On this day: May 4th
Credit/Source: Wikipedia
1256 The Augustinians monastic order is constituted at the Monastery of the Holy Saviour when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull ''Licet ecclesiae catholicae''.
1415 Religious reformer John Wycliffe is condemned as a Christian heresy at the Council of Constance.
1436 Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (27 April Old Style and New Style dates).
1471 Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV of England defeats a House of Lancaster Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales.
1493 In the papal bull ''Inter caetera'', 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''.
1738 The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, the first ballet school in Russia, is founded.
1776 Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 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 George Harris, 1st Baron Harris.
1814 Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
1814 King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to Absolute monarchy.
1836 Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians.
1859 The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England.
1869 The four-day Naval Battle of Hakodate begins. The newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy defeats the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate navy in the Sea of Japan off the city of Hakodate, leading to the surrender of the Ezo Republic on May 17.
1871 The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1886 Haymarket affair: In Chicago, United States, a Improvised explosive device is thrown at Chicago Police Department officers trying to break up a labor rally, killing one officer. Ensuing gunfire leads to the deaths of a further seven officers and four civilians.
1904 The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
1910 The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
1912 Italy occupies the Ottoman island of Rhodes.
1919 May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Republic of China (1912–49) territory to Japan.
1926 The United Kingdom 1926 United Kingdom general strike begins.
1927 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is incorporated.
1932 Having been incarcerated at the Cook County Jail since his sentencing on October 24, 1931, mobster Al Capone is transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta after the U.S. Supreme Court denies his appeal for conviction of tax evasion.
1942 World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier on Empire of Japan naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942) the day before.
1945 World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
1945 World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day. It encompasses all Wehrmacht units in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany.
1946 In San Francisco Bay, United States Marine Corps from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a Battle of Alcatraz at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Five people are killed in the riot.
1949 The entire Torino F.C. 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 Superga air disaster.
1953 Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for ''The Old Man and the Sea''.
1959 The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held.
1961 American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the Southern United States.
1961 Malcolm Ross (balloonist) and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Project Strato-Lab V open gondola to .
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 Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam.
1972 The ''Don't Make A Wave Committee'', a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace".
1973 The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at as the world's tallest building.
1978 The South African Defence Force attacks a South West Africa People's Organization base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.
1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1982 Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer is hit by an Argentina 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 are later overturned on appeal.
1989 Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-30 to deploy the Venus-bound ''Magellan (spacecraft)'' space probe.
1990 Latvia On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia from the Soviet Union.
1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat sign Oslo I Accord, 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 Capital punishment.
2000 Ken Livingstone becomes the 2000 London mayoral election Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).
2002 One hundred three people are killed and 51 are injured in a EAS Airlines Flight 4226 near Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano (city), Nigeria.
2007 Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by the 2007 Greensburg tornado, a 1.7-mile wide Enhanced Fujita scale tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale.
2014 Three people are killed and 62 injured in a 2014 Nairobi bus bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya.
2019 The inaugural all-female motorsport series, W Series (championship), takes place at Hockenheimring. The race was won by Jamie Chadwick, who would go on to become 2019 W Series champion.
2023 Nine people are killed and thirteen injured in Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings in Mladenovac and Smederevo, Serbia. It is the second mass shooting in the country in two days.
1006 Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian mystic and poet (d. 1088)
1559 Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby, Baroness Ellesmere and Viscountess Brackley, English noblewoman (d. 1637)
1634 Katherine Ferrers, English aristocrat and heiress (d. 1660)
1649 Chhatrasal, Indian ruler (d. 1731)
1655 Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (d. 1731)
1677 Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, French noblewoman (d. 1749)
1715 Richard Graves, English minister and author (d. 1804)
1733 Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (d. 1799)
1752 John Brooks (governor), American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
1757 Manuel Tolsá, Spanish sculptor and first director of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City (d. 1816)
1767 Tyagaraja, Indian composer (d. 1847)
1770 François Gérard, French painter (d. 1837)
1772 Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
1796 Horace Mann, American educator and politician (d. 1859)
1796 William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1862)
1796 William H. Prescott, American historian and scholar (d. 1859)
1820 Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
1820 John Whiteaker, American soldier, judge, and politician, 1st Governor of Oregon (d. 1902)
1822 Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian physician and politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1915)
1825 Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anatomist, and academic (d. 1895)
1825 Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American historian, photographer, and academic (d. 1908)
1826 Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
1827 John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (d. 1864)
1843 Bianka Blume, German opera singer (d. 1896)
1851 Thomas Dewing, American painter (d. 1938)
1852 Alice Liddell, English model (d. 1934)
1883 Wang Jingwei, Chinese politician (d. 1944)
1884 Richard Baggallay (cricketer), English army officer and cricketer (d. 1975)
1887 Andrew Dasburg, French-American painter (d. 1979)
1889 Francis Spellman, American cardinal (d. 1967)
1890 Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (d. 1945)
1902 Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (d. 1986)
