May 4

Birthdays:

2009~ Prince Henrik of Denmark (né Henrik Carl Joachim Alain), son of Prince Joachim of Denmark and his second wife, Marie Cavalier.

1979~ Lance Bass (né James Lance Bass), American pop singer.

1970~ Will Arnett (né Will Emerson Arnett), Canadian actor.

1967~ Ana Gasteyer (née Ana Kristina Gasteyer), American actress.  She is best known for being a member of the cast of Saturday Night Livefrom 1996 until 2002.

1958~ Keith Haring (né Keith Allen Haring; d. Feb. 16, 1990), American graphical artist.  He died of AIDS at age 31.

1953~ Pia Zadora (née Pia Alfreda Schipani), American actress.

1941~ George Will (né George Frederick Will), American journalist and television commentator.

1940~ Robin Cook (né Robert Brian Cook), American physician and author of medical thrillers.

1939~ Paul Gleason (né Paul Xavier Gleason; d. May 27, 2006), American actor best known for his role as the principal in The Breakfast Club.  He did of lung cancer 23 days after his 68^thbirthday.

1939~ Amos Oz (né Amos Klausner; d. Dec. 28, 2018), Israeli novelist who proved Israel’s contradictions.  He is best known for his memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness.  He died of cancer at age 79.

1937~ Dick Dale (né Richard Anthony Mansour; d. Mar. 16, 2019), American rapid-fire guitarist who pioneered the surf rock sound.  He was known as the King of the Surf Guitar.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 81.

1932~ Edward Nelson (d. Sept. 10, 2014), American mathematician.  He is best known for his work in mathematical physics.  He died at age 82.

1930~ Roberta Peters (née Roberta Peterman; d. Jan. 18, 2017), American overnight success who became an opera legend.  She died of Parkinson’s disease at age 86.

1929~ Audrey Hepburn (née Audrey Kathleen Ruston, d. Jan. 20, 1993), Anglo-Dutch actress best known for her role as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  She died of cancer at age 63.

1928~ Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt.  He was ousted from office during the Arab Spring in 2011.

1922~ Eugenie Clark (d. Feb. 25, 2015), American pioneering oceanographer who swam with sharks.  She was known as The Shark Lady.  She died of lung cancer at age 92.

1922~ Glenn Snoddy (d. May 21, 2018), American engineer who accidently invented rock’s “fuzz tone.”  He developed a device that would allow guitarist to go from a clean sound to a “dirty” or fuzzy sound with the tap of the foot.  He died of congestive heart failure 17 days after his 96^thbirthday.

1907~ Colonel Walter Walsh (né Walter Rudolph Walsh; d. Apr. 29, 2014), American FBI marksman who gunned down gangsters.  He joined the FBI in 1934, during the infamous Public Enemy era and was involved in many high-profile cases.  He died 6 days before his 107^thbirthday.

1889~ Francis Spellman (d. Dec. 2, 1967), American cardinal in the Catholic Church.  He served as the 6^thArchbishop of New York.  He was born in Whitman, Massachusetts.  He died at age 78.

1879~ Opha May Johnson (née Opha May Jacob, d. Aug. 11, 1955), American who was the first woman to enlist in the United States Marines.  She enlisted on August 13, 1918 during World War I.  She died at age 76.

1852~ Alice Liddell (née Alice Pleasance Liddell; d. Nov. 16, 1934), English woman.  As a young child, she was acquainted with author Lewis Carroll.  She was a frequent model for his photography.  Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, was named for her.  She died at age 82.

1826~ Frederic Edwin Church (d. Apr. 7, 1900), American landscape painter.  He was born in Hartford, Connecticut.  He died about a month before his 74^thbirthday.

1825~ Thomas Henry Huxley (d. June 29, 1895), English botanist.  He died at age 70.

1820~ Julia Gardiner Tyler (née Julia Gardiner; d. July 10, 1889), First Lady of the United States and second wife of President John Tyler. She served as First Lady for less than a year because John Tyler died in office.  She died at age 69.

1796~ Horace Mann (d. Aug. 2, 1859), American educator and politician.  He was born in Franklin, Massachusetts.  He died at age 63.

1796~ William Pennington (d. Feb. 16, 1862), American politician.  He served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from Feb. 1860 until March 1861.  He had previously served as the Governor of New Jersey from October 1837 until October 1843.  He died at age 65.

1752~ John Brooks (d. Mar. 1, 1825), 11^thGovernor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from May 1816 through May 1823.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but May 4, 1752 is the date of his baptism.  He was born and died in Medford, Massachusetts.  He died at age 72.

1733~ Jean-Charles de Borda (d. Feb. 19, 1799), French mathematician.  He died at age 65.

1655~ Bartolomeo Cristofori (d. Jan. 27, 1731), Italian musical instrument maker and regarded as the inventor of the piano. He died at age 75.

1654~ Kangxi Emperor of China (d. Dec. 20, 1722), Fourth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled from February 1661 until his death 61 years later.  He was born in Beijing.  He died at age 68.

1008~ King Henry I of France (d. Aug. 4, 1060). He died at age 52.

Events the Changed the World:

2007~ Greensburg, Kansas was almost completely destroyed by a 1.7 mile wide tornado.

2000~ Kenneth Livingstone (b. 1945) became the 1^stMayor of London, England.  Prior to this date, London was governed by a council.  He served as governor from May 2000 until May 2008.

1994~ Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1922 ~ 1995) and PLO leader Yasser Arafat (1929 ~ 2004) signed a peace accord regarding Palestinian autonomy granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and in the city of Jericho.

1989~ Oliver North (b. 1943) was convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges for his role in the Iran-Contra Affair.  His convictions were later overturned on appeal.

