Date·Lore

On This Day · The 124th day of the year

May 4

May 4 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1814 and 2000. Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.

♉ZodiacTaurus ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on May 4?

May 4 is the 124th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1814 and 2000. Famous people born on May 4 include Cesc Fàbregas, Wang Jingwei and James van Riemsdyk.

The shape of the day

100 years on from United Kingdom, May 4 is a date with an anniversary worth pausing on. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where politics and nation-building recur.

Taurus is the sign for May 4 — read more on the Taurus page, or see May's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on May 4

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • TV Born with Luck

2023

  • Game Ravenlok
  • TV Silo

2022

  • Game Dinosaur Fossil Hunter

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1814

    Napoleon

    Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.

  2. 1904

    Panama Canal

    The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.

  3. 1919

    May Fourth Movement

    May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.

  4. 1926

    United Kingdom

    The United Kingdom general strike begins.

  5. 1942

    World War II

    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.

  6. 1949

    Torino FC

    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.

  7. 1970

    Vietnam War

    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.

  8. 1979

    Margaret Thatcher

    Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

  9. 1990

    Latvia

    Latvia declares independence from the Soviet Union.

  10. 2000

    Ken Livingstone

    Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).

Famous birthday twins

Born on May 4

Cesc Fàbregas

b. 1987

Spanish footballer and manager

Wang Jingwei

b. 1883

Chinese politician

James van Riemsdyk

b. 1989

American ice hockey player

Brad Maddox

b. 1984

American wrestler and referee

Hosni Mubarak

b. 1928

Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt

Audrey Hepburn

b. 1929

Belgian-British actress and humanitarian

Jackie Jackson

b. 1951

American singer-songwriter and dancer

Werner Faymann

b. 1960

Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria

Deaths

  • 2014Jean-Paul Ngoupandé
  • 1980Josip Broz Tito
  • 1923Ralph McKittrick
  • 1799Tipu Sultan
  • 1774Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick
  • 1038Gotthard of Hildesheim

Holidays & observances

  • —Anti-Bullying Day (United Nations)
  • —Bird Day (United States)
  • —Cassinga Day (Namibia)
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Michał Giedroyć
  • —Christian feast day: English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era (Church of England)
  • —Christian feast day: F. C. D. Wyneken (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
  • —Christian feast day: Florian

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

Born on this day?

Make your birthday card.

Drop in your birth year and we'll work out your exact age, the day of the week you were born, your Chinese zodiac, your generation, and the countdown to your next candle.