April 5
From Wikinfo
April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). There are 270 days remaining.
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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
- 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
- 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, painter
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
- 1994 - Kurt Cobain, rock musician
- 2002 - Layne Staley, rock musician
Holidays and observances
See Also:
April 4 - April 6 - March 5 - May 5 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "April 5" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_5 December 27, 2003
