April 5
is the 95th day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (96th in
leap years). There are 270 days remaining.
*
1242 - During a
battle on the ice of
Lake Peipus,
Russian forces, led by
Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the
Teutonic Knights.
*
1566 - 200 Netherlands noblemen, led by
Hendrik van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of
Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Inquisition in the Netherlands and demanding its immediate dismantling. Margaret agrees to suspend the Inquisition while a delegation is sent to Spain to petition
Philip II himself.
*
1609 -
Daimyo (Lord) of the Satsuma clan in Southern
Kyushu,
Japan, completes his successful invasion of the
Ryukyu Kingdom in
Okinawa.
*
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 - The
Treaty of Westminster, ending the
First Anglo-Dutch War, is signed.
*
1792 -
U.S. President George Washington vetoes a bill designed to apportion representatives among
U.S. states. This was the first time the
presidential veto had been used in the
United States.
*
1804 - The first recorded
meteorite falls in
Possil,
Scotland (
High Possil Meteorite).
*
1862 -
American Civil War:
Battle of Yorktown. The battle begins when
Union forces under
General George McClellan close in on the
Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.
*
1874 -
Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, was opened in
Birkenhead.
*
1923 -
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company starts production of balloon-
tires.
*
1930 - In an act of
civil disobedience,
Mohandas Gandhi breaks
British law after marching to the sea and making
salt.
*
1936 -
Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak: An
F5 tornado slams into the north side of
Tupelo, Mississippi, killing 233. It is the 4th deadliest tornado in
U.S. history.
*
1942 -
Second World War:
Japanese Navy attacks
Colombo in
Ceylon (
Sri Lanka).
Royal Navy Cruisers HMS Cornwall and
HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
*
1945 -
Cold War:
Yugoslav leader
Josip "Tito" Broz signs an agreement with the
USSR allowing "temporary entry of
Soviet troops into
Yugoslav territory."
*
1946 -
Soviet troops leave the island of
Bornholm,
Denmark after occupying it for approximately 11 months.
*
1949 -
Fireside Theater debuts on
television.
* 1949 - A fire in a hospital in
Effingham, Illinois,
United States, kills 77 people resulting in nationwide fire code improvements.
*
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 health.
*
1956 -
Fidel Castro declares himself at war with the President of Cuba.
* 1956 - In
Sri Lanka, the
Mahajana Eksath Peramuna won the
general elections in a lanslide and
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike sworn in as the
Prime Minister.
*
1957 - In
India,
Communists won the first elections in united
Kerala and
E. M. S. Namboodiripad sworn in as the first
chief minister.
*
1969 -
Vietnam War: Massive
antiwar demonstrations are held in
New York City,
San Francisco,
Los Angeles,
Washington, D.C., and other cities around the
United States.
*
1971 - In
Sri Lanka,
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches insurrection against the
United Front government of
Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
*
1972 -
Vietnam War:
North Vietnamese forces invade
Binh Long Province, launching a second front of the
Nguyen Hue Offensive.
*
1973 -
Pierre Messmer becomes
Prime Minister of
France.
*
1975 - A perfect score in a
Bocha match was made by
Seu Osny.
*
1976 - In the
People's Republic of China, the
April Fifth Movement leads to the
Tiananmen incident.
*
1986 -
Bombing of the
La Belle Discotheque in
West Berlin,
Germany, kills three.
*
1991 -
ASA Embraer EMB 120 crashes in
Brunswick, Georgia,
United States, killing all 23 aboard.
*
1992 - Several hundred-thousand
abortion rights demonstrators march in
Washington, D.C.* 1992 -
Siege of Sarajevo begins when
Serb paramilitaries murder peace protestor
Suada Dilberovic on the
Skenderija Bridge.
*
1993 - The
Child Support Act 1991, administered by the
Child Support Agency, comes into effect in the
United Kingdom.
*
1998 - In
Japan, the
Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge linking
Shikoku with
Honshu and costing 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.
*
2005 -
Peter Jennings informs his viewers that he has Lung Cancer. This was his final broadcast.
