re = /^[^\d]*(\d{4})/m
str = 'Lastname, Firstname. 1900. Title: 1920-1930. etc.
Lastname, Firstname. (1900). Title etc.
1900. Lastname. Firstname
Lastname, Firstname. 1900'
# Print the match result
str.scan(re) do |match|
puts match.to_s
end
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html