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History of Today 04 May – Important Events in World History

Updated on 04 May 2026

History of Today in India – 04 May

Explore the history of today 04 May in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 04 May 2026, 04:21 AM

📜 Important Events on 04 May in World History

  • 04 May 2023: Nine people are killed and thirteen injured in a spree shooting in Mladenovac and Smederevo, Serbia. It is the second mass shooting in the country in two days. Read more
  • 04 May 2019: The inaugural all-female motorsport series, W Series, takes place at Hockenheimring. The race was won by Jamie Chadwick, who would go on to become the inaugural series champion. Read more
  • 04 May 2014: Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya. Read more
  • 04 May 2007: Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by the 2007 Greensburg tornado, a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated with the new Enhanced Fujita scale. Read more
  • 04 May 2002: One hundred three people are killed and 51 are injured in a plane crash near Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Nigeria. Read more
  • 04 May 2000: Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London). Read more
  • 04 May 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 death penalty. Read more
  • 04 May 1994: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. Read more
  • 04 May 1990: Latvia declares independence from the Soviet Union. Read more
  • 04 May 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. Read more
  • 04 May 1989: Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-30 to deploy the Venus-bound Magellan space probe. Read more
  • 04 May 1988: The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire. Read more
  • 04 May 1982: Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War. Read more
  • 04 May 1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Read more
  • 04 May 1978: The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people. Read more
  • 04 May 1973: The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at 1,451 feet (442 m) as the world's tallest building. Read more
  • 04 May 1972: The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation". Read more
  • 04 May 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. Read more
  • 04 May 1961: American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South. Read more
  • 04 May 1961: Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km). Read more
  • 04 May 1959: The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held. Read more
  • 04 May 1953: Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea. Read more
  • 04 May 1949: The entire Torino 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 a plane crash. Read more
  • 04 May 1946: In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Five people are killed in the riot. Read more
  • 04 May 1945: World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army. Read more
  • 04 May 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. Read more
  • 04 May 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. Read more
  • 04 May 1932: Having been incarcerated at the Cook County Jail since his sentencing on October 24, 1931, mobster Al Capone is transferred to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta after the U.S. Supreme Court denies his appeal for conviction of tax evasion. Read more
  • 04 May 1927: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is incorporated. Read more
  • 04 May 1926: The United Kingdom general strike begins. Read more
  • 04 May 1919: May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan. Read more
  • 04 May 1912: Italy occupies the Ottoman island of Rhodes. Read more
  • 04 May 1910: The Royal Canadian Navy is created. Read more
  • 04 May 1904: The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal. Read more
  • 04 May 1886: Haymarket affair: In Chicago, United States, a homemade bomb is thrown at police 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. Read more
  • 04 May 1871: The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Read more
  • 04 May 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. Read more
  • 04 May 1859: The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England. Read more
  • 04 May 1836: Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians. Read more
  • 04 May 1823: Brazilian War of Independence: A Brazilian squadron led by Lord Cochrane engages a Portuguese squadron under João de Campos off Salvador, Bahia. Read more
  • 04 May 1814: Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile. Read more
  • 04 May 1814: King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 04 May in World History

  • 04 May 2001: Noah Beck, American media personality and actor Noah Beck is an American media personality and actor, widely known for his content on TikTok. In 2019, Beck was a midfielder for the Portland Pilots men's soccer team. Beck's content includes dances and skits to audio clips of songs, movies, and TV shows. Beck has 33.5 million followers on TikTok, 7.8 million on Instagram, and over 1.51 million YouTube subscribers. TikTok listed Beck as one of the Top 10 breakout content creators of 2020. In 2023, he created the underwear brand IPHIS. Read more
  • 04 May 2001: Joan García, Spanish footballer Joan Garcia Pons is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Read more
  • 04 May 1998: Rex Orange County, English musician Alexander James O'Connor, known professionally as Rex Orange County, is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Grayshott, England. NPR Music's Zoë Jones has described O'Connor's music as "a bright blend of hip-hop, jazz, and bedroom pop". Read more
  • 04 May 1995: Shameik Moore, American actor and musician Shameik Alti Moore is an American actor and musician. He made his lead acting debut in Dope (2015), and is best known for voicing Miles Morales / Spider-Man in the animated Spider-Verse film series and for portraying Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon in the Hulu series Wu-Tang: An American Saga. Read more
  • 04 May 1994: Abi Masatora, Japanese sumo wrestler Abi Masatora is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Saitama Prefecture. He made his debut in May 2013 and wrestles for Shikoroyama stable. He reached the top makuuchi division in January 2018 and has four special prizes for Fighting Spirit and one for Outstanding Performance. He has five gold stars for yokozuna upsets. His highest rank has been sekiwake. He won his first championship in November 2022. Read more
  • 04 May 1994: Joseph Tapine, New Zealand rugby league player Joseph Tapine is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a prop or lock forward for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League and New Zealand and New Zealand Māori at international level. Read more
  • 04 May 1992: Victor Oladipo, American basketball player Kehinde Babatunde Victor Oladipo is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers, where in the 2012–13 season he was named the Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year, the Co-NABC Defensive Player of the Year, and a first-team All-American by the USBWA and Sporting News. That year, he was also named the winner of the Adolph Rupp Trophy, given annually to the top player in men's NCAA Division I basketball. Read more
  • 04 May 1991: Brianne Jenner, Canadian women's ice hockey player Brianne Alexandra Jenner is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and captain for the Ottawa Charge of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of Canada women's national ice hockey team. Read more
  • 04 May 1989: Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer Rory Daniel McIlroy is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking and has spent over 100 weeks in that position during his career. A six-time major champion, he is the sixth man to complete the modern career grand slam—after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods—and the first European to do so. Read more
  • 04 May 1989: James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player James van Riemsdyk, often known by his initials JVR, is an American professional ice hockey player who is a left winger for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets. Read more
  • 04 May 1988: Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer Radja Nainggolan is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Challenger Pro League club Patro Eisden. Read more
  • 04 May 1987: Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer and manager Francesc Fàbregas Soler is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is the head coach of Serie A club Como. Read more
  • 04 May 1987: Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero is a Spanish former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He is a five-time World Champion, having won three titles in the MotoGP class and two titles in 250cc. Read more
  • 04 May 1986: Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player Devan Dubnyk is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 14th overall, of the 2004 NHL entry draft. Read more
  • 04 May 1986: George Hill, American basketball player George Jesse Hill Jr. is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While playing for Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), he was named Summit League Player of the Year and was an honorable mention All-American in his junior season. Read more
