May 4

• May 4, 1471
  The Yorkists under King Edward IV defeat the Lancastrian forces of ex-queen Margaretha in the Battle of Tewkesbury, in which the 17-year-old prince of Wales, Edward, is killed
• May 4, 1626
  Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherlands after Indians sold Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth and buttons
• May 4, 1776
  Rhode Island become the first of the original Thirteen Colonies to declare independence from British rule
• May 4, 1799
  In India Tipu Sultan, the sultan of Mysore, is defeated and killed in a battle against 5,000 British soldiers who stormed and razed his capital, Seringapatanam
• May 4, 1814
  Bourbon reign is restored in France as Louis XVIII returns in Paris from Great Britain
• May 4, 1858
  In the Mexican War of Reform liberals established their capital at Vera Cruz
• May 4, 1904
  United States continue construction of Panama Canal left by France because of high mortality due to disease
• May 4, 1919
  May Fourth Movement, an anti-imperialist and political movement in China, begins with student demonstration against decision of Paris Peace Conference allowing Japan to receive Chinese territories in Shandong
• May 4, 1979
  Margaret Thatcher, the leader of the Conservative Party, becomes the first female prime minister of Great Britain
• May 4, 1990
  Latvia's parliament votes 138-0 for independence