April 5

Events
Up to 1900
823 - Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
1081 - Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1242 - During a battle on the ice of Chudskoye Lake, Russian forces rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
1566 - Two-hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrick van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Netherlands.
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 is signed, ending the First Anglo-Dutch War.
1690 - Patrizio Cardinal Ficca is elected pope and takes the name Patricius I.
1710 - The Statute of Anne receives the Royal Assent, establishing the copyright law of Great Britain.
1722 - Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen reaches an island in the South Pacific on Easter Sunday. He names it Easter Island. He is the first European to visit the island.
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 is used in the United States.
1804 - The first recorded meteorite falls in Possil, Scotland (High Possil Meteorite).
1815 - Tambora's eruption in Indonesia begins.
1818 - Battle of Maipu: Chile's independence movement, led by Bernardo O'Higgins and Jose de San Martin, wins a decisive victory over Spain, with 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chileans patriots dying in the battle.
1847 - Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park in the United Kingdom, is opened in Birkenhead.
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.
1879 - Chile declares war on Peru and Bolivia.
1901 2000
1902 - A stand at the Ibrox stadium in Glasgow collapses during a Scotland v. England football match, killing 25 people.
1904 - First international rugby league game.
1908 - The Germany national football team played its first-ever match, losing 5-3 to the Switzerland national football team, which recorded its first-ever win.
1922 - The American Birth Control League is incorporated.
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.
1932 - Alcohol prohibition in Finland ends.
1932 - Dominion of Newfoundland: 10,000 rioters seize the Colonial Building, leading to the end of self-government.
1936 - Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak: A F5 tornado slams into the north side of Tupelo, Mississippi, killing 233. It is the 4th deadliest tornado in United States history.
1942 - World War II: The Japanese Navy attacks Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
1943 - World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally kill over 900 civilians in the town of Mortsel, Belgium.
1944 - World War II: 270 people living in the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by German troops.
1945 - Georgian Uprising of Texel takes place.
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 an 11-month occupation.
1949 - Fireside Theatre is first broadcast on television.
1949 - A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, United States, 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.
1956 - In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna won the general elections by many votes and S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike is sworn in as the Prime Minister.
1956 - Fidel Castro declares himself to be at war with the President of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista.
1957 - In India, Communists win the first elections in united Kerala. E. M. S. Namboodiripad is 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
1976 - In the People's Republic of China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen incident.
1976 - James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Labour Party, replacing Harold Wilson in both positions.
1980 - A memorial to Chiang Kai-shek is opened in Taipei, Taiwan, on the fifth anniversary of his death.
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 - The 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.
1994 - Kurt Cobain, popular musician in the rock music band Nirvana, commits suicide at the age of 27. His body is found three days later.
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, United States, 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.
From 2001
2005 - ABC News anchor Peter Jennings announces on World News Tonight that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer. It was his last on-air appearance.
2009 - North Korea launches the Kwangmyongsong rocket, which passed over Japan, and led to international condemnation.
2012 - President of Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika dies aged 78; Joyce Banda replaces him.
2016 - Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigns after his name appeared in the Panama Papers about tax schemes of the rich and famous.
