Today In History [4th May, 2015]

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

Today in History
May 4
1471           In England, the Yorkists defeat the Landcastians at the battle of Tewkesbury.
1626           Indians sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth and buttons.
1715           A French manufacturer debuts the first folding umbrella.
1776           Rhode Island declares independence from England.
1795           Thousands of rioters enter jails in Lyons, France, and massacre 99 Jacobin prisoners.
1814           Napoleon Bonaparte disembarks at Portoferraio on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.
1863           The Battle of Chancellorsville ends when Union Army retreats.
1864           Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces cross the Rapidan River and meet Robert E. Lee's Confederate army.
1927           A balloon soars over 40,000 feet for the first time.
1930           Mahatma Gandhi is arrested by the British.
1942           The Battle of the Coral Sea commences.
1942           The United States begins food rationing.
1961           13 civil rights activists, dubbed Freedom Riders, begin a bus trip through the South.
1970           Ohio National Guardsmen open fire on student protesters at Kent State University, killing four and wounding nine others.

Born on May 4
1796           Horace Mann, educator and author.
1820           Joseph Whitaker, bookseller and publisher (Whitaker's Almanac)
1825           Thomas Henry Huxley, British biologist.
1827           John Hanning Speke, English explorer.
1874           Frank Conrad, electrical engineer and broadcasting pioneer.
1884           Agnes Fay Morgan, American nutritionist and biochemist.
1928           Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet.
1929           Audrey Hepburn (Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Rusten), actress, later U.N. special ambassador.
1939           Amos Oz, Israeli novelist (The Black Box, TheThird State).
1949           Graham Swift, British novelist (The Sweet Shop Owner, Out of this World).