The People History Home

May 4th Major News Events

  1. 1886 Haymarket Square protest ends in violence in Chicago.
  2. 1959 The first Grammy Awards are presented.
  3. 1945 German troops surrendered in the Netherlands during WWII.
  4. 1970 US National Guard fired on protests at Kent State.
  5. 2000 Ken Livingstone chosen as London’s first elected mayor.

Find More Details for What happened 4th May This Day in History on your birthday

2007 - U.S.A Greensburg, Kansas Tornado

2007 : An EF5 tornado nearly 2 miles wide travels through the city of Greensburg, Kansas leveling most of the city and killing eleven people, the winds were estimated in the tornado to reach 205 mph. The video gives an idea of the complete devastation caused by the tornado.

4 May, 1970 - U.S.A. Kent State University Shootings

1970 : After a number of days of protest against US invasion of Cambodia the National Guards fired on protesters at Kent State University and 4 were killed and a further 10 were injured. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sang about it with the song "Ohio"

4 May, 1932 - U.S.A. Al Capone

1932 : Al Capone begins life as convict 40886 in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary serving 11 years for Income Tax Evasion.

1886 - U.S.A. Haymarket Square Riot

1886 : A labor rally held in protest of the killing of a striker by the Chicago police the day before at Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois, ends with more violence as a bomb is thrown by the protesters and at the police and police responded with wild gunfire, killing several people in the crowd and injuring dozens more.

4 May, 1920 - Paris Opera House

1920 : The Symphony Society of New York presented a concert at the Paris Opera House. This was the first time an American orchestra made a tour abroad to Europe.

4 May, 1926 - Great Britain General Strike

1926 At the end of the second day of Great Britain General Strike the government has asked for approval of A State of Emergency with powers for the armed forces to take over important industries including transport and power supply, currently there are a number of major cities running on 1/3 of power and with food rotting in docks around the country.

Born This Day In History 4th May

Celebrating Birthday Today

Audrey Hepburn

Born: Edda Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston, May 4th, 1929, Brussels, Belgium

Died: January 20th, 1993 Tolochenaz, Switzerland

Known For : Audrey Hepburn attended school in England from the age of five, but returned to the Low Countries on the onset of World War Two. Audrey's maternal grandparents were a baron and baroness. Post war she studied ballet in Holland until her school was closed. She returned to England where was told that she didn't have the height for a prima ballerina and that the deprivations she had suffered from the war would prevent her continuing her lessons in it. She subsequently took to the London stage, before finding a featured role in Sauce Picquant, and started to take classes in speech, modelling and movement. Her attempts at being cast into film roles landed her with the opportunity to play Gigi in a Broadway show, and her Hollywood career started with Roman Holiday, for which she won the 1953 Best Actress Oscar. She remained friends with Gregory Peck for the rest of her life, and married Mel Ferrer. After the birth of her son, Sean, in 1961 she began work on Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Her subsequent roles are not particularly well known (despite being nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her part in The Nun's Story), and her acting career was not revitalized until 1975 when she starred in Robin and Marion with Sean Connery, Bloodline and They All Laughed. Audrey was a well-known fan of Jack Russells, and she devoted her last years in working for UNICEF.

From 1920s Fashions Page

Khaki Riding Suit 1922 Khaki Riding Suit
Price: $7.75

Splendid quality two-piece riding habit, made of a very excellent grade of cotton khaki cloth. Outfit consists of attractive tailored coat in smart semi-fitted belted style, and separate breeches. Breeches fasten at both sides and hips. Legs are finished at bottom with eyelets and fasten with laces.


1930 - India Mahatma Gandhi

1930 : The leader of India's civil disobedience campaign, Mahatma Gandhi, was taken into British police custody.

1945 - Holland German Troops Surrender

1945 : German forces in Holland and Denmark surrender to British Troops.

1948 - U.S.A. Rail Strike

1948 : The leaders of the three rail unions have threatened to call a national rail strike which will cripple the countries commerce and the federal government is looking at federal seizure of the railways as a way of keeping transport going.

1959 - U.S.A. Grammy Awards

1959 : The first year of Grammy Awards by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences are presented.

1966 - UK Doctors and Dentists

1966 : Following a pay review body recommendations doctors' and dentists' salaries are to be increased by up to 30%.

