May 4: What Happened on This Day in History (Elementary Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1776 - Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to KingGeorge III.
2. 1871 - The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
3. 1904 - The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
4. 1961 - American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.
5. 1979 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
6. Famous Birthdays: Bartolomeo Cristofori (Italian instrument maker, invented the piano), Jean-Charles de Borda (French mathematician, physicist, and sailor), William H. Prescott (American historian), Audrey Hepburn (Belgian-English actress and singer), Michael L. Gernhardt (American astronaut and engineer)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: May 3

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: May 5

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.