1979~ Margaret Thatcher (1925 ~ 2013) became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1970~ The Ohio National Guard opened fire at Kent State University killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the United State’s invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

1961~ The Freedom Riders, civil rights activists, began a bus trip through the American South during the Civil Rights activism.

1959~ The first Grammy Awards were held.

1953~ Ernest Hemingway (1899 ~ 1961) won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, The Old Man and the Sea.

1932~ Al Capone (1899 ~ 1947) began serving his 11-year prison term for tax evasion.

1910~ Canada created its Royal Canadian Navy.

1904~ The United States began construction of the Panama Canal.

1886~ The Chicago Haymarket Riot took place during a labor protest.  Eight people were killed and 60 were wounded when a bomb was thrown at police who were trying to break up the labor rally.  The police subsequently fired into the crowd.

1814~ Napoleon I of France (1769 ~ 1821) began his exile on Elba Island.

1776~ Rhode Island became the first American colony to renounce its allegiance to King George III (1738 ~ 1820).

1675~ King Charles II (1630 ~ 1685) of England ordered the construction of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

1626~ Dutch explorer Peter Minuit (1594 ~ 1638) landed in New Netherlands, what is known now known as Manhattan.

1493~ Pope Alexander VI (1431 ~ 1503) divided the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.

1471~ During the Battle of Tewkesbury during the Wars of the Roses, King Edward IV (1442 ~ 1482) defeated the Lancastrian army.  This was one of the most decisive battles of the War.  Edward, Prince of Wales (1453 ~ 1471) was killed in this battle.

1415~ Religious reformers John Wycliffe (1331 ~ 1384) and Jan Hus (1369 ~ 1415) were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.  Wycliffe’s body was exhumed and burned.  His ashes were strewn into the River Swift.  Hus was burned at the stake and his ashes were thrown into the Rhine River.

Good-Byes:

2014~ William Worthy, Jr. (b. July 7, 1921), African-American defiant journalist who reported from forbidden lands.  He was a civil rights activist and dissident who pressed his right to travel regardless of the regulations issued by the United States Department of State.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 92.

2013~ Christian de Duve, Vicount de Duve (b. Oct. 2, 1917), Belgian biologist and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died by self-induced euthanasia at age 95.

2012~ Adam Yauch (né Adam Nathanial Yauch; b. Aug. 5, 1964), American musician and member of the band, The Beastie Boys. He died of cancer at age 47.

2009~ Dom DeLuise (né Dominick DeLuise; b. Aug. 1, 1933), American actor and comedian.  He died of kidney cancer at age 75.

2005~ David H. Hackworth (né David Haskell Hackworth; b. Nov. 11, 1930), American war hero who became a critic of the United States military.  He died at age 74.

2001~ Bonnie Lee Bakley (b. June 7, 1956), American model and second wife of actor Robert Blake.  He was her 10^thhusband.  She was murdered while sitting in her husband’s car under mysterious circumstances. Robert Blake was tried and acquitted of her murder.  She was born in Morristown, New Jersey.  She was 44 at the time of her death.

1980~ Josep Broz Tito (b. May 7, 1892), 1^stPresident of Yugoskavia. He was in office from January 1953 until his death on May 4, 1980.  He died 3 days before his 88^thbirthday.

1975~ Moe Howard (né Moses Harry Horwitz; b. June 19, 1897), American comedian and one of the Three Stooges.  He died of lung cancer at age 77.

1972~ Edward Calvin Kendall (b. Mar. 8, 1886), American chemist and recipient of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with hormones of the adrenal glands.  He died at age 86.

1938~ Carl von Ossietzky (b. Oct. 3, 1889), German pacifist and recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German re-armament.  He died at age 48 under Gestapo surveillance from complications of tuberculosis and from the after-effects of abuse he had suffered after having been arrested by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp.

1919~ Max Delbrück (né Max Emil Julius Delbrück; b. June 16, 1850), German agricultural chemist.  He was the uncle of the Nobel physicist of the same name.  He died at age 68.

1912~ Nettie Stevens (née Nettie Maria Stevens; b. July 7, 1861), American geneticist.  She is best known for her work on the XY sex-determination system.  She was born in Cavendish, Vermont.  She died of breast cancer at age 50.

1880~ Edward Clark (b. Apr. 1, 1815), 8^thGovernor of Texas.  His term coincided with the American Civil War and he was only governor for about 7 months, from May 1861 until early November 1861.  He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and died at age 65 in Marshall, Texas.

1859~ Joseph Diaz Gergonne (b. June 19, 1771), French mathematician.  He died at age 87.

1816~ Samuel Dexter (b. May 14, 1761), 3^rdUnited States Secretary of the Treasury.  He served in this position from January 1801 until May 1801.  He also served as the 4^thUnited States Secretary of War from June 1800 until January 1801, during the John Adams administration.  He was a United States Senator from Massachusetts. He was born and died in Boston, Massachusetts.  The town of Dexter, Maine is named in his honor.  He died 10 days before his 55^thbirthday.

1678~ Anna Maria van Schurman (b. Nov. 5, 1607), Dutch painter.  She died at age 70.

1677~ Isaac Barrow (b. October 1630), English mathematician and theologian. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have died at age 46.

1615~ Adriaan van Roomen (b. Sept. 29, 1561), Flemish mathematician and priest.  He died at age 53.

1519~ Lorenzo de’Medici, Duke of Urbino (b. Sept. 12, 1492).  He died of syphilis at age 26.

1471~ Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (b. Oct. 13, 1453), son of King Henry VI and only heir apparent.  He died in battle at age 17.