On this day: May 4

/on/may-4

1913 • neutral • 0 views

The 'Curaçao Kid' Scores Upset Victory in the 1913 Kentucky Derby

Early 20th-century horse race at a packed Churchill Downs with wooden railings, period racing silks, and spectators in era-appropriate dress watching from grandstands.

At the 1913 Kentucky Derby on May 4, a longshot nicknamed the "Curaçao Kid" won at roughly 91-1 odds, producing one of the biggest upsets in the race's early history and highlighting the unpredictable nature of Thoroughbred racing.

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1970 • neutral • 4 views

Kent State Shootings: National Guard Fire on Students, Four Killed

Students protesting on a college commons with National Guard troops positioned at a distance; flags, trees, and campus buildings visible, capturing a tense 1970 campus scene without identifiable faces.

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard troops fired into a crowd of Kent State University students during a protest against the Cambodian Campaign, killing four and wounding nine—an event that intensified national opposition to the Vietnam War and raised questions about the use of force on campuses.

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1904 • neutral • 3 views

John Montgomery Ward’s 1880s feat later recognized as baseball’s first recorded perfect game

A late 19th-century baseball diamond with players in period uniforms on the field and spectators in the wooden grandstand, rendered as a broad historical scene.

On May 4, 1904, contemporary sports writers and record-keepers identified an earlier California contest as baseball’s first recorded perfect game, retroactively crediting a late-19th-century pitcher whose achievement had been overlooked in major-league annals.

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