  • 04 May 1985: Ravi Bopara, English cricketer Ravinder Singh Bopara is an English cricketer who plays for Northamptonshire and has represented the England national team. Originally a top-order batsman, his developing medium pace bowling has made him a batting all rounder in the one day game. Bopara has also played for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League, Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League, and Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League. Bopara was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. Read more
  • 04 May 1985: Fernandinho, Brazilian footballer Fernando Luiz Roza, known as Fernandinho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders of his generation and one of the best Brazilians to play in the Premier League. Read more
  • 04 May 1985: Jamie Adenuga, English MC and rapper Jamie Adenuga, known professionally as Jme, is an English grime MC, songwriter, record producer, rapper and DJ. He is the co-founder of the crew and label Boy Better Know. He also serves as a sole owner and director of an associated company, Boy Better Know Limited, which he incorporated in 2008. He was previously part of the grime collective Meridian Crew and later Roll Deep alongside his older brother, Skepta. Read more
  • 04 May 1984: Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee Joshua Tyler Kluttz is an American retired professional wrestler and senior referee, best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Brad Maddox. Read more
  • 04 May 1983: Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player Derek Leonard Roy is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators and the Edmonton Oilers. He was originally drafted in the second round, 32nd overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2001 NHL entry draft. Read more
  • 04 May 1981: Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer Eric Daniel Djemba-Djemba is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He previously played club football in France, England, Qatar, Denmark, Israel, Serbia, Scotland, India and Indonesia. In international competition, he represented Cameroon, having appeared for his country 34 times, including at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Read more
  • 04 May 1981: Ruth Negga, Ethiopian-Irish actress Ruth Negga is an Irish actress known for her roles on stage and screen. She has received various accolades including nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award. She gained international recognition for her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the Jeff Nichols directed historical romance drama Loving (2016), earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the BAFTA Rising Star Award. Read more
  • 04 May 1981: Dallon Weekes, American singer-songwriter and musician Dallon James Weekes is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is the frontman of the indie pop band the Brobecks, which temporarily operated as a solo project through the late 2000s. He was then a member of Panic! at the Disco from 2009 to 2017, performing in the band as a bassist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist. Weekes currently performs as the frontman of I Dont Know How but They Found Me. Read more
  • 04 May 1980: Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player Andrew Joseph Ernest Raycroft is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and current media personality. Originally drafted by the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) 135th overall in 1998, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy with the club in 2004 as rookie of the year. Raycroft has also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars, Hockey Milano Rossoblu and IF Björklöven. Read more
  • 04 May 1979: Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer James Lance Bass is an American singer, actor, and producer. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the boy band NSYNC. The band has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. NSYNC's success led Bass to work in film and television. Read more
  • 04 May 1979: Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player Lesley Paea 'I'muli Vainikolo is a former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. A dual code international, he has played for the New Zealand Kiwis in rugby league and England in rugby union. Read more
  • 04 May 1978: Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist Erin Jill Andrews is an American sportscaster and television personality. She rose to prominence as a correspondent on the American cable sports channel ESPN after joining the network in 2004. She later joined Fox Sports in 2012 and has since become the lead sideline reporter for the network's NFL broadcasting team. In 2010, she also gained further recognition from placing third on the tenth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars and eventually co-hosted the show from 2014 to 2019 with Tom Bergeron. Read more
  • 04 May 1978: Igor Biscan, Croatian footballer and manager Igor Bišćan is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who last coached Qatar Stars League club Al-Ahli. In his playing career, he was a versatile player and could play almost every position in defence or midfield, but featured mostly as a central midfielder, or as a central defender in his latter years. Read more
  • 04 May 1978: James Harrison, American football player James Henry Harrison Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kent State Golden Flashes and was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2002. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Harrison won two Super Bowls with the Steelers: XL and XLIII. In 2008, he became the only undrafted player to be named Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Harrison was known for his hard-hitting style during games. Read more
  • 04 May 1975: Kimora Lee Simmons, American model Kimora Lee, formerly known as Kimora Lee Simmons is an American fashion designer, television personality and former fashion model. Discovered as a teenager, she was signed to Chanel and went on to walk the runway for major fashion houses such as Fendi and Valentino and appeared on the covers of Vogue and Elle. She launched the global lifestyle brand Baby Phat in 1999. She ventured into reality television alongside her family, starring in the E! Network reality series Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane (2007-11), Kimora: House of Fab (2013), and currently in Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane (2025-present). Read more
  • 04 May 1974: Tony McCoy, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster Sir Anthony Peter McCoy, commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and Britain, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners and was Champion Jockey a record 20 consecutive times, every year that he was a professional. Read more
  • 04 May 1973: Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of Vélez Sarsfield. Read more
  • 04 May 1973: John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player and coach John J. Madden is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), most prominently for the New Jersey Devils. An undrafted player from the University of Michigan, he won the Stanley Cup three times during his NHL career: twice with the Devils and once with the Chicago Blackhawks. Madden was noted during his career for his ability to kill penalties, play both ends of the ice and score shorthanded goals. Read more
  • 04 May 1972: Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter Michael Ryan Pritchard, better known by his stage name Mike Dirnt, is an American rock musician who is the co-founder, bassist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of Green Day. Read more
  • 04 May 1972: Chris Tomlin, American singer-songwriter Christopher Dwayne Tomlin is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, and worship leader from Grand Saline, Texas. He is signed to Universal's Capitol Christian Music Group. Some of his most well-known songs are "How Great Is Our God", "Our God", "Whom Shall I Fear " and "Holy Forever". Read more
  • 04 May 1970: Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer William Emerson Arnett is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix sitcom Arrested Development and the titular character in the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020). He has received nominations for seven Primetime Emmy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Read more
  • 04 May 1970: Dawn Staley, American basketball player Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team. A point guard, she played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and spent eight seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), primarily with the Charlotte Sting. Staley also played on the United States women's national basketball team, winning three gold medals at the Olympic Games from 1996 to 2004, and was the head coach of the team that won an Olympic gold medal in 2021. Widely considered to be one of the greatest players and coaches in the history of the sport, she is the only person to win the Naismith Award as both a player and a coach. Read more
  • 04 May 1967: Kate Garraway, English journalist Kathryn Mary Draper-Garraway is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Currently, Garraway is the presenter of Mid Mornings with Kate Garraway on Smooth Radio and newsreader and co-anchor of the ITV Breakfast programme Good Morning Britain. Read more
  • 04 May 1967: Ana Gasteyer, American actress and singer Ana Kristina Gasteyer is an American actress, comedian and singer. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's Suburgatory, TBS's People of Earth, NBC's American Auto, and the film Mean Girls. Read more