Births
Up to 1800
1170 - Isabella of Hainault (died 1190)
1288 - Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (died 1336)
1315 - James III of Mallorca (died 1349)
1472 - Bianca Maria Sforza, daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan and wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1510)
1479 - Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (died 1574)
1568 - Pope Urban VIII (died 1644)
1588 - Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (died 1679)
1593 - George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg (died 1603)
1595 - John Wilson, English composer and educator (died 1674)
1604 - Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (died 1675)
1622 - Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician (died 1703)
1649 - Elihu Yale, American university benefactor (died 1721)
1692 - Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (died 1730)
1719 - Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish statesman and soldier (died 1794)
1726 - Benjamin Harrison V, American politician (died 1791)
1727 - Pasquale Anfossi, Italian composer (died 1797)
1732 - Jean-Honore Fragonard, French artist (died 1806)
1761 - Sybil Ludington, heroine of the American Revolutionary War (died 1839)
1784 - Louis Spohr, German violinist and composer (died 1859)
1801 1900
1816 - Samuel Freeman Miller, United States Supreme Court justice (died 1890)
1820 - Nadar, French photographer, writer and balloonist (died 1910)
1827 - Joseph Lister, English surgeon (died 1912)
1832 - Jules Ferry, French statesman (died 1893)
1837 - Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (died 1909)
1839 - Robert Smalls, American pilot and politician (died 1915)
1840 - Ghazars Aghayan, Armenian historian and linguist (died 1911)
1856 - Booker T. Washington, American educator (died 1915)
1857 - Alexander of Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria (died 1893)
1863 - Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (died 1950)
1869 - Sergei Chaplygin, Russian physicist and engineer (died 1942)
1869 - Albert Roussel, French composer (died 1937)
1871 - Mirko Seljan, Croatian explorer
1875 - Mistinguett, French vaudeville performer (died 1956)
1877 - Walter Sutton, American geneticist (died 1916)
1878 - Paul Weinstein, German high jumper (died 1964)
1883 - Walter Huston, Canadian-born American actor (died 1950)
1884 - Ion Iaculet, Romanian statesman (died 1940)
1893 - Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (died 1973)
1899 - Alfred Blalock, American surgeon (died 1964)
1899 - Elsie Thompson, American supercentenarian (died 2013)
1900 - Spencer Tracy, American actor (died 1967)
1900 - Herbert Bayer, Austrian-American graphic designer (died 1985)
1900 - Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (died 1928)
1901 1925
1901 - Melvyn Douglas, American actor (died 1981)
1901 - Chester Bowles, American politician, Governor of Connecticut (died 1986)
1904 - Richard Eberhart, American poet (died 2005)
1905 - Sanya Dharmasakti, Prime Minister of Thailand (died 2002)
1905 - Bill Raisch, American actor (died 1984)
1908 - Bette Davis, American actress (died 1989)
1908 - Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (died 1989)
1908 - Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician (died 1986)
1909 - Albert R. Broccoli, American movie producer (died 1996)
1911 - Hedi Amaira Nouira, Prime Minister of Tunisia (died 1993)
1912 - John Le Mesurier, British actor (died 1983)
1912 - Ricardo Arias, 29th President of Panama (died 1993)
1912 - Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer (died 1997)
1912 - Bill Roberts, English sprinter (died 2001)
1913 - Ruth Smith, Faroese artist (died 1958)
1916 - Gregory Peck, American actor (died 2003)
1917 - Robert Bloch, American writer (died 1994)
1919 - Les Munro, New Zealand pilot (died 2015)
1920 - Barend Biesheuvel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2001)
1920 - Chatichai Choonhavan, Prime Minister of Thailand (died 1998)
1920 - Arthur Hailey, American writer (died 2004)
1922 - Tom Finney, English footballer (died 2014)
1922 - Gale Storm, American singer and actress
1922 - Christopher Hewett, British actor (died 2001)
1923 - Nguyen Van Thieu, South Vietnamese president (died 2001)
1923 - Michael Gazzo, American actor (died 1995)
1926 1950
1926 - Roger Corman, American movie director, producer, and writer
1929 - Hugo Claus, Belgian writer (died 2008)
1929 - Ivar Giaever, Norwegian physicist
1929 - Joe Meek, English record producer (died 1967)
1929 - Nigel Hawthorne, British actor (died 2001)
