05 April History
- 1242 - Russian troops repel an invasion by Teutonic knights.
- 1614 - Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
- 1792 - George Washington casts the first presidential veto.
- 1843 - Queen Victoria proclaims Hong Kong a British crown colony.
- 1861 - Gideon Wells, the Secretary of the Navy issues official orders for the
- 1865 - As the Confederate army approaches Appomattox, it skirmishes with Union forces at Amelia Springs and Paine's Cross Road.
- 1908 - The Japanese Army reaches Yalu River as Russians retreat.
- 1919 - Eamon de Valera becomes president of Ireland.
- 1930 - Mahatma Ghandi defies British law by making salt in India instead of buying it from the British.
- 1941 - German commandos secure docks along the Danube River in preparation for Germany's invasion of the Balkans.
- 1943 - The British 8th Army attacks the next blocking position of the retreating Axis forces at Wadi Akarit.
- 1951 - Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death for espionage.
- 1955 - Winston Churchill resigns as British prime minister.
- 1986 - A bomb explodes in a West Berlin disco packed with American soldiers.
05 April Birthdays
- 1588 - Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (Leviathan).
- 1827 - Joseph Lister, English physician, founded the idea of using antiseptics during surgery.
- 1839 - Robert Smalls, black congressman from South Carolina, 1875-87.
- 1856 - Booker T. Washington, former slave, educator, founded the Tuskegee Institute.
- 1858 - Washington Atlee Burpee, founded the world's largest mail-order seed company.
- 1900 - Spencer Tracy, actor (Adam's Rib, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner).
- 1908 - Bette Davis, film actress (Jezebel, All About Eve).
- 1916 - Gregory Peck, film actor (To Kill a Mockingbird).
- 1917 - Robert Bloch, novelist (Psycho).
- 1920 - Arthur Hailey, (Hotel, Airport).
- 1923 - Nguyen Van Thieu, president of South Vietnam.
- 1937 - Colin Powell, U.S. Army general, Secretary of State.