On this day in History - May 4

1814 – Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.

1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.

1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created.

1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.