Wednesday 4th of May 1887

Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run suspect Frank Dolezal is born in Džbánov, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia.

Wednesday 4th of May 1887

Victim of Charles Starkweather aka Little Red August Meyer is born in Bennet, Nebraska, United States.

Saturday 4th of May 1907

33-year-old Serial killer Jeanne Weber aka l’Ogresse de la Goutte d’Or is arrested on suspicion of killing 9-year-old Auguste Bavouzet in Villedieu-sur-Indre, Centre-Val de Loire, France.

Weber was released in December after a second autopsy blamed the boy's death on typhoid.

Monday 4th of May 1908

Victim of Fritz Haarmann aka Der Hannover Werwolf Friedrich Koch is born in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Saturday 4th of May 1929

Actress Audrey Hepburn is born as Audrey Kathleen Ruston in Keyenveldstraat 48, Brussel, Ixelles, Brabant, Belgium.

Wednesday 4th of May 1932

Murderer Maurice Freedman is executed by hanging by Robert Baxter at the age of 36 in HM Prison Pentonville, Caledonian Road, London, Islington, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Friday 4th of May 1934

Murderer Frederick William Parker is executed by hanging by Thomas Pierrepoint, assisted by his nephew Albert Pierrepoint at the age of 21 in Wandsworth Prison, London, Wandsworth, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Associated Press reporter W. G. Finch was the last journalist to witness an execution in the United Kingdom.

Friday 4th of May 1934

Murderer Albert Probert is executed by hanging by Thomas Pierrepoint, assisted by his nephew Albert Pierrepoint at the age of 26 in Wandsworth Prison, London, Wandsworth, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Associated Press reporter W. G. Finch was the last journalist to witness an execution in the United Kingdom.

Saturday 4th of May 1940

39-year-old SS-Obersturmbannführer and longest serving commandant of Auschwitz-KZ Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss is installed in KZ Auschwitz-Birkenau, Birkenau, Małopolska, Poland.

Friday 4th of May 1945

Eula Jo Hand is bound, gagged, molested and robbed by serial killer Harvey Glatman aka The Pin-Up Killer in Clarkson Street, Denver, Capitol Hill, Colorado, United States.

Saturday 4th of May 1946

Two corrections officers and three prisoners are killed during the 'Battle of Alcatraz' in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, California, United States.

William A. Miller and Harold Stites were killed by Marvin Hubbard, Bernard Coy and Joseph Cretzer. All three were shot dead as squads of armed officers periodically rushed into the cellhouse firing repeatedly into the narrow corridor where they were hiding. Miran Thompson and Sam Shockley were executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin on 3 December 1948 for their roles in the Battle of Alcatraz.

Saturday 4th of May 1963

185 die in ferry capsizing in Maghagha, Minya Governorate, Egypt.

The boat's capacity was only 80 people but more than 200 people crowded on board to make the trip to Mecca.

Thursday 4th of May 1978

19-year-old Ljuba Smarovas is raped and strangled by serial killer Metod Trobec aka The Monster of Dolenja Vas in Kočevska Reka, Carniola, Yugoslavia.

Friday 4th of May 1979

54-year-old Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Hilda Thatcher aka The Iron Lady is inaugurated as Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street, London, Westminster, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Arriving at Downing Street Thatcher said, paraphrasing the misattributed Prayer of Saint Francis: "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony; Where there is error, may we bring truth; Where there is doubt, may we bring faith; And where there is despair, may we bring hope." In office throughout the 1980s Thatcher was frequently described as the most powerful woman in the world.

Friday 4th of May 1979

Member of the Rote Armee Fraktion and Sozialistisches Patientenkollektiv Elisabeth von Dyck is shot dead by a police sniper during an attempt to arrest her at the age of 28 in Haus Stephanstraße 40, Nürnberg, Bayern, Germany.

von Dyck was one of the guards of kidnapped Hanns Martin Schleyer at 'Haus Etna' in Den Haag in 1977.

Sunday 4th of May 1980

Yugoslav statesman Josip Broz Tito dies of gangrene at the age of 88 in Univerzitetni Klinični Center, Ljubljana, Carniola, Yugoslavia.

Monday 4th of May 1987

Musician Paul Vaughn Butterfield known from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band dies of a drug overdose at the age of 45 in North Hollywood, California, United States.

Friday 4th of May 1990

Alleged cop killer Jesse Joseph Tafero is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 44 in Florida State Prison, 23916 NW 83rd Ave., Raiford, Florida, United States.

'Old Sparky' malfunctioned, causing six-inch flames to shoot out of Tafero's head. A member of the execution team had used a synthetic sponge rather than a sea sponge which is necessary to provide greater conductivity and a quick death. One close inmate friend of Tafero later said he could smell the burning flesh of his friend for days after.

Tuesday 4th of May 1993

Murderer Darryl Elroy Stewart is executed by lethal injection at the age of 38 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

When the warden asked if Stewart had any last words he just looked up at the ceiling.

Sunday 4th of May 1997

73-year-old Lee Albert Miglin is stabbed with a screwdriver and his throat slit with a hacksaw by serial killer Andrew Cunanan aka American Gigolo/American Psycho in East Scott Street 22, Chicago, Gold Coast, Illinois, United States.

Monday 4th of May 1998

56-year-old Mathematician and serial bomber Theodore John 'Ted' Kaczynski aka The Unabomber is sentenced to four life sentences plus 30 years in Sacramento, California, United States.

Tuesday 4th of May 1999

Murderer Manuel Pina 'Manny' Babbitt is executed by lethal injection at the age of 50 in San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, United States.

One year before his execution while on death row, Babbitt was awarded a Purple Heart medal for the wounds he had received at the Battle of Khe Sanh, Vietnam in 1968. Babbitt refused his last meal and asked that the $50 allotted be given to homeless Vietnam veterans.

Tuesday 4th of May 1999

Murderer Jose De La Cruz is executed by lethal injection at the age of 31 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Thursday 4th of May 2000

Rapist and murderer Tommy Ray Jackson is executed by lethal injection at the age of 44 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Saturday 4th of May 2002

149 die in Executive Airlines Services BAC One-Eleven 525FT Flight 4226 crash in Kano, Gwammaja, Kano, Nigeria.

There were 78 deaths on the ground and 6 survivors in the plane.

Thursday 4th of May 2006

Child killer Jackie Barron Wilson is executed by lethal injection at the age of 39 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Wilson's last meal request was for a cheeseburger, onion rings, a beef enchilada, tea, Coca-Cola, a whole onion, a whole tomato and lemon pie.

Friday 4th of May 2007

Murderer David Leon Woods is executed by lethal injection at the age of 43 in Indiana State Prison, 1 Park Row, Michigan City, Indiana, United States.

Woods' last meal request was for birthday cake and pizza.

Friday 4th of May 2007

Brushed up scenery from an extermination camp in KZ Sachsenhausen, Oranienburg, Brandenburg, Germany.

Sunday 4th of May 2008

My Bastard Art Gruppe installation with pictures of Ulrike Meinfuchs and Gudrun Fuchslein in Oude Gevangenis, Martelarenlaan 42, Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium.

Saturday 4th of May 2024

Minimalist painter Frank Stella dies of lymphoma at the age of 88 in Greenwich Village, New York, Manhattan, New York, United States.