May 4 in History

Historical Events on May 4

1471 Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales.

1814 Emperor Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.

1926 The United Kingdom general strike begins.

1932 In Atlanta, 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.

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 Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam.

1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1990 Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.

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Famous Birthdays on May 4

1825 Thomas Henry Huxley

1929 Audrey Hepburn

1987 Cesc Fàbregas

1989 Rory McIlroy

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Famous Deaths on May 4

1903 Gotse Delchev

1980 Josip Broz Tito

1984 Diana Dors

2014 Elena Baltacha

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