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What happened in history on this day: May 4?
On May 4 in ...
- 1776 - Rhode Island declares independence from England.
- 1817 - An explosion aboard the Constitution steamship on the Mississippi River near Bayou Sara scalds to death 11 people.
- 1862 - Battle at Williamsburg, Virginia.
- 1862 - US General George McClellan halts his troops before Yorktown, Virginia as it is full of armed torpedoes left by Confederate Brigadier General Gabrial Rains.
- 1863 - Battle of Chancellorsville ends - Beaten USA army withdraws.
- 1864 - General Ulysses Grant's Army at Potomac attacks at Rappahannock.
- 1864 - USA General Ulysses S Grant crosses Rapidan River and begins his duel with Confederate General Robert E Lee.
- 1865 - Battle of Citronville, Alabama; Richard Taylor surrenders.
- 1865 - Battle of Mobile, Alabama.
- 1865 - Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president, is buried in Springfield, Illinois.
- 1878 - Phonograph shown for first time at Grand Opera House.
- 1886 - Haymarket riot in Chicago, Illinois, USA; bomb kills 7 policemen.
- 1896 - Grease fire ignites half ton of dynamite at Cripple Creek, Colorado, USA.
- 1904 - Americans begin canal construction work in Panama. French properties in Panama are transferred to American authority.
- 1916 - At request of US, Germany curtails its submarine warfare.
- 1923 - New York state revokes Prohibition law.
- 1927 - First balloon flight over 40,000 feet (Scott Field, Illinois, USA).
- 1927 - Nicaragua agrees to a US-supervised presidential election in 1928.
- 1942 - Food first rationed in US during war.
- 1946 - Five die in a two-day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay, California.
- 1954 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island.
- 1956 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak.
- 1961 - Thirteen Freedom riders begin bus trip through South US.
- 1962 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island.
- 1967 - Lunar Orbiter 4 launched by US; begins orbiting Moon May 7.
- 1968 - Robert Wallace, assistant secretary of the US Treasury, announces to the Metropolitan New York Numismatic Convention in New York City "The possibility of ever permitting them [silver coin hoarders and smelters] to reap windfall profits of millions of dollars at the expense of taxpayers will, to say the least, not be very popular".
- 1970 - US National Guard kills four protesting students (Jeffrey Miller, Sandy Scheuer, Allison Krause, William Schroeder) at Kent State University in Ohio.
- 1973 - First US TV network female nudity: Valerie Perrine in the PBS production of Steambath.
- 1977 - The Space Mountain attraction opens in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in California.
- 1988 - A major explosion at an industrial solid-fuel rocket plant in Henderson, Nevada, causes damage extending up to 10 miles away, including Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport.
- 1989 - US launches Magellan to Venus.
- 1991 - Morris K Udall (Representative-Democrat-Arizona) resigns due to Parkinson disease.
- 1998 - Astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Buzz Lightyear attend the re-opening of the Moonliner attraction in Disneyland, California. The original Moonliner was removed in 1966.
- 1999 - The White House holds a ceremony launching the Sacagawea dollar program.
- 2003 - (to May 10) A severe weather outbreak spawns more tornadoes than any week in U.S. history; 393 tornadoes are reported in 19 states.
- 2003 - Top Thrill Dragster opens in Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio as the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster.
- 2006 - A large meteor shower crosses over El Paso, Texas, USA.
- 2007 - Executive Directive 51, which specifies the procedures for continuity of the federal government of the United States in the event of a "catastrophic emergency" is signed by President George W. Bush.
- 2007 - Tornado strikes Greensburg, Kansas, killing at least 12 and destroying about 90 percent of the town.
- 2010 - 13 inches of rain falls on Nashville, Tennessee, over two days, close to doubling the previous rainfall record. A levee protecting the southern park of the city is breached, causing parts of Nashville to be evacuated. 17 deaths are killed in Tennessee, mostly from drowning in flash floods.
Births on May 4
- 1893 - Birth of Edgar Dearing in Ceres, California, USA; actor (Abraham Lincoln, Free and Easy).
- 1903 - Birth of Luther Adler in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Dr Bernard Altman - The Psychiatrist, 77 Sunset Strip TV show, Hawaii Five-0 TV show).
- 1909 - Birth of Howard Da Silva in Cleveland, Ohio, USA; actor (Ben Franklin - 1776, When The Boat Comes In TV show, For the People TV show, The American Parade TV mini-series, Masquerade TV movie, The Cafeteria TV movie).