*
2006 - The first case of
H5N1 avian flu was confirmed in the
UK after tests on a dead swan found in
Cellardyke,
Fife.
*
1288 -
Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (d.
1336)
*
1472 -
Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d.
1510)
*
1479 -
Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (d.
1574)
*
1523 -
Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer (d.
1596)
*
1588 -
Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d.
1679)
*
1604 -
Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (d.
1675)
*
1622 -
Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician (d.
1703)
*
1649 -
Elihu Yale, American benefactor of Yale University (d.
1721)
*
1692 -
Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (d.
1730)
*
1732 -
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French artist (d.
1806)
*
1784 -
Louis Spohr, German violinist (d.
1859)
*
1816 -
Samuel Freeman Miller, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d.
1890)
*
1827 -
Joseph Lister, English surgeon (d.
1912)
*
1832 -
Jules Ferry, French statesman (d.
1893)
*
1837 -
Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (d.
1909)
*
1856 -
Booker T. Washington, American educator (d.
1915)
*
1869 -
Sergei Chaplygin, Russian physicist and engineer (d.
1942)
*
1871 -
Mirko Seljan, Croatian explorer
*
1875 -
Mistinguett, French vaudeville performer (d.
1956)
*
1893 -
Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (d.
1973)
*
1900 -
Spencer Tracy, American actor (d.
1967)
*
1901 -
Melvyn Douglas, American actor (d.
1981)
*
1908 -
Bette Davis, American actress (d.
1989)
* 1908 -
Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d.
1989)
* 1908 -
Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician (d.
1986)
*
1909 -
Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer (d.
1996)
*
1911 -
Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d.
1960)
*
1912 -
John Le Mesurier, British actor (d.
1983)
*
1916 -
Gregory Peck, American actor (d.
2003)
*
1917 -
Robert Bloch, American author (d.
1994)
*
1920 -
Arthur Hailey, American writer (d.
2004)
* 1920 -
Rafique Zakaria, Indian author (d.
2005)
*
1922 -
Christopher Hewett, British actor (d.
2001)
* 1922 -
Gale Storm, American singer
*
1923 -
Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (d.
1995)
* 1923 -
Nguyen Van Thieu, President of South Vietnam (d.
2001)
*
1926 -
Roger Corman, American film director
*
1929 -
Ivar Giaever, Norwegian physicist,
Nobel laureate * 1929 -
Nigel Hawthorne, British actor (d.
2001)
* 1929 -
Hugo Claus, Belgian writer
*
1933 -
Larry Felser, American sports columnist
*
1934 -
Frank Gorshin, American actor (d.
2005)
* 1934 -
Roman Herzog, German politician
*
1935 -
Peter Grant, British manager (
Led Zeppelin,
Bad Company) (d.
1995)
*
1937 -
Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State
*
1941 -
Michael Moriarty, American actor
*
1942 -
Peter Greenaway, Welsh film director
*
1943 -
Max Gail, American actor
*
1944 -
Pedro Rossello, Puerto Rican politician
*
1945 -
Tommy Smith, English footballer
*
1946 -
Jane Asher, British actress
*
1947 -
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 14th
President of the Philippines*
1948 -
Dave Holland, British musician (
Judas Priest)
*
1949 -
Judith Resnik, astronaut (d.
1986)
*
1950 -
Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer (
ABBA)
*
1952 -
Mitch Pileggi, American actor
*
1954 -
Stan Ridgway, American musician (
Wall of Voodoo)
*
1955 -
Janice Long, English broadcaster
* 1955 -
Akira Toriyama, Japanese manga artist
*
1961 -
Lisa Zane, American actress
*
1962 -
Lana Clarkson, American actress (d.