  • 04 May 1961: Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer Jay Hilda Aston is a British singer and occasional songwriter. She was a member of the British pop group Bucks Fizz from 1981 to 1985. She was the youngest member of the group's original line-up, aged 19 when they won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest. During Aston's membership, the group had 12 of their 13 UK top 40 hit singles, including three number one hits. Since 2009, she has performed alongside fellow original Bucks Fizz members Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan. The group used to perform under the name the Original Bucks Fizz but are now known as the Fizz. Read more
  • 04 May 1960: Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria Werner Faymann is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening criticism within his party. Read more
  • 04 May 1959: Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor Randy Bruce Traywick, known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and charted more than 50 singles on Billboard's Hot Country Songs charts, including sixteen that reached the number-one position. Read more
  • 04 May 1958: Keith Haring, American painter (died 1990) Keith Allen Haring was an American artist and activist. His bold, graphic imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language." Emerging from New York City's downtown art and graffiti scenes in the early 1980s, he transformed subway chalk drawings into an internationally celebrated career that bridged street art and Pop art. Read more
  • 04 May 1958: Caroline Spelman, English politician, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Dame Caroline Alice Spelman is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Meriden in the West Midlands from 1997 to 2019. From May 2010 to September 2012 she was the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in David Cameron's coalition cabinet, and was sworn as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010. Read more
  • 04 May 1957: Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier Katharine Kreiner-Phillips is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Canada. Read more
  • 04 May 1956: Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach Kenneth Ray Oberkfell is an American former third baseman. He played from 1977 to 1992 for six different teams. Oberkfell primarily played third base but he also played over 400 career games at second base. After retiring as a player, Oberkfell served as a baseball coach. He has primarily coached in the minor leagues, but he spent the part of the 2008 as the New York Mets first base coach and spent the 2011 season as the Mets bench coach. Read more
  • 04 May 1954: Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino pianist, composer, and conductor Raymundo Cipriano "Ryan" Pujante Cayabyab is a Filipino musician, composer and conductor of Original Pilipino Music (OPM). He was the Executive and Artistic Director for several years for the defunct San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts. He was named National Artist of the Philippines for Music in 2018. Read more
  • 04 May 1953: Pia Zadora, American actress and singer Pia Zadora is an American actress and singer. She debuted as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964). She came to national attention in 1981 when, following her starring role in the highly criticized Butterfly, she won a Golden Globe Award as New Star of the Year while simultaneously winning the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress and the Worst New Star for the same performance. Read more
  • 04 May 1952: Belinda Green, Australian beauty queen and 1972 Miss World Belinda Lynette Green OAM is an Australian model and beauty queen who won the Miss World 1972 contest at the age of 20. She became the second Australian to win the title; the first, Penelope Plummer, was crowned Miss World in 1968. The pageant was held in London, at the Royal Albert Hall. Green's triumph came in a year that saw Australia win the Miss Universe crown, the Miss Asia Pacific title, and placed first runner-up in the Miss International. Read more
  • 04 May 1951: Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer Colin Bass is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 1979, he has been a member of the British progressive rock band Camel, who, after a ten-year hiatus due to the ill health of bandleader Andrew Latimer, returned to active touring in 2013. From 1984 to 1992, he was also a core figure in the pioneering world music group 3 Mustaphas 3. He has also made two solo albums under his own name and three albums recorded in Indonesia under the name Sabah Habas Mustapha. The title track of the first, "Denpasar Moon", became a hugely popular song in Indonesia in the mid-1990s and has been covered by over 50 Indonesian, Malaysian, Japanese and Filipino artists. As a record producer he has worked with a diverse range of international artists including: the Klezmatics (USA), SambaSunda (Indonesia), Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird (USA) Krar Collective (Ethiopia), Etran Finatawa (Niger) and 9Bach (Wales) amongst others. As a guest artist he has appeared on albums by a number of artists including Malian singing star Oumou Sangare, playing on all tracks of her 1993 Ko Sira album. Read more
  • 04 May 1951: Colleen Hanabusa, American lawyer and politician Colleen Wakako Hanabusa was an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she ran for her party's nomination for governor of Hawaii in 2018, challenging and losing to incumbent and fellow Democrat David Ige. Read more
  • 04 May 1951: Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer Sigmund Esco "Jackie" Jackson is an American singer and songwriter. He is a founding member and the sole constant member of the Jackson 5, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. He is the second child of the Jackson family, and the oldest Jackson brother. Read more
  • 04 May 1948: King George Tupou V of Tonga, (died 2012) George Tupou V was King of Tonga from 2006 until his death in 2012. He was the eldest son of King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV. Read more
  • 04 May 1946: John Barnard, English car designer John Edward Barnard, is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in 1981 with McLaren, and the semi-automatic gearbox with shift paddles on the steering wheel, which he introduced with Ferrari in 1989. Read more
  • 04 May 1946: Gary Bauer, American political activist Gary Lee Bauer is an American civil servant, activist, and former political candidate. He served in President Ronald Reagan's administration as Under Secretary of Education and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, and later became president of the Family Research Council and a senior vice president of Focus on the Family, both conservative Christian organizations. Bauer was a candidate in the 2000 Republican Party presidential primaries and participated in five national debates. He is known for his advocacy of religious liberty, support for Israel, and his dedication to electing conservative candidates to Congress. Read more
  • 04 May 1946: John Watson, British race car driver John Marshall Watson is a British former racing driver and broadcaster from Northern Ireland, who competed in Formula One from 1973 to 1985. Watson won five Formula One Grands Prix across 12 seasons. Read more
  • 04 May 1945: Robert Machray, American actor (died 2025) Robert Machray Ward was an American stage and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing the recurring role of fire marshal Dobbins in the American sitcom television series Cheers. Read more
  • 04 May 1944: Russi Taylor, American voice actress (died 2019) Russi Taylor was an American voice actress. She was best remembered for voicing the character of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019 and was married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, from 1991 until his death in 2009. She was the longest-tenured voice actress to voice the character, holding the role for 33 years. She also provided the voices of several characters in The Simpsons, most prominently Martin Prince, Uter Zorker, and Sherri and Terri. She died on July 26, 2019 in Glendale, California from colon cancer, at 75 years of age. Read more
  • 04 May 1943: Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (died 1971) Georgi Asparuhov Rangelov, nicknamed Gundi, was a Bulgarian footballer who played as a striker. Read more
  • 04 May 1941: George Will, American journalist and author George Frederick Will is an American libertarian conservative writer and political commentator. He writes columns for The Washington Post on a regular basis and provides commentary for NewsNation. In 1986, The Wall Street Journal called him "perhaps the most powerful journalist in America". Will won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1977. Read more
  • 04 May 1940: Robin Cook, American physician and author Robert Brian "Robin" Cook is an American physician and novelist who writes largely about medicine and topics affecting public health. Read more
  • 04 May 1939: Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author (died 2018) Amos Oz was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onwards, Oz was a prominent advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Read more
