On May 4, 1956, rockabilly legend Gene Vincent recorded
the smoldering early-rock classic “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” in
Nashville, Tennessee.
“Be-Bop-A-Lula” became a smash, rising to #7 on the
pop charts and selling more than 2 million copies in
its first year of release.
Vincent Eugene Craddock (Gene Vincent) (1935 – 1971)
On May 4, 1970, in Kent, Ohio, 28 National Guardsmen fire their
weapons at a group of anti-war demonstrators on the Kent State University campus, killing four students and wounding nine.
The tragedy was a watershed moment for a nation divided by the
conflict in Vietnam, and further galvanized the anti-war movement.
Two days earlier, on May 2, National Guard troops were called to
Kent to suppress students rioting in protest of the Vietnam War
and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.
The next day, scattered protests were dispersed by tear gas,
and on May 4 class resumed at Kent State University.
By noon that day, despite a ban on rallies, some 2,000 people
had assembled on the campus. National Guard troops arrived
and ordered the crowd to disperse, fired tear gas, and advanced
against the students with bayonets fixed on their rifles.
Some of the protesters, refusing to yield, responded by throwing
rocks and verbally taunting the troops (below).
This photo provided by Guinness World Records shows
Pearl, the world’s shortest living dog, with Reginald, the
world’s tallest living dog, both certified by Guinness World Records, during a playdate in Idaho Falls, Idaho, April 5,
2025. (Natalie Behring/Guinness World Records via AP)
The pair, while an unlikely duo, got along surprisingly
well during their two-day visit, according to Pearl’s
owner, Vanesa Semler.
"For me, [it] was a huge, pleasant surprise from day
one because Reggie is like Pearl in [a] bigger size,"
Semler said. "He is so gentle, so friendly."
Reggie’s owner, Sam Johnson Reiss, said the Great
Dane is more of a people person but enjoyed the
playdate.
(FOX NEWS)
SANDY KOZEL
DiMaggio’s major-league debut came on May 3,
1936, in a game at Yankee Stadium against the
St. Louis Browns.
DiMaggio played 64 games in left field, 54 in
center field, and 20 in right field in 1936 before
taking over as the full-time center fielder in 1937.
DiMaggio struck out 39 times in 1936, the highest
season total of his career, during which he struck
out only 369 times in 6,821 at-bats.
On May 3, 1942, during World War II, the first modern naval
engagement in history, the Battle of the Coral Sea, began. A
Japanese invasion force succeeds in occupying Tulagi of the
Solomon Islands in an expansion of Japan’s defensive perimeter.
The United States, having broken Japan’s secret war code and forewarned of an impending invasion of Tulagi and Port Moresby,
attempted to intercept the Japanese armada.
Four days of battles between Japanese and American aircraft
carriers resulted in 70 Japanese and 66 American warplanes
destroyed.
This confrontation, called the Battle of the Coral Sea, marked the
first air-naval battle in history, as none of the carriers fired at each
other, allowing the planes taking off from their decks to do the
battling.
Among the casualties was the American carrier Lexington; “the
Blue Ghost” (so-called because it was not camouflaged like other carriers) suffered extensive aerial damage and was scuttled by
destroyer torpedoes. Two hundred sixteen Lexington crewmen
died as a result of the Japanese aerial bombardment.
The American aircraft carrier USS Lexington explodes on 8
May 1942, several hours after being damaged by a Japanese carrier air attack.
