On May 4th...

links will open in a new window

1410 Pope Alexander V died.

1471 The Battle of Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire) was fought.

1493 Pope Alexander divided America between Spain and Portugal.

1776 Rhode Island declared its independence from Great Britain.

1780 The American Academy of Arts and Science was founded.
1780 Charles Bunbury rode Diomed to victory in the first Epsom Derby.

1796 Education reformer Horace Mann was born.

1814 French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island of Elba.
1814 King Ferdinand VII of Spain signed a decree returning Spain to absolutism.

1824 Rufus Putnam, the "father of Ohio," died.

1825 Biologist Thomas Huxley was born.

1827 John Hanning Speke, African explorer, was born.

1839 The Cunard Steamship Company Ltd. was formed in San Bonifacio, Italy.

1843 The United Kingdom annexed Natal.

1847 The State of New York created a Board of Commissioners of Emigration.

1858 Mexican Liberals established a capital at Vera Cruz.

1862 The Battle of Williamsburg (Virginia) began.

1863The Battle of Chancellorsville (Virginia) ended.

1865 The Battle of Mobile (Alabama) was fought.

1886 The Haymarket Riot took place in Chicago.

1893 Bill Pickett invented the sport of bulldogging.

1896 The first edition of the London Daily Mail was published.

1897 Fire in a bazaar at Rue Jean Goujon in Paris, France, killed about 200 people.
1897 Buttons Garner rode Typhoon II to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1898 Willie Simms rode Plaudit to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1899 Fred Taral rode Manuel to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1904 The United States began work on the Panama Canal.

1910 Tel Aviv, Israel, was founded.

1912 Italian mariners occupied the island of Rhodes.

1918 The New York Yankees set a record of 8 sacrifices while defeating the Boston Red Sox 5-4.

1919 The New York Giants played their first legal Sunday home game, and lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.

1923 New York revoked Prohibition.

1924 The 8th Olympic Games opened in Paris, France.

1927 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.

1928 Jazz musician Maynard Ferguson was born.
1928 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was born.

1929 Actress Audrey Hepburn was born.

1935 Willie Saunders rode Omaha to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1938 Douglas Hyde became the first President of Ireland.

1940 Carroll Bierman rode Gallahadion to victory in the Kentucky Derby.
1940 Author Robin Cook was born.

1942 The Battle of the Coral Sea began.
1942 Food rationing began in the United States.

1945 German forces in Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands surrendered to British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
1945 German forces in Bavaria surrendered to American Commander Jacob L. Devers.

1946 Warren Mehrtens rode Assault to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1949 An airplane crash in Turin, Italy, killed 31 persons, including members of the Torino soccer team.

1953 Singer Pia Zadora was born.

1955 Violinist-composer-conductor George Enescu died.

1957 Iron Liege, Willie Hartack up, won the Kentucky Derby.

1959 The National Boxing Association vacated Sugar Ray Robinson's world middleweight title because of his failure to defend it as required.
1959 Singer Randy Travis was born.

1961 Navy Commander Malcolm Ross set an altitude record of 113,733 feet for manned balloon flight.
1961 A truck returning pilgrims from a Buddhist festival plunged into a creek in central Burma, drowning 23 persons.
1961 The first "freedom ride" sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) departed Washington, D.C., bound for Alabama.

1963 Fire swept through a movie theater in Diourbel, Senegal, killing 64 persons and injuring 18.
1963 A ferryboat capsized in the Nile River at Maghagha, Egypt, killing at least 200 Muslim pilgrims.
1963 A cyclone struck Mascara, Algeria, killing at least 10 people and injuring 29 others.
1963 Chateaugay, ridden by Braulio Baeza, crossed the finish line of the Kentucky Derby 1¼ lengths ahead of Never Bend.
1963 New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Mrs. Margaretta Murphy were married in Pocantico Hills, New York.

1967 Lunar Orbiter IV was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, on a photographic mission to the Moon.

1968 Ismael Valenzuela rode Forward Pass to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1969 The Montreal Canadiens defeated the St. Louis Blues to win the Stanley Cup.

1970 National Guardsmen fired on students at Kent State University, killing four.

1972 The "Don't Make A Wave Committee" officially changed its name to the "Greenpeace Foundation."

1974 Angel Cordero, Jr., rode Cannonade to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1975 Moe Howard, leader of The Three Stooges, died.

1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected as the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1980 Josip Broz Tito, dictator of Yugoslavia, died.

1985 Spend A Buck, with Angel Cordero, Jr., aboard, won the Kentucky Derby.

1989 NASA launched the Magellan mission to Venus.

1990 Latvia's Parliament voted for independence from the Soviet Union.

1991 Morris K. Udall resigned his U. S. House of Representatives seat due to Parkinson's Disease.
1991 Strike the Gold, with Chris Antley aboard, won the Kentucky Derby.
1991 Doug Kent won the ABC Masters Bowling Tournament.

1996 Jerry Bailey rode Grindstone to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

2000 Ken Livingstone became the first Mayor of London.

2002 Victor Espinoza rode War Emblem to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

2007 A tornado destroyed Greensburg, Kansas, and killed 11 persons.

2009 Actor Dom DeLuise died.

2013 Orb, ridden by Joel Rosario, won the Kentucky Derby.

2015 Stuart Bingham won the World Snooker Championship.

Questions or comments about this page?

This page was last updated on May 19, 2018.