May 4

1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae. 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. 1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. 1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation. 1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw. 1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines. 1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III. 1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris. 1814 – Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile. 1814 – King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism. 1836 – Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians 1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England. 1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate is fought in Japan. 1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 1886 – Haymarket affair: In Chicago, United States, a homemade bomb is thrown at police officers trying to break up a labor rally, killing one officer. Ensuing gunfire leads to the deaths of a further seven officers and four civilians. 1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal. 1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created. 1912 – Italy occupies the Ottoman island of Rhodes.