  • 04 May 1938: Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist, author, and critic (died 2010) Carlos Monsiváis Aceves was a Mexican philosopher, writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers within the country's progressive sectors. His generation of writers includes Elena Poniatowska, José Emilio Pacheco, and Carlos Fuentes. Monsiváis won more than 33 awards, including the 1986 Jorge Cuesta Prize, the 1989 Mazatlán Prize, and the 1996 Xavier Villaurrutia Award. Considered a leading intellectual of his time, Monsiváis documented contemporary Mexican themes, values, class struggles, and societal change in his essays, books and opinion pieces. He was a staunch critic of the long-ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), leaned towards the left-wing, and was ubiquitous in disseminating his views on radio and television. As a founding member of "Gatos Olvidados", Monsiváis wanted his and other "forgotten cats" to be provided for beyond his lifetime. Read more
  • 04 May 1937: Ron Carter, American bassist and educator Ronald Levin Carter is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded numerous times on the instrument. In addition to a solo career of more than 60 years, Carter is well-known for playing on numerous iconic Blue Note albums in the 1960s, as well as being the anchor of trumpeter Miles Davis's "Second Great Quintet" from 1963-1968. Read more
  • 04 May 1937: Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (died 2019) Richard Anthony Monsour, known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb. Dale was known as "The King of the Surf Guitar," which was also the title of his second studio album. Read more
  • 04 May 1932: Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (died 2013) Harlon Junius Hill
    was an American professional football end who played for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Hill played for the Chicago Bears, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Detroit Lions. He was the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1954 and winner of the Jim Thorpe Trophy as the NFL Most Valuable Player in 1955. The Harlon Hill Trophy, named in his honor, is awarded annually to the nation's best NCAA Division II football player. After his playing career, he became a coach and educator. Read more
  • 04 May 1930: Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family Katherine Esther Jackson is the matriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers that includes her children Michael and Janet Jackson. Michael dedicated his sixth studio album Thriller (1982) to her. Janet did the same with her fourth studio album Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). In 1985, acknowledging the positive impact on her children's successful music careers, national urban magazine Essence honored her as "Mother of the Year". Read more
  • 04 May 1929: Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (died 2015) Juan Manuel "Mamo" Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda was a Chilean Army officer and the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. In 1995, he was convicted of the murder of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier in Washington, DC, and sentenced to seven years in prison, which he served until 2001. At the time of his death, Contreras was serving 59 unappealable sentences totaling 529 years in prison for kidnapping, forced disappearance, and assassination. Read more
  • 04 May 1929: Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (died 1993) Audrey Kathleen Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as a film and fashion star, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema. She was inducted into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame and is one of only a few entertainers who have won competitive Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards. Read more
  • 04 May 1928: Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (died 2006) Walter Maynard Ferguson CM was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent, his versatility on several instruments, and his ability to play in a high register. Read more
  • 04 May 1928: Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt (died 2020) Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the 4th president of Egypt from 1981 until his resignation in 2011, following the Egyptian revolution. He was previously the 7th vice president under President Anwar Sadat from 1975 until his accession to the presidency, and the 41st prime minister from 1981 to 1982. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force. He served as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rose to the rank of air chief marshal in 1973. Read more
  • 04 May 1928: Betsy Rawls, American golfer (died 2023) Elizabeth Earle Rawls was an American professional golfer who played on LPGA Tour. She won eight major championships and 55 LPGA Tour career events. She was a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Read more
  • 04 May 1925: Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and philanthropist Maurice Raymond "Hank" Greenberg is an American business executive and former chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group (AIG). Read more
  • 04 May 1923: Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian (died 2012) Eric Sykes was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Tommy Cooper, Peter Sellers, John Antrobus and Johnny Speight. Sykes first came to prominence through his many radio credits as a writer and actor in the 1950s, which include collaboration on some scripts for The Goon Show. He became a television star in his own right in the early 1960s when he appeared with Hattie Jacques in several popular BBC comedy television series. Read more
  • 04 May 1922: Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (died 2015) Eugenie Clark, popularly known as The Shark Lady, was an American ichthyologist known for both her research on shark behavior and her study of fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. Clark was a pioneer in the field of scuba diving for research purposes. In addition to being regarded as an authority in marine biology, Clark was popularly recognized and used her fame to promote marine conservation. Read more
  • 04 May 1921: Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (died 2005) Edo Murtić was a Croatian painter, best known for his lyrical abstraction and abstract expressionism style. He worked in a variety of media, including oil painting, gouache, graphic design, ceramics, mosaics, murals and theatrical set design. Murtić travelled and exhibited extensively in Europe and North America, gaining international recognition for his work, which can be found in museums, galleries and private collections worldwide. He was one of the founders of the group "March" (Mart) in 1956, and received many international awards. In 1958 Murtić participated in the three biggest events in the world of contemporary art: the Venice Biennale, the Carnegie Prize in Pittsburgh, and Documenta in Kassel. Interest in the art of Edo Murtić continues to grow, with retrospective exhibits in major museums. Read more
  • 04 May 1918: Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (died 1993) Kakuei Tanaka was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. Known for his background in construction and earthy and tenacious political style, Tanaka is the only modern Japanese prime minister who did not finish high school or graduate from a university. Read more
  • 04 May 1917: Nick Joaquin, Filipino writer, journalist and historian (died 2004) Nicomedes "Nick" Marquez Joaquin was a Filipino writer and journalist best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaquin was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for Literature. He has been considered one of the most important Filipino writers, along with José Rizal and Claro M. Recto. Unlike Rizal and Recto, whose works were written in Spanish, Joaquin's major works were written in English despite being literate in Spanish. Read more
  • 04 May 1916: Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (died 2006) Jane Isabel Jacobs was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) argued that "urban renewal" and "slum clearance" did not respect the needs of city-dwellers. Read more
  • 04 May 1916: Richard Proenneke, American soldier, carpenter, and meteorologist (died 2003) Richard Louis Proenneke was an American self-educated naturalist, conservationist, writer, and wildlife photographer who, from the age of about 51, lived alone for nearly thirty years (1968–1998) in a log cabin that he constructed near the shore of Twin Lakes in the Alaska Range. Proenneke hunted, fished, raised and gathered much of his own food, and also had supplies flown in occasionally. He documented his activities in journals and on film, and also recorded valuable meteorological and natural data. The journals and film were later used by others to write books and produce documentaries about his time in the wilderness. Read more
  • 04 May 1914: Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (died 1971) Maedayama Eigorō was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ehime Prefecture. He was the sport's 39th yokozuna. Read more
  • 04 May 1913: Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (died 2007) Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, styled in the United Kingdom as Lady Katherine Brandram from 1947 until 2007, was the third daughter and youngest child of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophia of Prussia. Read more
  • 04 May 1907: Lincoln Kirstein, American soldier and playwright, co-founded the New York City Ballet (died 1996) Lincoln Edward Kirstein was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, philanthropist, and cultural figure in New York City, noted especially as co-founder of the New York City Ballet. He developed and sustained the company with his organizing ability and fundraising for more than four decades, serving as the company's general director from 1946 to 1989. According to the New York Times, he was "an expert in many fields", organizing art exhibits and lecture tours in the same years. Read more
