Today In History. What Happened This Day In History
A Timeline Of Events That Occurred On This Day In History
A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.
Today in History
May 4
| 1471 | In England, the Yorkists defeat the Landcastians at the battle of Tewkesbury. | |
| 1626 | Indians sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth and buttons. | |
| 1715 | A French manufacturer debuts the first folding umbrella. | |
| 1776 | Rhode Island declares independence from England. | |
| 1795 | Thousands of rioters enter jails in Lyons, France, and massacre 99 Jacobin prisoners. | |
| 1814 | Napoleon Bonaparte disembarks at Portoferraio on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean. | |
| 1863 | The Battle of Chancellorsville ends when Union Army retreats. | |
| 1864 | Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces cross the Rapidan River and meet Robert E. Lee's Confederate army. | |
| 1927 | A balloon soars over 40,000 feet for the first time. | |
| 1930 | Mahatma Gandhi is arrested by the British. | |
| 1942 | The Battle of the Coral Sea commences. | |
| 1942 | The United States begins food rationing. | |
| 1961 | 13 civil rights activists, dubbed Freedom Riders, begin a bus trip through the South. | |
| 1970 | Ohio National Guardsmen open fire on student protesters at Kent State University, killing four and wounding nine others. | |
|
Born on May 4 |
||
| 1796 | Horace Mann, educator and author. | |
| 1820 | Joseph Whitaker, bookseller and publisher (Whitaker's Almanac) | |
| 1825 | Thomas Henry Huxley, British biologist. | |
| 1827 | John Hanning Speke, English explorer. | |
| 1874 | Frank Conrad, electrical engineer and broadcasting pioneer. | |
| 1884 | Agnes Fay Morgan, American nutritionist and biochemist. | |
| 1928 | Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet. | |
| 1929 | Audrey Hepburn (Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Rusten), actress, later U.N. special ambassador. | |
| 1939 | Amos Oz, Israeli novelist (The Black Box, TheThird State). | |
| 1949 | Graham Swift, British novelist (The Sweet Shop Owner, Out of this World). | |
Loading ...