March 4

AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth). 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources. 938 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs. 1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany. 1238 – The Battle of the Sit River begins two centuries of Mongol horde domination of Russia. 1351 – Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam. 1386 – Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland. 1461 – Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV. 1493 – Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean. 1519 – Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth. 1628 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter. 1665 – English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. 1675 – John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England. 1681 – Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania. 1769 – Mozart departed Italy after the last of his three tours there. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston. 1789 – In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect. 1790 – France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility. 1791 – Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state. 1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.