  • 04 May 1907: Walter Walsh, American target shooter and FBI agent (died 2014) Walter Rudolph Walsh was an FBI agent, USMC shooting instructor and Olympic shooter. Walsh joined the FBI in 1934, serving during the Public enemy era, and was involved in several high-profile FBI cases, including the capture of Arthur Barker and the killing of Al Brady. He served in the Pacific theatre during World War II with the Marine Corps and, after a brief return to the FBI, served as a shooting instructor with the Marine Corps until his retirement in the 1970s. Read more
  • 04 May 1905: Al Dexter, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1984) Clarence Albert Poindexter, known best as Al Dexter, was an American country musician and songwriter. Read more
  • 04 May 1903: Luther Adler, American actor (died 1984) Luther Adler was an American actor who worked in theatre, film, television, and directed plays on Broadway. Read more
  • 04 May 1902: Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (died 1986) Ronald Aird was an English first-class cricketer, cricket administrator and British Army officer. Aird began his first-class cricket career with Hampshire County Cricket Club in 1920, making over 100 appearances for the county in which he scored over 3,600 runs. After also playing first-class cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club while studying at Clare College, Aird was appointed assistant secretary of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1926, which restricted his appearances in first-class cricket thereafter. He served as assistant secretary under William Findlay and Rowan Rait Kerr, and was himself elected secretary following Kerr's retirement in 1952. Aird remained in the post until 1962 and became MCC president in 1968, the year in which he chaired the special general meeting of the MCC over relations with South Africa during the D'Oliveira affair. He was president of Hampshire County Cricket Club from 1971 to 1983. Outside of cricket, Aird served in the Second World War with the Royal Armoured Corps and was decorated with the Military Cross. Read more
  • 04 May 1890: Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (died 1945) Franklin Carmichael was a Canadian artist and member of the Group of Seven. Though he was primarily famous for his use of watercolours, he also used oil paints, charcoal and other media to capture the Ontario landscapes. Besides his work as a painter, he worked as a designer and illustrator, creating promotional brochures, advertisements in newspapers and magazines, and designing books. Near the end of his life, Carmichael taught in the Graphic Design and Commercial Art Department at the Ontario College of Art. Read more
  • 04 May 1889: Francis Spellman, American cardinal (died 1967) Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman was a senior-ranking American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967. From 1932 to 1939, Spellman served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston. He was created a cardinal by Pope Pius XII in 1946. Read more
  • 04 May 1887: Andrew Dasburg, French-American painter (died 1979) Andrew Michael Dasburg was an American modernist painter and "one of America's leading early exponents of cubism". Read more
  • 04 May 1884: Richard Baggallay, English army officer and cricketer (died 1975) Richard Romer Claude Baggallay was an English army officer and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1912 and 1919 and captained the side in 1913, 1914 and 1919. Read more
  • 04 May 1883: Wang Jingwei, Chinese politician (died 1944) Wang Zhaoming, widely known by his pen name Wang Jingwei, was a Chinese politician and poet who was leader of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China (RNG), a puppet state of the Empire of Japan during World War II. Read more
  • 04 May 1852: Alice Liddell, English model (died 1934) Alice Pleasance Hargreaves was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photographic subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip became the classic 1865 children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She shared her name with "Alice", the story's protagonist, but scholars disagree about the extent to which the character was based upon her. Read more
  • 04 May 1851: Thomas Dewing, American painter (died 1938) Thomas Wilmer Dewing was an American painter working at the turn of the 20th century. Schooled in Paris, Dewing was noted for his figure paintings of aristocratic women. He was a founding member of the Ten American Painters and taught at the Art Students League of New York. The Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution has a collection of his works. He was the husband of fellow artist Maria Oakey Dewing. Read more
  • 04 May 1843: Bianka Blume, German opera singer (died 1896) Bianka Blume was a German soprano opera singer. Read more
  • 04 May 1827: John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (died 1864) John Hanning Speke was an English explorer and army officer who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and, with Richard Burton, was the first European to reach Lake Victoria. Read more
  • 04 May 1826: Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (died 1900) Frederic Edwin Church was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, best known for painting large landscapes, often depicting mountains, waterfalls, and sunsets. Church's paintings put an emphasis on realistic detail, dramatic light, and panoramic views. He debuted some of his major works in single-painting exhibitions to a paying and often enthralled audience in New York City. In his prime, he was one of the most famous painters in the United States. Read more
  • 04 May 1825: Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anatomist, and academic (died 1895) Thomas Henry Huxley was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialised in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Read more
  • 04 May 1825: Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American historian, photographer, and academic (died 1908) Augustus Henry Julian Le Plongeon was a British-American antiquarian and photographer who studied the pre-Columbian ruins of America, particularly those of the Maya civilization on the northern Yucatán Peninsula. While his writings contain many notions that were not well received by his contemporaries and were later disproven, Le Plongeon left a lasting legacy in his photographs documenting the ancient ruins. He was one of the earliest proponents of Mayanism. Read more
  • 04 May 1822: Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian physician and politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (died 1915) Sir Charles-Eugène-Napoléon Boucher de Boucherville was a Canadian politician and medical doctor. He twice served as the premier of Quebec. Read more
  • 04 May 1820: Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (died 1889) Julia Gardiner Tyler was the first lady of the United States from June 26, 1844, to March 4, 1845, as the second wife of President John Tyler. A member of the influential Gardiner family, Tyler had many figures as suitors. She met the widowed President Tyler in 1842, and agreed to marry him after he comforted her in the aftermath of her father David Gardiner's death. They married in secret, making her first lady immediately upon their marriage, serving in the role for the final eight months of his presidency. Read more
  • 04 May 1820: John Whiteaker, American soldier, judge, and politician, 1st Governor of Oregon (died 1902) John Whiteaker was an American politician, soldier, and judge. A native of Indiana, he joined the army during the Mexican–American War and then prospected during the California Gold Rush. After moving to the Oregon Territory, he served as a judge and member of the legislature. A Democrat, Whiteaker served as the first state governor of Oregon from 1859 until 1862 and later was Oregon's Representative from 1879 to 1881. He also was president of the Oregon State Senate and Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 04 May in World History

  • 04 May 2024: Ron Kavana, Irish singer, songwriter, guitarist and band leader (born 1950) Ronnie Kavanagh, known by his stage name Ron Kavana, was an Irish singer, songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, and band leader. Born in the County Cork town of Fermoy, he was the son of an Irish father and an American mother from Chicago with Cajun roots. Read more
  • 04 May 2024: Frank Stella, American painter (born 1936) Frank Philip Stella was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career before moving his studio to Rock Tavern, New York. Stella's work catalyzed the minimalist movement in the late 1950s. He moved to New York City in the late 1950s, where he created works which emphasized the picture-as-object. These were influenced by the abstract expressionist work of artists like Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock. Read more
  • 04 May 2021: Nick Kamen, English model, songwriter (born 1962) Ivor Neville "Nick" Kamen was a British singer, songwriter and model. He was best known for the singles "Each Time You Break My Heart" from 1986 and "I Promised Myself" from 1990, as well as for appearing in a 1985 Levi's advert. Read more
  • 04 May 2020: Don Shula, American football player and coach (born 1930) Donald Francis Shula was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his career, Shula is the NFL's winningest head coach at 347 career victories and 328 regular season victories. He is regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time. Read more
  • 04 May 2020: Greg Zanis, American carpenter and activist (born 1950) Greg Zanis was an American carpenter known for building and delivering personalized crosses to shooting victims across the United States. Read more