1903 Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
1905 Al Dexter, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
1907 Lincoln Kirstein, American soldier and playwright, co-founded the New York City Ballet (d. 1996)
1907 Walter Walsh, American target shooter and FBI agent (d. 2014)
1913 Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (d. 2007)
1914 Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Makuuchi # Yokozuna (d. 1971)
1916 Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
1916 Richard Proenneke, American soldier, carpenter, and meteorologist (d. 2003)
1917 Nick Joaquin, Filipino writer, journalist and historian (d. 2004)
1918 Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1993)
1921 Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2005)
1922 Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (d. 2015)
1923 Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian (d. 2012)
1925 Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and philanthropist
1928 Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2006)
1928 Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt (d. 2020)
1928 Betsy Rawls, American golfer (d. 2023)
1929 Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (d. 2015)
1929 Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (d. 1993)
1930 Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family
1932 Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
1937 Ron Carter, American bassist and educator
1937 Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (d. 2019)
1938 Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist, author, and critic (d. 2010)
1939 Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2018)
1940 Robin Cook (American novelist), American physician and author
1941 George Will, American journalist and author
1943 Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (d. 1971)
1944 Russi Taylor, American voice actress (d. 2019)
1945 Robert Machray (actor), American actor (d. 2025)
1946 John Barnard, English car designer
1946 Gary Bauer, American political activist
1946 John Watson (racing driver), British race car driver
1948 King George Tupou V of Tonga, (d. 2012)
1951 Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
1951 Colleen Hanabusa, American lawyer and politician
1951 Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
1952 Belinda Green, Australian beauty queen and 1972 Miss World
1953 Pia Zadora, American actress and singer
1954 Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino pianist, composer, and conductor
1956 Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach
1957 Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier
1958 Keith Haring, American painter (d. 1990)
1958 Caroline Spelman, English politician, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
1959 Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1960 Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria
1961 Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer
1967 Kate Garraway, English journalist
1967 Ana Gasteyer, American actress and singer
1970 Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer
1970 Dawn Staley, American basketball player
1972 Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter
1972 Chris Tomlin, American singer-songwriter
1973 Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach
1973 John Madden (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1974 Tony McCoy, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
1975 Kimora Lee Simmons, American model
1978 Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist
1978 Igor Biscan, Croatian footballer and manager
1978 James Harrison (American football), American football player
1979 Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer
1979 Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player
1980 Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
1981 Ruth Negga, Ethiopian-Irish actress
1981 Dallon Weekes, American singer-songwriter and musician
1983 Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee
1985 Ravi Bopara, English cricketer
1985 Fernandinho (footballer, born May 1985), Brazilian footballer
1985 Jamie Adenuga, English MC and rapper
1986 Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 George Hill (basketball), American basketball player
1987 Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer and manager
1987 Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
1988 Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer
1989 Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer
1989 James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
1991 Brianne Jenner, Canadian women's ice hockey player
1992 Victor Oladipo, American basketball player
1994 Abi Masatora, Japanese sumo wrestler
1994 Joseph Tapine, New Zealand rugby league player
1998 Rex Orange County, English musician
408 Venerius (bishop of Milan), archbishop of Milan
784 Arbeo of Freising, bishop of Freising
1003 Herman II, Duke of Swabia, duke of Swabia
1038 Gotthard of Hildesheim, German bishop (b. 960)
1406 Coluccio Salutati, chancellor of Florence (b. 1331)
1436 Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader (27 April Old Style and New Style dates).
1471 Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, son and heir of Henry VI of England (b. 1453)
1471 Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (b. 1438)
1483 George Neville, Duke of Bedford (b. 1457)
1506 Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
1519 Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
1535 John Houghton (martyr), Carthusian monk and saint
1562 Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (b. 1525)
1566 Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
1571 Pierre Viret, Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1511)
1604 Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (b. 1533)
1605 Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (b. 1522)
1615 Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish priest and mathematician (b. 1561)
1626 Arthur Lake (bishop), English bishop and scholar (b. 1569)
1677 Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (b. 1630)
1684 John Nevison, English criminal (b. 1639)
1729 Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
1734 James Thornhill, English painter and politician (b. 1675)
1737 Eustace Budgell, English journalist and politician (b. 1686)
1774 Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Prussian nobleman (b. 1714)
1776 Jacques Saly, French painter and sculptor (b. 1717)
1790 Matthew Tilghman, American politician (b. 1718)
1799 Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore (b. 1750)
1811 Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
1816 Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1761)
1824 Joseph Joubert, French author (b. 1754)
1826 Sebastián Kindelán y O'Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo and Cuba (b. 1757)
1839 Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b. 1784)
1859 Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1771)
1880 Edward Clark (governor), American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
1901 John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (b. 1831)
1903 Gotse Delchev, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (b. 1872)
1912 Nettie Stevens, American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (b. 1861)
1916 Edward Daly (Irish revolutionary), Irish rebel commander (Easter Rising) (b. 1891)
1916 John Murray (Victorian politician), Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (b. 1851)
1916 Willie Pearse, Irish rebel (b. 1881)
1916 Joseph Plunkett, Irish rebel and writer (b. 1887)
1919 Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general and politician (b. 1880)
1922 Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (b. 1888)
