Did you know
Nettie Maria Stevens was the American geneticist who discovered sex chromosomes.
Notable Deaths on May 4
1912 — Nettie Stevens
American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (born 1861)
May 4 has 109 recorded notable deaths across history, from 408 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
109 source records
408 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on May 4
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1814 King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism. Source
- 1738 The Imperial Theatrical School, the first ballet school in Russia, is founded. Source
- 1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. Source
- 1961 American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South. Source
Did you know
Ellen Albertini Dow portrayed feisty old ladies and is best known as the rapping grandmother Rosie in The Wedding Singer (1998), performing "Rapper's Delight".
Did you know
Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport since 1964 and 1992, as well as the Commonwealth Games sport in 1990.
Did you know
Rashidi Yekini's emotional World Cup celebration became one of the most iconic moments in Nigerian sports history.
Did you know
Baur filed for a patent for the tubular Pringles container and for the method of packaging the curved, stacked potato chip in the container in 1966, and it was granted in 1971.
More major people who died on May 4
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2015
Ellen Albertini Dow
American actress (born 1913)
Ellen Rose Albertini Dow was an American film and television character actress and drama coach.
1938
Kanō Jigorō
Japanese founder of judo (born 1860)
Kanō Jigorō was a Japanese judoka, educator, politician, and the founder of judo.
2012
Rashidi Yekini
Nigerian footballer (born 1963)
Rashidi Yekini was a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward.
2008
Fred Baur
American chemist and founder of Pringles (born 1918)
Fredric John Baur Jr. was an American organic chemist and food storage scientist notable for designing the Pringles packaging.
2014
Elena Baltacha
Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (born 1983)
Elena Sergeevna Baltacha was a Ukrainian-born British professional tennis player. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, she was also a long-term British No.
2024
Frank Stella
American painter (born 1936)
Frank Philip Stella was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction.
1903
Gotse Delchev
Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (born 1872)
Georgi Nikolov Delchev, known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev, was a prominent Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary (komitadji) and one of the most important leaders of what is commonly known as the Internal Macedonian…
1919
Milan Rastislav Štefánik
Slovak general and politician (born 1880)
Milan Rastislav Štefánik was a Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator and astronomer. During World War I, he served at the same time as a general in the French Army and as Minister of War for Czechoslovakia.
1677
Isaac Barrow
English mathematician and theologian (born 1630)
Isaac Barrow was an English Christian theologian and mathematician who is generally given credit for his early role in the development of infinitesimal calculus; in particular, for a proof of the fundamental theorem of…
1684
John Nevison
English criminal (born 1639)
John Nevison, also known as William Nevison or Nevinson, was one of England's most notorious highwaymen, a gentleman rogue supposedly nicknamed Swift Nick by King Charles II after a renowned 200-mile (320 km) dash from…
2014
Dick Ayers
American author and illustrator (born 1924)
Richard Bache Ayers was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on some of…
2009
Dom DeLuise
American actor, director, and producer (born 1933)
Dominick DeLuise was an American actor, comedian, director, musician, chef, and author. Known primarily for comedic roles, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows.
1975
Moe Howard
American actor, singer, and screenwriter (born 1897)
Moe Howard was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader and straight man of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures, short films, and television for four decades.
2014
Helga Königsdorf
German physicist and author (born 1938)
Helga Königsdorf was an East German statistician and novelist. She is notable for becoming distinguished in two distinct careers - science and literature.
1941
Chris McKivat
Australian rugby player and coach (born 1880)
Christopher Hobart McKivat was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international.
1980
Josip Broz Tito
Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (born 1892)
Josip Broz, commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who led Yugoslavia as prime minister from 1943 to 1963 and as president from 1953 until his death in 1980.
1799
Tipu
ruler of Mysore (born 1750)
Tipu Sultan, commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore, was the Sultan of Mysore from 1782 until his death in 1799. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.
1972
Edward Calvin Kendall
American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1886)
Edward Calvin Kendall was an American biochemist. In 1950, Kendall was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Swiss chemist Tadeusz Reichstein and Mayo Clinic physician Philip S.
1945
Fedor von Bock
German field marshal (born 1880)
Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock was a German Generalfeldmarschall who served in the German Army during the Second World War.