  • 04 May 2019: Alia Abdulnoor, Emirati imprisoned woman (born 1977) Alia Abdulnoor was an Emirati woman convicted of supporting and financing Al Qaeda. She was arrested in 2015 and sentenced in 2017 to a 10 year imprisonment on convictions of financing Al Qaeda, transmitting it's communications, and promoting its ideology; however, human rights activists and her family claim she was arrested for donations made to Syrian women and children in 2011 during the Syrian civil war. While imprisoned, Abdulnoor was allegedly tortured and denied medical assistance for her breast cancer relapse. Despite calls for release from human rights activists, she died in 2019 in Tawam hospital in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi. Read more
  • 04 May 2016: Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Burundian politician (born 1946) Jean-Baptiste Bagaza was a Burundian army officer and politician who ruled Burundi as president and de facto military dictator from November 1976 to September 1987. Read more
  • 04 May 2015: William Bast, American screenwriter and author (born 1931) William Bast was an American screenwriter and author. In addition to writing scripts for motion pictures and television, he was the author of two biographies of the screen actor James Dean. He often worked with his partner, Paul Huson. Read more
  • 04 May 2015: Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (born 1913) Ellen Rose Albertini Dow was an American film and television character actress and drama coach. She portrayed feisty old ladies and is best known as the rapping grandmother Rosie in The Wedding Singer (1998), performing "Rapper's Delight". Dow's other film roles include elderly lady Mary Cleary who "outs" her grandson in Wedding Crashers, Disco Dottie in 54, the recipient of Christopher Lloyd's character's slapstick in Radioland Murders and a choir nun in Sister Act. She was best known to small screen audiences for her guest appearances on sitcoms The Golden Girls and Will & Grace. Read more
  • 04 May 2015: Marv Hubbard, American football player (born 1946) Marvin Ronald Hubbard was an American professional football fullback who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Oakland Raiders. Read more
  • 04 May 2014: Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (born 1924) Richard Bache Ayers was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on some of the earliest issues of Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four. He is the signature penciler of Marvel's World War II comic Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, drawing it for a 10-year run, and he co-created Magazine Enterprises' 1950s Western-horror character the Ghost Rider, a version of which he would draw for Marvel in the 1960s. Read more
  • 04 May 2014: Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (born 1983) Elena Sergeevna Baltacha was a Ukrainian-born British professional tennis player. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, she was also a long-term British No. 1, a position she held intermittently from 2002 to 2012. However, as a result of her absence from competition due to knee surgery, she dropped down the world rankings and at the time of her retirement on 18 November 2013, she was ranked as the world No. 221 and British No. 6. Her career-high ranking of world No. 49 was achieved in September 2010. Read more
  • 04 May 2014: Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (born 1923) Edgar Maurice Cortright was a scientist and engineer, and senior official at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States. His most prominent positions during his career were Director of NASA's Langley Research Center, and Chairman of the Apollo 13 Review Board which investigated the explosion that occurred during the Apollo 13 spaceflight in 1970. Read more
  • 04 May 2014: Helga Königsdorf, German physicist and author (born 1938) Helga Königsdorf was an East German statistician and novelist. She is notable for becoming distinguished in two distinct careers – science and literature.

    She wrote three books on mathematics, two co-written with her husband Olaf Bunke, who outlived her by seven years, and thirteen literary books of her own.
    My Indecent Dreams, her first collection of short stories, was published at the age of 40.
    Fission is her best-known novel. Königsdorf died of Parkinson's disease in 2014 at the age of 75. Read more

  • 04 May 2014: Ross Lonsberry, Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1947) David Ross Lonsberry was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins. He had his best seasons in a Flyers uniform and was a member of Philadelphia's back-to-back Stanley Cup championship teams in the mid-1970s. Read more
  • 04 May 2014: Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1948) Jean-Paul Ngoupandé was a Central African politician who was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 1996 to 1997. He stood as a presidential candidate in 1999 and 2005, and he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2006. He was President of the National Unity Party, an entity which he founded in the mid-1990s. He presented himself as an enemy of corruption and a defender of fair elections and democratic institutions. Read more
  • 04 May 2013: Otis Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (born 1918) Otis Ray Bowen was an American politician and physician who served as the 44th Governor of Indiana from 1973 to 1981 and as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1989. Read more
  • 04 May 2013: Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917) Christian René Marie Joseph, Viscount de Duve was a Nobel Prize-winning Belgian cytologist and biochemist. He made serendipitous discoveries of two cell organelles, peroxisomes and lysosomes, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 with Albert Claude and George E. Palade. In addition to peroxisome and lysosome, he invented scientific names such as autophagy, endocytosis, and exocytosis on a single occasion. Read more
  • 04 May 2013: Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (born 1948) Javier Diez Canseco Cisneros was a Peruvian politician and member of the Peruvian Congress representing the Socialist Party of Peru (PS), of which he was a founding member and also served as its Party President. Read more
  • 04 May 2013: Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (born 1935) Mário Machado was an American television and radio broadcaster and actor. He made television history when, in 1970, he became the first American of Chinese heritage to be an on-air television news reporter and anchor in Los Angeles and perhaps in the nation. Read more
  • 04 May 2013: Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (born 1914) Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Charles Morgan-Giles, was a Royal Navy officer, decorated during the Second World War, who later served as a Conservative Member of Parliament. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former member of the House of Commons. Read more
  • 04 May 2013: César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban guitarist and composer (born 1922) César Portillo de la Luz was a Cuban musician, lyricist and composer. Born in Havana, Cuba, Portillo is credited with founding the filin music genre. The Miami Herald described Portillo as "a fundamental author of Latin American music" and "one of Cuba's most celebrated composers". Portillo is also cited as "the most distinguished lyricist of his generation" and "one of the most prolific Cuban composers of the twentieth century". Read more
  • 04 May 2012: Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1923)
    Mort Lindsey was an orchestrator, composer, pianist, conductor and musical director for Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Pat Boone, Jack Narz, and Merv Griffin. Read more
  • 04 May 2012: Bob Stewart, American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (born 1920) Bob Stewart was an American television game show producer. He was active in the TV industry from 1956 until his retirement in 1991. Read more
  • 04 May 2012: Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (born 1964) Adam Nathaniel Yauch, also known by the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bassist, filmmaker, and a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed many of the band's music videos and did much of their promotional photography, often using the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér for such work. Read more
  • 04 May 2012: Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (born 1963) Rashidi Yekini was a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward. Yekini is widely regarded as one of the greatest Nigerian footballers of all time and one of the greatest players from the continent of Africa. Powerful, fast, and clinical in front of goal. His emotional World Cup celebration became one of the most iconic moments in Nigerian sports history. He was known by his Nigerian team mates and fans as "The Goals Father", he scored more than 480 goals in over 670 games in his career. Read more
  • 04 May 2011: Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (born 1924) Samuel McKee McCrory was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, most notably spending five years with Southend United and scoring the first goal at their Roots Hall stadium. Read more
