"The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching."
On this day: May 4
May 4: Youth Day in China; Literary Day in Taiwan; Star Wars Day
Pope Alexander VI
- 1493 – Pope Alexander VI (pictured) issued the papal bull Inter caetera, establishing a line of demarcation dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal.
- 1776 – American Revolution: The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations became the first of the Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown.
- 1942 – World War II: Aircraft from Imperial Japanese Navy vessels attacked Allied naval forces, beginning the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval action in which the participating ships never sighted or fired directly at each other.
- 1974 – An all-female Japanese team reached the summit of Manaslu in the Himalayas, becoming the first women to climb a peak higher than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) above sea level.
- 1979 – Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom.
- John Nevison (d. 1684)
- Nettie Stevens (d. 1912)
- Audrey Hepburn (b. 1929)