4 May 1968

The Parliament of Malta moved from the Grandmaster's Palace to the purpose-built Parliament House (pictured).

Ken Livingstone took office as the first mayor of London.

Falklands War: HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet missile, killing 20 sailors and leading to its sinking six days later—the first Royal Navy ship sunk in action since World War II.

Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom.

An all-female Japanese team reached the summit of Manaslu in the Himalayas, becoming the first women to climb a peak higher than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) above sea level.

World War II: Aircraft from Imperial Japanese Navy vessels attacked Allied naval forces, beginning the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval action in which the participating ships never sighted or fired directly at each other.

The May Fourth Movement began in China with large-scale student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery, part of a cultural project initiated by engraver John Boydell, opened in London.

American Revolution: The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations became the first of the Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown.

Trunajaya rebellion: Dutch East India Company forces under Cornelis Speelman began an attack on Surabaya, on the island of Java.

Pope Alexander VI (pictured) issued the papal bull Inter caetera, establishing a line of demarcation dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal.

The inaugural all-female motorsport series, W Series, takes place at Hockenheimring. The race was won by Jamie Chadwick, who would go on to become the inaugural series champion.

Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by the 2007 Greensburg tornado, a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated with the new Enhanced Fujita scale.

One hundred three people are killed and 51 are injured in a plane crash near Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Nigeria.

Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).

A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

Latvia declares independence from the Soviet Union.

Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal.

Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-30 to deploy the Venus-bound Magellan space probe.

The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.

Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.

Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.