1880)
- 1955 – George Enescu, Romanian composer (b. 1881)
- 1961 – Anita Stewart, American film actress (b. 1895)
- 1969 – Osbert Sitwell, English writer (b. 1892)
- 1970 – Allison Krause – Kent State victim (b. 1951)
- 1970 – Eugenia Livanos, Greek socialite (b. 1927)
- 1970 – Jeffrey Miller – Kent State victim (b. 1950)
- 1970 – Sandra Scheuer – Kent State victim (b. 1949)
- 1970 – William Schroeder (b. 1950)
- 1971 – Seamus Elliott, Irish cyclist (b. 1934)
- 1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1886)
- 1973 – Jane Bowles, American writer and playwright (b. 1917)
- 1975 – Moe Howard, American actor and comedian (b. 1897)
- 1980 – Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
- 1984 – Bob Clampett, American cartoonist (b. 1913)
- 1984 – Diana Dors, British actress (b. 1931)
- 1985 – Clarence Wiseman, the 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
- 1987 – Paul Butterfield, American blues harmonica player (b. 1942)
- 1987 – Cathryn Damon, American actress (b. 1930)
- 1990 – Emily Remler American Jazz Guitarist (b.1957)
- 1992 – Gregor Mackenzie, Labour Party (UK) politician (b. 1927)
- 1995 – Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player [AAGPBL] (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American murder victim (b. 1956)
- 2005 – David Hackworth, U.S. Army officer and military journalist (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Dom DeLuise, American actor and comedian (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Ernie Harwell, American baseball broadcaster (b. 1918)
Holidays and observances
External links