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 - U.S. 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.

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.

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: A F5 tornado slams into the north side of Tupelo, Mississippi killing 233. It is the 4th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

1945 - Cold War: Yugoslav leader Josip "Tito" Broz signs an agreement with the USSR allowing "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory."

1949 - Fireside Theatre debuts on television.

1949 - A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois kills 77 people.

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.

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.

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

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.

1992 - Several hundred-thousand abortion rights demonstrators march in Washington, D.C

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.

1999 - In Laramie, Wyoming, Russell Henderson pleads guilty to kidnapping and felony murder in order to avoid a possible death penalty conviction for the hate crime killing of Matthew Shepard.