1923 Ralph McKittrick, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1877)
1924 E. Nesbit, English author and poet (b. 1858)
1937 Gina Oselio, Norwegian opera singer (b. 1858).
1938 Kanō Jigorō, Japanese founder of judo (b. 1860)
1938 Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist and activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1889)
1941 Chris McKivat, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1880)
1945 Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (b. 1880)
1953 Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (b. 1876)
1955 George Enescu, Romanian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1881)
1964 Karl Robert Pusta, Estonian politician, 4th Minister of Foreign Affairs (Estonia) (b. 1883)
1969 Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian author and poet (b. 1892)
1971 William Brown Meloney (1902–1971), writer and theatrical producer (b. 1902)
1972 Father Chrysanthus, Dutch arachnologist (b. 1905)
1972 Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1886)
1973 Jane Bowles, American author and playwright (b. 1917)
1975 Moe Howard, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1897)
1976 Frank Strahan, Australian public servant (b. 1886)
1980 Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
1981 C. Loganathan, Sri Lankan banker (b. 1913)
1983 Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1911)
1984 Diana Dors, English actress (b. 1931)
1985 Fikri Sönmez, Turkish tailor and politician (b. 1938)
1985 Clarence Wiseman, English-Canadian 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
1987 Paul Butterfield, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1942)
1987 Cathryn Damon, American actress (b. 1930)
1988 Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (b. 1891)
1990 Emily Remler, American guitarist (b. 1957)
1991 Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer-songwriter and mandolin player (b. 1902)
1992 Gregor Mackenzie, Scottish politician (b. 1927)
1993 France Štiglic, Slovenian film director and screenwriter (b. 1919)
1995 Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (b. 1922)
2000 Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist and academic (b. 1909)
2001 Bonnie Lee Bakley, American model, wife of Robert Blake (actor) (b. 1956)
2004 David Reimer, Canadian man, born male but reassigned female and raised as a girl after a botched circumcision (b. 1965)
2005 David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (b. 1930)
2008 Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (b. 1918)
2009 Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1933)
2011 Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1924)
2012 Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1923)
2012 Bob Stewart (television producer), American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (b. 1920)
2012 Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (b. 1964)
2012 Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (b. 1963)
2013 Otis Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (b. 1918)
2013 Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1917)
2013 Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (b. 1948)
2013 Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (b. 1935)
2013 Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (b. 1914)
2013 César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
2014 Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (b. 1924)
2014 Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (b. 1983)
2014 Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923)
2014 Helga Königsdorf, German physicist and author (b. 1938)
2014 Ross Lonsberry, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1947)
2014 Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1948)
2015 William Bast, American screenwriter and author (b. 1931)
2015 Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (b. 1913)
2015 Marv Hubbard, American football player (b. 1946)
2016 Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Burundian politician (b. 1946)
2020 Don Shula, American football player and coach (b. 1930)
2020 Greg Zanis, American carpenter and activist (b. 1950)
2021 Nick Kamen, English model, songwriter (b. 1962)
2024 Ron Kavana, Irish singer, songwriter, guitarist and band leader (b. 1950)
2024 Frank Stella, American painter (b. 1936)
Anti-Bullying Day (United Nations)
Bird Day (United States)
Cassinga Day (Namibia)
Christian feast day:
- Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla
- Blessed Michał Giedroyć
- Protestant Reformation (Church of England)
- F. C. D. Wyneken (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
- Saint Florian
- José María Rubio
- Judas Cyriacus
- Saint Monica (General Roman Calendar of 1960 # May)
- Sacerdos of Limoges
- Venerius of Milan
- May 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
History of coal miners Day (India)
Remembrance days in Slovakia (Slovakia)
Greenery Day (Japan)
International Firefighters' Day
May Fourth Movement commemorations:
- Literary Day (Republic of China)
- Youth Day (China)
Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled (Afghanistan)
Remembrance of the Dead (Netherlands)
Public holidays in Latvia (Latvia)
Star Wars Day (International observance)
GiveForward.com
List of festivals in Fiji
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/4 BBC: On This Day]
[https://www.onthisday.com/events/may/4 Historical Events on May 4]