1969 - U.S.A. Student Protesters

1969 : More arrests and demonstrations are happening by student protesters on College and University campuses both against the Vietnam War and on grounds of civil liberties for African-American students. As a result, more colleges are calling in National Guardsman to break up demonstrations which is in turn leading to more unrest.

1970 - Kent State University Shootings

1970 : After a number of days of protest against US invasion of Cambodia the National Guards fired on protesters at Kent State University and 4 were killed and a further 10 were injured.

Born This Day In History 4th May

Celebrating Birthday Today

Lance Bass

Born: May 4th 1979 (age 41 years), Laurel, MS

Known For : A member American pop boy band NSYNC ( Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass ) who had hits from late nineties to early 2000's including top hit Singles "Bye Bye Bye", "This I Promise You", "Girlfriend", "Pop" and "It's Gonna Be Me" NSYNC and has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands in history.

1979 - UK Mrs Thatcher

1979 : Mrs Thatcher arrives at Downing Street to take over from the defeated labour leader James Callaghan after winning an overall majority in British Elections.

1982 - Falkland Islands HMS Sheffield

1982 : Argentina strikes back at British Forces following the sinking of General Belgrano sinking the The British warship HMS Sheffield with an Argentine Exocet missile fired from an Argentinean fighter bomber.

1987 - U.S.A. Iran-Contra Affair

1987 : The house and senate committee begin 3 months of hearings into Iran-Contra affair which was the sale of American arms sold secretly to Iran and some of the proceeds were diverted to Contra Rebels seeking to overthrow the Government of Nicaragua.

2000 - UK Ken Livingstone

2000 : Ken Livingstone an independent is elected as London's first elected mayor with a clear victory polling nearly 40% of first preferences in the mayoral election.

2002 - Nigeria Plane Crash

2002 : A Nigerian BAC 1-11-500 aircraft crashes into the town of Kano and explodes in a densely populated section killing 148 people.

2005 - Pakistan Top al-Qaeda Suspect Captured

2005 : Pakistani authorities captured and arrested suspected al-Qaeda chief Abu Faraj al-Libbi. The suspect was thought to be high ranking within the organization and critical to the planning and facilitating of al-Qaeda activities.

Visit our 1950's Music Page

Popular Music from the 1950s, Genres including Rock 'n' Roll, Traditional Pop, Country, Rhythm & Blues, top songs and artists from each year Includes a description of each Genre and the top performers and songs for each year in the Fifties

Fifties Music

2006 - US Picasso Painting Sold at Auction

2006 : Picasso's portrait of his lover Dora Maar was sold at an auction at Sotheby's in New York for 95.2 million dollars. The portrait, painted in 1941, was considered the second most expensive painting at the time, under another Picasso painting that sold for 104 million dollars in 2004.

2007 - Haiti Migrants Dead After Boat Capsizes

2007 : At least twenty migrants from Haiti are killed after their boat capsizes in the Atlantic Ocean. The boat carrying about 150 capsized just South of the Turks and Caicos Islands and many other passengers were rescued.

2008 - Obama Wins Democratic Caucus in Guam

2008 : Barack Obama narrowly defeated Hilary Clinton at the Democratic caucus in Guam, a United States territory. While citizens of Guam cannot vote in a United States presidential election they have the ability to choose delegates to help select the Democratic presidential candidate.

2009 - North Korean Ship Saved

2009 : A North Korean cargo ship was saved from an attempted pirate attack by a South Korean warship off the coast of Somalia. The South Korean ship answered the North Korean ship's distress calls and was thanked by the North Korean ship, despite the two countries being at war with each other for over fifty years.

2011 - Prince Charles Meets With President Obama

2011 : Great Britain's Prince Charles made a visit to the White House to discuss the environment and energy issues with US President Barack Obama. The meeting rounded out the Prince's two day trip to the United States, during which he spoke at the Future of Food conference and met with US veterans in addition to meeting with the president.

2012 - United States Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch Dies

2012 : Rapper Adam Yauch, MCA of the Beastie Boys, died at the age of forty-seven after struggling with salivary gland cancer since 2009. Yauch was known for being a member of the ground-breaking rap group the Beastie Boys and for his lifetime of activism in the Free Tibet movement.

2013 - Solar Plane Lands in Arizona

2013 : The Solar Impulse plane, an aircraft powered completely by solar energy, successfully completed its first leg of a journey across the United States. The Solar Impulse landed in Phoenix, Arizona eighteen hours after leaving its starting point in San Francisco, California.