May 4

Events

• 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 Demarcation Line.
• 1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit lands on arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw to become director.
• 1776 - Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to George III.
• 1812 - Italy occupies the island of Rhodes.
• 1814 - Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chancellorsville - The battle ends with a Union retreat.
• 1886 - Haymarket Square Riot: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, Illinois, killing 8 and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
• 1910 - The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
• 1919 - May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which had transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
• 1924 - The 1924 Summer Olympics open in Paris, France.
• 1930 - British police arrest Mahatma Gandhi and place him in Yeravda Central Prison.
• 1932 - In Atlanta, Georgia, mobster Al Capone begins to serve an eleven year sentence for tax evasion.
• 1942 - World War II: Battle of the Coral Sea - The battle begins with the launch of attack aircraft from American and Japanese aircraft carriers.
• 1945 - World War II: Liberation of the concentration camp Neuengamme near Hamburg by the British army.
• 1945 - World War II: Surrender of the North Germany army to Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
• 1946 - In San Francisco Bay, US Marines from the Treasure Island Marine Barracks stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz federal prison. Five people were killed in the riot.
• 1959 - The first Grammy Awards are announced.
• 1961 - American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.
• 1970 - Kent State massacre: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after the ROTC building was burnt down, opens fire on students protesting the United States' invasion of Cambodia. Four students are killed, 9 wounded.
• 1989 - Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and was acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, were later overturned on appeal.
• 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 accepted a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
• 1999 - Several tornadoes hit the Midwestern part of the United States during the night killing at least 45.
• 1999 - In California, Manuel Babbitt is executed for the 1980 murder of Leah Schendel. While on death row Babbitt was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries he received in the Vietnam War.
• 2002 - An EAS Airlines BAC 1-11-500 crashes in a suburb of Kano, Nigeria shortly after takeoff killing more than 148
• 2003 - The Outbreak of 2003 begins. Ninety-four tornadoes begin the week-long outbreak.

Births

• 1008 - King Henry I of France († 1060)
• 1733 - Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor († 1799)
• 1772 - Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, publisher († 1823)
• 1796 - Horace Mann, educator
• 1820 - Julia Tyler, First Lady of the United States
• 1825 - Thomas Henry Huxley, scientist († 1895)
• 1826 - Frederic Edwin Church, painter
• 1827 - John Hanning Speke, British explorer († 1864)
• 1873 - Joe De Grasse, film director († 1940)
• 1889 - Francis Cardinal Spellman, religious leader († 1967)
• 1918 - Tanaka Kakuei, Japanese political leader
• 1923 - Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian
• 1928 - Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt
• 1928 - Maynard Ferguson, jazz musician
• 1929 - Audrey Hepburn († 1993)
• 1936 - El Cordobes, bullfighter
• 1937 - Dick Dale, guitarist
• 1941 - George Will, writer
• 1942 - Tammy Wynette, country musician († 1998)
• 1942 - Nickolas Ashford, producer, songwriter, musician ("Ashford and Simpson")
• 1954 - Pia Zadora, actress
• 1956 - Ulrike Meyfarth, winner of Olympic Games in the high jump
• 1958 - Keith Haring, graphical artist
• 1959 - Randy Travis, country musician
• 1979 - Lance Bass, musician ("NSYNC")

Deaths

• 1799 - Tipu Sultan, Muslim Indian military leader
• 1849 - Hokusai, painter and ukiyo-e artist
• 1975 - Moe Howard, comedian ("Three Stooges")
• 1980 - Josip Broz Tito, president of Yugoslavia (* 1892)

Holidays and observances

• The Netherlands - Remembrance of the dead (1940-1945)
• China - Youth Day (observing May Fourth Movement)

May 3 - May 5 - April 4 - June 4 -- listing of all days

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Referenced By