This Day In History, May 4th.
Five Historical Events That Happened on May 4th.
In 1626, Peter Minuit, a representative of the Dutch West India Company, sets sail on the ship Sea Mew for New Netherland (modern-day New York). He is credited for paying the Lenape tribe 60 guilders, or about $1,100 in today's dollars, for Manhattan Island.
Rhode Island is the first colony to proclaim independence from Great Britain in 1776. The state ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1790 as the last of the original thirteen colonies.
Several police officers and bystanders are killed when a bomb detonates in Chicago's Haymarket Square during a labor rally in 1886. August Spies and Albert Parsons were among the anarchist leaders who were detained and later executed as a result of the incident.
1970: Ohio National Guard soldiers open fire on students at Kent State University during a protest against the Vietnam War, killing four and wounding nine. The event provoked widespread demonstrations and turned into a representation of the anti-war movement.
1994: In Cairo, Egypt, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat sign a peace agreement that gives Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip a certain amount of autonomy. The deal is referred to as the Oslo Accords.
Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present-day New York) aboard the ship Sea Mew, representing the Dutch West India Company. He is credited with purchasing Manhattan Island from the Lenape people for 60 guilders, which is the equivalent of around $1,100 today.
A pivotal moment in the history of the colonization of the Americas was when Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island from the Lenape tribe. The deal has become a legend, but it's crucial to remember that the specifics of how it was made are a little hazy in the past. The acquisition of Manhattan Island has nonetheless had a long-lasting effect on the growth of the United States, notably the metropolis of New York.
Rhode Island declares independence from Great Britain, becoming the first colony to do so. The state was the last of the original thirteen colonies to ratify the U.S. Constitution in 1790.
On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island formally proclaimed its independence from Great Britain, but it was not the first colony to do so. When the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen colonies to join the Continental Congress in announcing its independence from Great Britain.
On May 4, 1776, two months before the other colonies formally proclaimed their independence, Rhode Island did become the first colony to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown and declare itself an independent state. At the time, the state's official name was the "Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations," and it remained in use until 2020, when the state formally omitted the "and" and Providence Plantations" from its name.
A bomb explodes during a labor demonstration in Haymarket Square in Chicago, killing several police officers and civilians. The event led to the arrest and execution of several anarchist leaders, including August Spies and Albert Parsons.
The Haymarket Square Bombing, which took place on May 4, 1886, at Chicago's Haymarket Square, was a key incident in American labor history. The protest was planned to show solidarity with the striking employees who were calling for an eight-hour workweek. A bomb was detonated when the police were attempting to disperse the gathering, killing many police officers and civilians while also wounding numerous more.
The event sparked a broad campaign of repression against labor unions and left-leaning organizations in the US, and numerous anarchists were detained and accused of plotting murder. Four of the accused were put to death, including August Spies and Albert Parsons, despite the absence of evidence linking them to the blast, while a fifth committed suicide in custody. The episode had a profound effect on the American labor movement and served as a catalyst for social justice and worker's rights organizations.
Ohio National Guard troops open fire on students during a protest against the Vietnam War at Kent State University, killing four and injuring nine. The incident sparked nationwide protests and became a symbol of the anti-war movement.
The deadly Kent State shooting took place on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, during a demonstration against the Vietnam War. To disperse the demonstrators—who were opposed to the Vietnam War's entry into Cambodia—the National Guard sent in soldiers. Four students were killed and nine others were injured when the National Guard opened fire following a clash between the troops and the demonstrators.
Many Americans were appalled by the use of lethal force against defenseless students, which generated a surge of protests and rallies around the nation in response to the occurrence. The shooting further stoked the anti-war movement and added to public cynicism against the Vietnam War. The shooting at Kent State is still a potent representation of the tension and unrest that characterized American society in the 1960s and 1970s.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord in Cairo, Egypt, granting limited autonomy to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The agreement is known as the Oslo Accords.
Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993, at the White House in Washington, D.C. The agreements were made with the intention of providing a framework for future peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, with a two-state solution as the eventual result.
Following the Oslo Accords, an agreement was signed on May 4, 1994 in Cairo, Egypt, outlining the parameters of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The agreement formed the Palestinian National Authority, which was in charge of regulating the Palestinian territories, and offered the Palestinians some degree of autonomy in these regions.
The long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was not finally resolved by the Oslo Accords, despite the fact that they were initially viewed as a significant step towards peace in the Middle East. A string of violent episodes and the failure of both parties to come to a definitive understanding on the questions of boundaries, settlements, and the status of Jerusalem caused the peace process to fall apart.