Today is Wednesday, May 4, the 124th day of 2011. There are 241 days left in the year.
1626 ― Indians sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth and buttons
1715 ― French manufacturer debuts first folding umbrella (Paris France)
1834 ― Charles Darwin's expedition reaches 200 km from Atlantic Ocean
1878 ― Phonograph shown for first time at Grand Opera House
1896 ― First edition of London Daily Mail
1924 ― German Republic election fascists and communists win
1932 ― Al Capone, convict of income tax evasion, enters Atlanta Penitentiary
1953 ― Pulitzer prize awarded to Ernest Hemingway (Old Man and The Sea)
1959 ― First Grammy Awards: Perry Como & Ella Fitzgerald win
1979 ― First woman prime minister of Great Britain (Margaret Thatcher)