- 1912 - Birth of Lou Brown in Brooklyn, New York, USA; orchestra leader (Jerry Lewis Show).
- 1915 - Birth of Curt Conway in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; actor (Raw Deal).
- 1921 - Birth of Patsy Garrett in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA; actress (Nanny and the Professor).
- 1928 - Birth of Betsy Rawls in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA; LPGA golfer (Hall of Fame, US Women's Open-1951, 1953, 1957, 1960).
- 1930 - Birth of Roberta Peters in New York City, New York, USA; operatic soprano (New York Metropolitan).
- 1931 - Birth of Ed Cassidy in Chicago, Illinois, USA; drummer (Spirit - "I Got A Line on You").
- 1932 - Birth of Susan Brown in San Francisco, California, USA; actress (General Hospital).
- 1934 - Birth of Pete Barbutti in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA; comedian (Garry Moore Show, John Davdson Show, Pete's Place).
- 1940 - Birth of Dick Curl in Chester, Pennsylvania, USA; offensive coordinator coach (Barcelona Dragons).
- 1943 - Birth of Nickolas Ashford in Fairfield, South Carolina, USA; singer (Ashford and Simpson - "Solid as a Rock").
- 1944 - Birth of Paul Gleason in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA; actor (The Breakfast Club, Die Hard).
- 1944 - Birth of Peggy Santiglia McGannon in New Jersey, USA; rocker (Angels).
- 1950 - Birth of Hilly Hicks in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Roll Out, Roots, Hill Street Blues).
- 1951 - Birth of Jackie [Sigmund Esco] Jackson in Gary, Indiana, USA; rocker (Jackson Five - "ABC").
- 1954 - Birth of Julie Budd in Brooklyn, New York, USA; singer (Child of Plenty).
- 1956 - Birth of Michael L Gernhardt in Mansfield, Ohio, USA; PhD/astronaut (STS 69, 83, 94, sk 100).
- 1958 - Birth of Keith Haring in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, USA; graffiti artist (Vanity Fair, Paris Review).
- 1959 - Birth of Randy Travis [Randy Bruce Traywick] in Marshville, North Carolina, USA; country singer ("Forever and Ever Amen", "Diggin' Up Bones").
- 1959 - Birth of Robert Raymond Tway in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; PGA golfer (1986 Shearson).
- 1961 - Birth of Mary Elizabeth McDonough in Van Nuys, California, USA; actress (Erin - The Waltons).
- 1966 - Birth of Monica Tranel [Michini] in Billings, Montana, USA; rower (Olympics-1996).
- 1967 - Birth of John Child in East York, Ontario, USA; beach volleyball player (Olympics-bronze-1996).
- 1967 - Birth of Matthew Crane in Kimberton, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Matt Cory - Another World).
- 1970 - Birth of Dawn Staley in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; basketball guard (Olympics-gold-1996).
- 1972 - Birth of Ethan Watts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; volleyball middle blocker (Olympics-1996).
- 1973 - Birth of Melissa Boyd; Miss Ohio USA (1996).
- 1973 - Birth of Michelle Martinez in Dallas, Texas, USA; Miss America (Texas-Top 10-1997).
- 1979 - Birth of Lance Bass; American singer ('N Sync).
Deaths on May 4
- 1970 - US National Guard kills four protesting students (Jeffrey Miller, Sandy Scheuer, Allison Krause, William Schroeder) at Kent State University in Ohio.
- 1971 - Donald Dexter Van Slyke, US chemist (Cyanosis), dies at age 88.
- 1985 - Death of Clarence Wiseman, the 10th General of The Salvation Army (born 1907).
- 1987 - Cathryn Damon, American actress (Mary Campbell - Soap), dies at age 56 (born 1930).
- 2009 - Death of Dom Deluise at age 75 of respiratory failure, prostate cancer, and other complications from diabetes and high blood pressure in Los Angeles, California, USA; comic actor and chef (The Entertainers TV show (1964), The Dean Martin Show, The Hollywood Squares TV show, Blazing Saddles movie, The Cannonball Run movie, Smokey and the Bandit II movie).
- 2010 - Death of Ernie Harwell from cancer at age 92, Detroit Tigers' radio announcer for more than 40 years.
- 2016 - Death of Bob Bennett, American politician (born 1933).
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