2003)
*
1964 -
Christopher "Kid" Reid, American rapper (
Kid 'n Play)
*
1965 -
Mike McCready, American musician (
Pearl Jam)
* 1965 -
Cris Carpenter, baseball player
*
1968 -
Paula Cole, American musician
*
1970 -
Miho Hatori, Japanese singer and songwriter (
Cibo Matto)
*
1973 -
Pharrell Williams, American producer (
The Neptunes)
*
1975 -
John Hartson, Welsh footballer
*
1976 -
Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer
* 1976 -
Kim Collins, Nevisian sprinter
* 1976 -
Ross Gload, professional baseball player
* 1976 -
Ryan Drese, Baseball player
*
1978 -
Stephen Jackson, American basketball player
* 1978 -
Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
*
1979 -
Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
*
1980 -
Matt Bonner, NBA player
*
1982 -
Thomas Hitzlsperger, German footballer
*
1985 -
Lastings Milledge, Baseball player
*
582 -
Eutychius,
Patriarch of Constantinople*
1168 -
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (b.
1104)
*
1419 -
Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (b.
1350)
*
1605 -
Adam Loftus, English Protestant archbishop in Ireland
*
1617 -
Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer
*
1676 -
John Winthrop, the Younger, American politican (b.
1606)
*
1693 -
Anne, Duchess of Montpensier, French writer (b.
1627)
*
1695 -
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, English writer (b.
1633)
*
1697 - King
Charles XI of Sweden (b.
1655)
*
1717 -
Jean Jouvenet, French painter (b.
1647)
*
1735 -
William Derham, English minister and writer (b.
1657)
* 1735 -
Samuel Wesley, English poet (b.
1662)
*
1765 -
Edward Young, English poet (b.
1683)
*
1794 -
Georges Danton, French Revolutionary leader (b.
1759)
*
1923 -
George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English financier (b.
1866)
*
1928 -
Roy Kilner, English cricketer (b.
1890)
*
1964 -
General Douglas MacArthur, American general (b.
1880)
*
1967 -
Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist,
Nobel laureate (b.
1890)
* 1967 -
Mischa Elman, Ukrainian violinist (b.
1891)
*
1969 -
Shelby Storck, American television producer (b.
1917)
*
1970 -
Alfred Henry Sturtevant, American geneticist (b.
1891)
*
1972 -
Brian Donlevy, American actor (b.
1901)
*
1974 -
A. Y. Jackson, Canadian painter (b.
1882)
*
1975 -
Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese nationalist leader (b.
1887)
*
1976 -
Howard Hughes, American aviator (b.
1905)
* 1976 -
Wilder Penfield, Canadian surgeon (b.
1891)
*
1979 -
Eugène Gabritschevsky, Russian biologist and artist (b.
1893)
*
1982 -
Abe Fortas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b.
1910)
*
1983 -
Danny Rapp, American musician (
Danny & the Juniors) (b.
1941)
*
1991 -
John Tower, American politican(b.
1925)
* 1991 -
Sonny Carter, astronaut (b.
1947)
*
1992 -
Molly Picon, French actress (b.
1898)
* 1992 -
Sam Walton, American retailer (b.
1918)
*
1994 -
Kurt Cobain, American musician (b.
1967)
*
1997 -
Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b.
1926)
*
1998 -
Cozy Powell, British musician (b.
1947)
*
2000 -
Lee Petty, American race car driver (b.
1914)
*
2001 -
Brother Theodore, German comedian (b.
1906)
*
2002 -
Layne Staley, American musician (
Alice in Chains) (b.
1967)
*
2004 -
Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician (b.
1936)
* 2004 -
Sławomir Rawicz, (b.
1915)
*
2005 -
Saul Bellow, Canadian-born writer,
Nobel laureate (b.
1915)
* 2005 -
Dale Messick, American comic strip artist (b.
1906)
* 2005 -
Debralee Scott, American actress (b.
1953)
*
2006 -
Gene Pitney, American singer (b.
1941)
*
Mauritius:
Ougadi.
*
Qingming Festival in the
Chinese calendar*
Arbor Day in
South KoreaLiturgical feasts
*
Saint Geeraard*
Saint Vincent Ferrer *
Saint Irena (d. 304)
*
Blessed Kreszentia Hoess* The last day of the
tax year in the
United Kingdom.
*
BBC: On This Day*
Today in History: April 5*
Epic Idiot: On This Day-
April 4 -
April 6 -
March 5 -
May 5 –
listing of all days