  • 04 May 2009: Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (born 1933) Dominick DeLuise was an American actor, comedian, director, musician, chef, and author. Known primarily for comedic roles, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows. He is widely recognized for his performances in the films of Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, as well as a series of collaborations and a double act with Burt Reynolds. Beginning in the 1980s, his popularity expanded to younger audiences from voicing characters in several major animated productions, particularly those of Don Bluth. Read more
  • 04 May 2008: Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (born 1918) Fredric John Baur Jr. was an American organic chemist and food storage scientist notable for designing the Pringles packaging. Baur filed for a patent for the tubular Pringles container and for the method of packaging the curved, stacked potato chip in the container in 1966, and it was granted in 1971. His other accomplishments included development of frying oils and freeze-dried ice cream. Baur was a graduate of the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, and received both his master's and PhD degrees at Ohio State University. He also served in the U.S. Navy as an aviation physiologist. He was a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio. Read more
  • 04 May 2005: David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (born 1930) Colonel David Haskell Hackworth was a United States Army officer and journalist, who was highly decorated in both the Korean War and Vietnam War. Hackworth is known for his role in the formation and command of Tiger Force, a military unit from the 101st Airborne Division that used guerrilla warfare tactics against Viet Cong in South Vietnam. Read more
  • 04 May 2004: David Reimer, Canadian man, born male but reassigned female and raised as a girl after a botched circumcision (born 1965) David Reimer was a Canadian boy raised as a girl following medical advice and intervention after his penis was severely injured during a botched circumcision in infancy. Read more
  • 04 May 2001: Bonnie Lee Bakley, American model, wife of Robert Blake (born 1956) Bonny Lee Bakley was the second wife of actor Robert Blake, who was her tenth husband. Bakley was fatally shot while sitting in Blake's parked car near a restaurant in Studio City in May 2001. Read more
  • 04 May 2000: Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist and academic (born 1909) Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir was a Dutch physicist who made significant contributions to the field of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. He is best known for his work on the Casimir effect, which describes the attractive force between two uncharged plates in a vacuum due to quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. Read more
  • 04 May 1998: Christine Kurzhals, German politician (born 1950) Christine Kurzhals was a German engineer and politician who served in the Bundestag from 1994 until her death in 1998. A member of the Social Democratic Party from Saxony, she was prominent for her role in the inner reunification process. Read more
  • 04 May 1995: Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (born 1922) Constance Wisniewski was a starting pitcher and outfielder who played from 1944 through 1952 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5' 8", 147 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Read more
  • 04 May 1993: France Štiglic, Slovenian film director and screenwriter (born 1919) France Štiglic was a Slovenian film director and screenwriter. His 1948 film On Our Own Land was entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival. His film The Ninth Circle (1960) was Yugoslavia's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 33rd Academy Awards, where it was shortlisted for the award. Read more
  • 04 May 1992: Gregor Mackenzie, Scottish politician (born 1927)
    James Gregor Mackenzie was a British Labour Party politician. Read more
  • 04 May 1991: Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer-songwriter and mandolin player (born 1902) Mohammed Abdel Wahab, pronounced [moˈħamːæd ˌʕæbd‿el wæˈhæːb]; 13 March 1902 – 4 May 1991), was an Egyptian singer and actor best known for his romantic and Egyptian patriotic songs. Read more
  • 04 May 1990: Emily Remler, American guitarist (born 1957) Emily Remler was an American jazz guitarist, active from the late 1970s until her death in 1990. Read more
  • 04 May 1988: Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (born 1891) Lillian Estelle Fisher was one of the first women to earn a doctorate in Latin American history in the U.S. She published important works on Spanish colonial administration; a biography of Manuel Abad y Queipo, reform bishop-elect of Michoacan; and a monograph on the Tupac Amaru rebellion in Peru. As distinguished colonial Latin American historian John J. TePaske put it in 1968, "At least three generations of graduate students have studied the works of Lillian Estelle Fisher." Fisher is included as an example of sexual/gender discrimination in the historical profession. Read more
  • 04 May 1987: Paul Butterfield, American singer and harmonica player (born 1942) Paul Vaughn Butterfield was an American blues harmonica player, singer, and bandleader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his native Chicago, where he met Muddy Waters and other blues greats, who provided encouragement and opportunities for him to join in jam sessions. He soon began performing with fellow blues enthusiasts Nick Gravenites and Elvin Bishop. Read more
  • 04 May 1987: Cathryn Damon, American actress (born 1930) Cathryn Lee Damon was an American actress known for her roles in sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s. She was best known as Mary Campbell in Soap, for which she was nominated three times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 1980. Read more
  • 04 May 1985: Fikri Sönmez, Turkish tailor and politician (born 1938) Fikri Sönmez was a Turkish communist politician, who served as the mayor of Fatsa district of Ordu Province between 1979 and 1980. Read more
  • 04 May 1985: Clarence Wiseman, English-Canadian 10th General of The Salvation Army (born 1907) Clarence Dexter Wiseman, was the tenth General of The Salvation Army from 1974 to 1977. Read more
  • 04 May 1984: Diana Dors, English actress (born 1931) Diana Dors was an English actress and singer. Read more
  • 04 May 1983: Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (born 1911) Nino Sanzogno was an Italian conductor and composer. Read more
  • 04 May 1981: C. Loganathan, Sri Lankan banker (born 1913) Chelliah Loganathan was a Ceylon Tamil banker and the first Ceylonese general manager of the Bank of Ceylon. Read more
  • 04 May 1980: Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (born 1892) Josip Broz, commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who led Yugoslavia as prime minister from 1943 to 1963 and as president from 1953 until his death in 1980. He was the longtime leader of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, supreme commander of the Yugoslav Partisans during World War II, and was one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement. The political ideology and policies associated with his rule are known as Titoism. Read more
  • 04 May 1980: Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson, Scottish pianist and composer (born 1920) Joseph Turner Henderson, known as Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson, was a Scottish pianist, composer and recording artist who became well-known in Britain in the 1950s, with his entertainment career continuing into the 1960s and 1970s. Read more
  • 04 May 1976: Frank Strahan, Australian public servant (born 1886) Frank Strahan was a senior Australian public servant. Between 1935 and 1949, he was Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department. Read more
  • 04 May 1975: Moe Howard, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (born 1897) Moe Howard was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader and straight man of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures, short films, and television for four decades. The group started out as Ted Healy and His Stooges, an act that toured the vaudeville circuit. Moe's distinctive hairstyle came about when he was a boy and cut off his curls with a pair of scissors, producing an irregular shape approximating a bowl cut. Read more
  • 04 May 1973: Jane Bowles, American author and playwright (born 1917) Jane Bowles was an American writer and playwright. Read more
  • 04 May 1972: Father Chrysanthus, Dutch arachnologist (born 1905) Wilhelmus Egbertus Antonius Janssen, better known as Father Chrysanthus OFMCap, was a Dutch priest and biology teacher. He was known for his studies in arachnology. Initially he was concerned with the spiders of the Netherlands but he became a specialist on New Guinea spiders. Two spider species were named in his honor following his death. Read more
  • 04 May 1972: Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1886) Edward Calvin Kendall was an American biochemist. In 1950, Kendall was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Swiss chemist Tadeusz Reichstein and Mayo Clinic physician Philip S. Hench, for their work with the hormones of the adrenal glands. Kendall not only researched the adrenal glands, he also isolated thyroxine, a hormone of the thyroid gland and worked with the team that crystallized glutathione and identified its chemical structure. Read more
  • 04 May 1971: William Brown Meloney, writer and theatrical producer (born 1902) William Brown Meloney V was a journalist, novelist, short-story writer and theatrical producer. Read more
  • 04 May 1969: Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian author and poet (born 1892) Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE was an English writer. His elder sister was Edith Sitwell and his younger brother was Sacheverell Sitwell. Like them, he devoted his life to art and literature. Read more
