What Happened on my Birthday May 4

Today is May 4, the 124th day. There are 241 days left in the year. Did you ever wonder "What happened on my birthday May 4?" "What famous person was born on my birthday May 4", "What historical event took place on the day I was born, May 4?", or "What special celebrations took place during my birth month, May?" This blog offers information about historical happenings and famous birthdays
For the definitive list,
click the link
May 4 Events

May the Fourth Be With You

Today's Highlight in History:
Fifty years ago, on May 4, 1959, the first-ever Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Domenico Modugno won Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)"; Henry Mancini won Album of the Year for "The Music from Peter Gunn."

What Happened on my Birthday May 4 in US



1626, Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on present-day Manhattan Island.Indians sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth and buttons
1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, a labor demonstration for an eight-hour work day turned into a deadly riot when a bomb exploded.
1904, the United States took over construction of the Panama Canal.
1916, responding to a demand from President Woodrow Wilson, Germany agreed to limit its submarine warfare, thereby averting a diplomatic break with Washington. (However, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare the following year.)
1932, mobster Al Capone, convicted of income-tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in Atlanta. (Capone was later transferred to Alcatraz Island.)
In 1945, during World War II, German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany agreed to surrender.
1946, a two-day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay ended, the violence having claimed five lives.
1961, a group of "Freedom Riders" left Washington D.C. for New Orleans to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals.
1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others.
2001, Bonny Lee Bakley, wife of actor Robert Blake, was shot to death as she sat in a car in Los Angeles. (Blake, accused of the killing, was acquitted in a criminal trial but was found liable by a civil jury and ordered to pay damages.)
1999 Five New York City police officers went on trial for the torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.
(One officer later pleaded guilty to civil rights violations; a second later pleaded guilty to perjury; the remaining three were acquitted of brutality charges. Two of those three were later convicted of conspiring to obstruct justice; those convictions were overturned.)
2004 The US Army disclosed that the deaths of ten prisoners and abuse of ten more in Iraq and Afghanistan were under criminal investigation, as U.S. commanders in Baghdad announced interrogation changes. The United States walked out of a U.N.meeting to protest its decision minutes later to give Sudan a third term on the Human Rights Commission.


What Happened on my Birthday May 4 in UK and Other History

1494 Christopher Columbus lands in Jamaica
1896 1st edition of London Daily Mail ( penny)

1999 Work crews struggled to restore electricity across Serbia after NATO strikes on major power grids left Belgrade and other cities in the dark

Famous Birthdays

1923 UK Comedian Eric Sykes
1928 The president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak..see picture above
1929 Audrey Hepburn
1950 Irish musician Darryl Hunt (The Pogues)
1951 Singer Jackie Jackson (The Jacksons).
1952 UK entertainer Michael Barrymore
1955 Pia Zadora

For more, click the link
What Happened on my Birthday May 4

This ‘What Happened on my Birthday May 4’ blog entry is copyright of Jon Bratton 2009