1930 - Mary Costa, American singer and actress
1931 - Boris Strugatsky, Russian writer (died 1991)
1933 - Larry Felser, American sports columnist and writer
1934 - Frank Gorshin, American actor (died 2005)
1934 - Roman Herzog, German politician, former President of Germany (died 2017)
1934 - Richard Peck, American novelist (died 2018)
1935 - Donald Lynden-Bell, English astrophysicist and astronomer
1937 - Colin Powell, 65th United States Secretary of State (died 2021)
1939 - Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, Albanian royal and pretender (died 2011)
1939 - David Winters, English-American actor and choreographer (died 2019)
1939 - Crispian St. Peters, British singer
1941 - Michael Moriarty, American actor and political activist
1942 - Pascal Couchepin, Swiss politician
1942 - Allan Clarke, English singer
1942 - Peter Greenaway, Welsh movie director
1943 - Jean-Louis Tauran, French cardinal (died 2018)
1943 - Max Gail, American actor
1944 - Peter T. King, American politician
1945 - Tommy Smith, English footballer (died 2019)
1946 - Jane Asher, English actress and writer
1947 - Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 14th President of the Philippines
1947 - Virendra Sharma, Indian-English actor
1948 - Dave Holland, English musician
1948 - Les Binks, Northern Irish drummer
1949 - Judith Resnik, American astronaut (died 1986)
1950 - Spencer Bohren, American guitarist (died 2019)
1950 - Agnetha Faltskog, Swedish singer (ABBA)
1951 1975
1952 - Alfie Conn Jr., Scottish footballer
1954 - Stan Ridgway, American musician
1955 - Akira Toriyama, Japanese manga artist
1955 - Charlotte de Turckheim, French actress, producer and screenwriter
1955 - Anthony Horowitz, British writer
1956 - Akmal Shaikh, British citizen executed for drug trafficking in China (died 2009)
1958 - Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan journalist (died 2009)
1958 - Johan Kriek, South African tennis player
1961 - Lisa Zane, American actress
1962 - Lana Clarkson, American actress (died 2003)
1962 - Richard Gough, Scottish footballer
1964 - Steve Beaton, English darts player
1964 - Princess Erika, French singer-songwriter and actress
1965 - Mike McCready, American musician (Pearl Jam)
1965 - Aykut Kocaman, Turkish footballer and manager
1970 - Krishnan Guru-Murthy, British journalist
1970 - Miho Hatori, Japanese singer-songwriter
1971 - Ayoko Nishikawa, Japanese television personality, entertainer, comedian and surgeon
1972 - Paul Okon, Australian footballer
1972 - Yasuhiro Takemoto, Japanese animator and movie director
1973 - Pharrell Williams, American musician and producer (The Neptunes)
1974 - Vyacheslav Voronin, Russian high jumper
1975 - John Hartson, Welsh footballer
1975 - Caitlin Moran, English journalist, author and critic
From 1976
1976 - Kim Collins, Saint Kitts and Nevis athlete
1976 - Simone Inzaghi, Italian footballer
1976 - Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer
1977 - Stella Creasy, English psychologist and politician
1978 - Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
1978 - Dwain Chambers, British athlete
1978 - Stephen Jackson, American basketball player
1979 - Imany, French singer
1979 - Timo Hildebrand, German footballer, goalkeeper
1979 - Mitsuo Ogasawara, Japanese footballer
1979 - Daniel Majstorovic, Swedish footballer
1979 - Andrius Velicka, Lithuanian footballer
1980 - Joris Mathijsen, Dutch footballer
1980 - Erik Aude, American actor, stuntman and poker player
1981 - Stefan Ludik, Namibian cricketer, actor and singer
1981 - Michael A. Monsoor, American soldier (d. 2006)
1982 - Hayley Atwell, British actress
1982 - Thomas Hitzlsperger, German footballer
1982 - Matt Pickens, American footballer
1983 - Jorge Andres Martinez, Uruguayan footballer
1984 - Maartje Goderie, Dutch field hockey player
1984 - Kisho Yano, Japanese footballer
1984 - Aram Mp3, Armenian singer
1984 - David Dillehunt, American movie director, producer and composer
1985 - Kim Ji-hoo, South Korean model and actor (died 2008)
1986 - Anna Sophia Berglund, American model
1988 - Christopher Papamichalopoulos, Cypriot skier
1990 - Sophia Papamichalopoulos, Cypriot skier
1990 - Haruma Miura, Japanese actor
1992 - Emmalyn Estrada, Canadian singer and dancer
Deaths
Up to 1900
517 - Timothy I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
582 - Eutychus, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
1419 - Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1350)
1617 - Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer (b. 1555)
1676 - John Winthrop, the Younger, American politician (b. 1606)
