History for May 4

History for May 4 - On-This-Day.com:
Horace Mann 1796 - Educator, father of public education in the U.S., author, Thomas Huxley 1825, Heloise 1919


Hosni Mubarak 1928 - Egyptian president, Audrey Hepburn (Edda Kathleen Hepburn van Heemstra) 1929 - Actress ("Monte Carlo Baby", "Breakfast at Tiffany's"), George F. Will 1941 - Columnist ("Newsweek"), editor


1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on Manhattan Island. Native Americans later sold the island (20,000 acres) for $24 in cloth and buttons.


1886 - Chichester Bell and Charles S. Tainter patented the gramophone. It was the first practical phonograph.


1942 - The Battle of the Coral Sea commenced as American and Japanese carriers launched their attacks at each other.


1961 - Thirteen civil rights activists, dubbed "Freedom Riders," began a bus trip through the South.


1970 - The Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on students during an anti-Vietnam war protest at Kent State University. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded.


1979 - Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman prime minister.


1981 - The Federal Reserve Board raised its discount rate to 14%.


1987 - Live models were used for the first time in Playtex bra ads.