May 4

1835 – Members of the newly organized Quorum of the Twelve Apostles leave on their first mission to the eastern United States.

1842 – The Prophet Joseph Smith administers the first endowments in the upstairs room of the his Red Brick Store near his home on Water Street in Nauvoo, Illinois.  The Prophet recorded, “I spent the day in the upper part of the store . . . in council with General James Adams, of Springfield, Patriarch Hyrum Smith, Bishops Newel K. Whitney and George Miller, and President Brigham Young and Elders Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, instructing them in the principles and order of the Priesthood, attending to washings, anointings, endownments and the communication of keys pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood, and so on to the highest order of the Melchisedek Priesthood, setting forth the order pertaining to the Ancient of Days, and all those plans and principles by which any one is enabled to secure the fullness of those blessings which have been prepared for the Church of the First Born, and come up and abide in the presence of the Eloheim in the eternal worlds.  In this council was instituted the ancient order of things for the first time in these last days’ (History of the Church, 5:1-2).

1846 – The ship Brooklyn, transporting over two hundred Latter-day Saints from New York to California, drops anchor off the Island of Juan Fernandez, near the coast of Chile after three months of sailing.

1847 – In fear of an attack from Indians, the original Pioneer wagon train traveled five abreast on this day.  They also saw three wagons heading east on the south side of the Platte River.  Charles Beaumont, leader of the group, agreed to take letters back to Winter Quarters for them.  He left with fifty-four letters.

1856 – The ship Thornton leaves Liverpool, England, carrying a company of 764 Saints led by James G. Willie.  Most of the company are those who would later make up the ill-fated Martin and Willie handcart companies, which become stranded in a snow storm in Wyoming on their way to Utah later in the year.

1875 – Shoshone Chief Pocatello is baptized a member of the Church in Salt Lake City by Hyrum W. Mikesell, and is ordained an Elder.  By the end of the year, nearly all of his people join the Church.  Hundreds of other Native Americans from other western tribes also joined the Church.

1984 – Missionaries arrive in the group of Carribean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe for the first time and open missionary work there.

1901 – The first public performance featuring the remodeled organ in the Salt Lake Tabernacle was attended by President Lorenzo Snow, Counselor Joseph F. Smith, as well as several members of the Quorum of the Twelve.

1999 – The Church Family History Department announced, that after eleven years of work from volunteer workers, the 1881 British Census was now available on CD-Rom for home use.

2001 – A monument to Pioneer Women was dedicated by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland at the historic Relief Society Hall in Washington, Utah. Sculpted by Jerry Anderson, the larger than life-sized statue depicts a pioneer mother and her two children.

2006 – In light of the ongoing discussion of the possible storage of nuclear waste in Utah’s Skull Valley area, the First Presidency issued a statement reaffirming its opposition to the storage of high-level nuclear waste in Utah and asked the federal government to look for alternative options for its disposal.  Also, the last class to attend the “Mansion Campus’ of LDS Business College graduated in Salt Lake City.  Elder Yoshiko Kikuchi of the First Quorum of Seventy was the commencement speaker at the graduation exercises held at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.  The College would move to more spacious facilities at the Triad Center in downtown Salt Lake City before the beginning of the next academic year.

2013 – Two BYU sports teams play for national titles on the same day. The BYU Rugby Team won its second consecutive national collegiate rugby championship (Third overall) in a dramatic 27-24 victory over the previously unbeaten Cal at South Field on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah.  Meanwhile, the BYU Volleyball team lost their title game in the NCAA championship match against UC Irvine in Los Angeles, California.

2014 – The Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple is dedicated by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency.