In History, Today on May 4

Pope Alexander VI issued the papal bull 'Inter caetera,' which granted Spain rights to colonize the New World, drawing a line of demarcation between Spanish and Portuguese territories.

Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrived in New Netherland (present-day New York) to become the director-general of the colony.

Rhode Island became the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III, two months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

Emperor Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.

The Haymarket affair occurred in Chicago, where a labor protest rally turned violent after a bomb was thrown at police, leading to deaths and a controversial trial.

The United States took over the construction of the Panama Canal from the French, marking a significant step in its completion.

The May Fourth Movement began in China as a response to the Treaty of Versailles, sparking a national protest against foreign influence and promoting modernization.

The Battle of the Coral Sea, a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, began between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia.

The Kent State shootings occurred when the Ohio National Guard fired on students protesting the Cambodian Campaign, resulting in four deaths and nine injuries.

Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following the Conservative Party's victory in the general election.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed a historic accord in Cairo granting Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London after winning the election.

The Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin, USA, opened its new addition, the Quadracci Pavilion, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Sudanese officials Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The Times Square car bombing attempt occurred in New York City, USA, when a car bomb was discovered and defused before it could explode.

Japan shut down its last operating nuclear reactor, leaving the country without nuclear power for the first time since 1970, following the Fukushima disaster.

The Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls from the town of Chibok, sparking international outrage and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

The United Nations reported that one million species were at risk of extinction due to human activity, as detailed in a landmark report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).