April 5

April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). There are 270 days remaining.

Events

• 1242 - During a battle on the ice of Chudskoye Lake, Russian forces rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
• 1614 - In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
• 1621 - The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth on a return trip to Great Britain.
• 1654 - Signing of the Treaty of Westminster, ending the First Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1792 - United States President George Washington vetos a bill designed to apportion representatives among U.S. states. This is the first time the presidential veto has been used in the United States.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Yorktown (1862) - The battle begins when Union forces under General George McClellan close in on the Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.
• 1930 - In an act of civil disobedience, Mohandas Gandhi breaks British law after marching to the sea and making salt.
• 1951 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for performing espionage for the Soviet Union.
• 1955 - Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing heath.
• 1957 - In India, Communists won the first elections in united Kerala and E. M. S. Namboodiripad sworn in as the first chief minister.
• 1973 - Pierre Messmer becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1976 - In the People's Republic of China, the April Fifth Movement led to the Tiananmen incident
• 1991 - ASA Embraer EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia killing all 23 aboard.
• 1998 - In Japan, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge linking Shikoku with Honshu and costing cost about US$3.8 billion, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.
• 1999 - Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
• 1999 - In Laramie, Wyoming, Russell Henderson pleads guilty to kidnapping and felony murder in order to avoid a possible death penalty conviction for the apparent hate crime killing of Matthew Shepard.

Births

• 1419 - Vincent Ferrer
• 1588 - Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher († 1679)
• 1827 - Joseph Lister surgeon († 1912)
• 1856 - Booker T. Washington
• 1871 - Mirko Seljan, explorer from Croatia
• 1875 - Mistinguett, French vaudeville performer († 1956)
• 1900 - Spencer Tracy, actor († 1967)
• 1908 - Bette Davis, actress († 1989)
• 1908 - Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor († 1989)
• 1916 - Gregory Peck, actor († 2003)
• 1922 - Gale Storm, singer/actress
• 1923 - Nguyen Van Thieu, South Vietnamese president
• 1937 - Colin Powell, US Secretary of State
• 1942 - Peter Greenaway, film director
• 1942 - Pascal Couchepin, member of the Swiss Federal Council

Deaths

• 1967 - Hermann Joseph Muller geneticist (* 1890)
• 1970 - Alfred Henry Sturtevant geneticist (* 1891)
• 1975 - Chiang Kai-shek, Kuomintang leader
• 1976 - Howard Hughes, aviation pioneer, film director, eccentric
• 1982 - Abe Fortas
• 1991 - John Tower, Senator from Texas
• 1991 - Sonny Carter, astronaut
• 1991 - Davis Love, Sr., golfer
• 1994 - Kurt Cobain, rock musician
• 2000 - Lee Petty, 3-time NASCAR Grand champion
• 2002 - Layne Staley, rock musician

Holidays and observances

April 4 - April 6 - March 5 - May 5 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By