  • 04 May 1964: Karl Robert Pusta, Estonian politician, 4th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1883) Kaarel Robert Pusta was an Estonian politician and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. During the Second World War, he served as special assistant to the consulate general of Estonia. Read more
  • 04 May 1955: George Enescu, Romanian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1881) George Enescu, known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Read more
  • 04 May 1953: Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (born 1876) Alexandre Emmanuel Pharamond was the captain of the French rugby union team in the early 20th century. Read more
  • 04 May 1945: Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (born 1880) Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock was a German Generalfeldmarschall who served in the German Army during the Second World War. Bock served as the commander of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland in 1939, of Army Group B during the Invasion of France in 1940, of Army Group Center during Operation Barbarossa in 1941, and of Army Group South on the Eastern Front in 1942. Read more
  • 04 May 1941: Chris McKivat, Australian rugby player and coach (born 1880) Christopher Hobart McKivat was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests and tour matches from 1907 to 1909 and the Kangaroos in 5 Tests from 1910 to 1912. He is unique in Australian rugby history as the only man to captain both the national rugby union and rugby league teams. Following his playing career, he became the most successful coach of North Sydney in the club's history. Read more
  • 04 May 1938: Kanō Jigorō, Japanese founder of judo (born 1860) Kanō Jigorō was a Japanese judoka, educator, politician, and the founder of judo. Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the relative ranking among members of a martial-art-style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include "maximum efficiency minimal effort" and "mutual welfare and benefit" . Read more
  • 04 May 1938: Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1889) Carl von Ossietzky was a German journalist and pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German rearmament. Read more
  • 04 May 1937: Gina Oselio, Norwegian opera singer (born 1858). Gina Oselio was a Norwegian operatic mezzo-soprano. Her signature role was the title heroine in Georges Bizet's Carmen. Oselio was sponsored by Oscar II who he gave her the title of "hofsangerinde", and she was the only Norwegian person to receive the honour. Read more
  • 04 May 1924: E. Nesbit, English author and poet (born 1858) Edith Nesbit was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children and others as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist and co-founder of the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. Read more
  • 04 May 1923: Ralph McKittrick, American golfer and tennis player (born 1877) Ralph McKittrick was an American golfer and tennis player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. Read more
  • 04 May 1922: Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (born 1888) Viktor Eduard Kingissepp was an Estonian communist politician who was a founder and leading member of the Estonian Communist Party. Read more
  • 04 May 1919: Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general and politician (born 1880) Milan Rastislav Štefánik was a Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator and astronomer. During World War I, he served at the same time as a general in the French Army and as Minister of War for Czechoslovakia. As one of the leading members of the Czechoslovak National Council, he contributed decisively to the cause of Czechoslovak sovereignty, since the status of Czech- and Slovak-populated territories was one of those in question until shortly before the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918. His personal motto was "To Believe, To Love, To Work". Read more
  • 04 May 1916: Ned Daly, Irish rebel commander (Easter Rising) (born 1891) John Edward Daly was commandant of Dublin's 1st Battalion of the Irish Volunteers during the Easter Rising of 1916. He was the youngest man to hold that rank and the youngest executed in the aftermath. Read more
  • 04 May 1916: John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (born 1851) John (Jack) Murray was an Australian politician who was the 23rd premier of Victoria from 1909 to 1912. Read more
  • 04 May 1916: Willie Pearse, Irish rebel (born 1881) William James Pearse was an Irish republican executed for his part in the Easter Rising. He was a younger brother of Patrick Pearse, a leader of the rising. Read more
  • 04 May 1916: Joseph Plunkett, Irish rebel and writer (born 1887) Joseph Mary Plunkett was an Irish republican, poet and journalist. As a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising, he was one of the seven signatories to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Plunkett married Grace Gifford in 1916, seven hours before his execution. Read more
  • 04 May 1912: Nettie Stevens, American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (born 1861) Nettie Maria Stevens was an American geneticist who discovered sex chromosomes. In 1905, soon after the rediscovery of Mendel's paper on genetics in 1900, she observed that male mealworms produced two kinds of sperm, one with a large chromosome and one with a small chromosome. When the sperm with the large chromosome fertilized eggs, they produced female offspring, and when the sperm with the small chromosome fertilized eggs, they produced male offspring. The pair of sex chromosomes that she studied later became known as the X and Y chromosomes. Read more
  • 04 May 1903: Gotse Delchev, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (born 1872) Georgi Nikolov Delchev, known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev, was a prominent Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary (komitadji) and one of the most important leaders of what is commonly known as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). He was active in the Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Adrianople regions, as well as in Bulgaria, at the turn of the 20th century. Delchev was IMRO's foreign representative in Sofia, the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria. As such, he was also a member of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC) for a period, participating in the work of its governing body. Although he considered the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising premature, Delchev participated in its preparation. He was killed in a skirmish with an Ottoman unit on the eve of the uprising. Read more
  • 04 May 1901: John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (born 1831) John Jones Ross was a Canadian politician. Ross served as the seventh premier of Quebec and later as a member of the Senate of Canada. Read more
  • 04 May 1880: Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (born 1815) Edward Clark was an America politician, slaveowner, and the eighth governor of Texas. When Governor Sam Houston refused to serve the Confederate States of America following the state's secession from the United States in February, 1861, he was removed from office and Clark replaced Houston as governor. Clark's term coincided with the outbreak of the American Civil War. Read more
  • 04 May 1859: Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (born 1771) Joseph Diez Gergonne was a French mathematician and logician. Read more
  • 04 May 1839: Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (born 1784) Denis Vasilyevich Davydov was a Russian soldier-poet of the Napoleonic Wars who invented the genre of hussar poetry, characterised by hedonism and bravado. He used events from his own life to illustrate such poetry. He suggested and successfully pioneered guerrilla warfare in the Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon. Read more
  • 04 May 1826: Sebastián Kindelán y O'Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Santo Domingo and Cuba (born 1757) Sebastian Kindelán y O'Regan, also called Sebastián de Kindelán y Oregón, was a colonel in the Spanish Army who served as governor of East Florida and of Santo Domingo during the Second Spanish period (1818–1821), as well as provisional governor of Cuba (1822–1823). Read more
  • 04 May 1824: Joseph Joubert, French author (born 1754) Joseph Joubert was a French moralist and essayist, remembered today largely for his Pensées (Thoughts), which were published posthumously. Read more
  • 04 May 1816: Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (born 1761) Samuel Dexter was an early American statesman who served both in Congress and in the Presidential Cabinets of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Dexter was a 1781 graduate of Harvard College. After receiving his degree he studied law, attained admission to the bar in 1784, and began to practice in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. Read more
  • 04 May 1811: Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (born 1776) Count Nikolay Mikhailovich Kamensky was a Russian general, younger son of Field Marshal Count Mikhail Fedotovich Kamensky and his wife, Princess Anna Pavlovna Shcherbatova (1749-1826). Read more

Why is 04 May Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 04 May, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 04 May in World history?

On 04 May, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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