1693 - Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans, Duchess of Montpensier (b. 1627)
1697 - King Charles IX of Sweden (b. 1655)
1717 - Jean Jouvenet, French painter (b. 1647)
1735 - William Derham, English minister and philosopher (b. 1657)
1735 - Samuel Wesley, English clergyman and poet (b. 1662)
1765 - Edward Young, English poet (b. 1683)
1794 - Georges Danton, French Revolutionary leader (b. 1759)
1794 - Camille Desmoulins, French journalist and politician (b. 1760)
1804 - Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (b. 1761)
1834 - Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral (b. 1757)
1864 - Alaric Alexander Watts, English poet and journalist (b. 1797)
1900 - Joseph Louis Francois Bertrand, French mathematician (b. 1822)
1901 2000
1918 - George Tupou II, King of Tonga (b. 1874)
1923 - George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English financier (b. 1886)
1936 - Chandler Egan, American golfer (b. 1884)
1940 - Charles Freer Andrews, English priest, missionary and educator (b. 1871)
1945 - Karl Otto Koch, German SS officer (b. 1897)
1946 - Vincent Youmans, American composer and producer (b. 1898)
1964 - Douglas MacArthur, American general (b. 1880)
1967 - Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist (b. 1890)
1969 - Ain-Erven Mere, Estonian military officer (b. 1903)
1970 - Alfred Henry Sturtevant, American geneticist (b. 1891)
1972 - Brian Donleavy, American actor (b. 1901)
1972 - Isabel Jewell, American actress (b. 1907)
1975 - Chiang Kai-shek, President of the Republic of China (b. 1887)
1975 - John A. Burns, Governor of Hawaii (b. 1909)
1976 - Howard Hughes, American aviator (b. 1905)
1981 - Bob Hite, American singer (b. 1945)
1987 - Jan Lindblad, Swedish naturalist, writer and photographer (b. 1932)
1991 - Sonny Carter, American astronaut (b. 1947)
1992 - Sam Walton, American businessman (b. 1918)
1994 - Kurt Cobain, American singer/songwriter, frontman of Nirvana. (b. 1967)
1997 - Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
1998 - Cozy Powell, English musician (b. 1947)
From 2001
2002 - Layne Staley, American musician (b. 1967)
2004 - Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician (b. 1936)
2005 - Saul Bellow, Canadian writer (b. 1915)
2005 - Dale Messick, American cartoonist (b. 1906)
2006 - Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1940)
2007 - Mark St. John, American musician (b. 1956)
2008 - Charlton Heston, American actor (b. 1923)
2010 - Vitali Sevastyanov, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1935)
2011 - Ange-Felix Patasse, former President of the Central African Republic (b. 1937)
2011 - Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician (b. 1925)
2012 - Barney McKenna, Irish musician (Dubliners) (b. 1939)
2012 - Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi (b. 1934)
2012 - Jim Marshall, businessman and founder of Marshall Amplification (b. 1923)
2012 - Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, German businessman (b. 1935)
2014 - Peter Matthiessen, American author (b. 1927)
2014 - John Pinette, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
2014 - Jose Wilker, Brazilian actor, director and producer (b. 1947)
2014 - Wayne Henderson, American jazz trombonist and record producer (b. 1939)
2015 - Donald N. Levine, American sociologist, social theorist and writer (b. 1931)
2015 - Julie Wilson, American actress (b. 1924)
2015 - Fredric Brandt, American dermatologist (b. 1949)
2015 - Richard Dysart, American actor (b. 1929)
2015 - Lon Simmons, American sports broadcaster (b. 1923)
2015 - Gordon Moyes, Australian radio evangelist and politician (b. 1938)
2016 - Roman Gribbs, American politician (b. 1925)
2016 - Zyta Gilowska, Polish politician (b. 1949)
2016 - Zena Latto, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
2016 - E. M. Nathanson, American author (b. 1928)
2017 - Arthur Bisguier, American chess player (b. 1929)
2017 - John Chittick, American health activist (b. 1948)
2017 - David Gove, American ice hockey player (b. 1978)
2017 - Paul O'Neill, American producer, composer and songwriter (b. 1956)
2017 - Meme Perlini, Italian actor and director (b. 1947)
2017 - Atanase Sciotnic, Romanian sprint canoeist (b. 1942)
2017 - Ilkka Sinisalo, Finnish ice hockey player (b. 1958)
2018 - Yuriy Abramochkin, Russian photographer and photojournalist (b. 1936)
2018 - Eric Bristow, English darts player (b. 1957)
2018 - Frederick D. Reese, American civil rights activist (b. 1929)
2018 - Isao Takahata, Japanese film director, animator and screenwriter (b. 1935)
2018 - Cecil Taylor, American jazz pianist and poet (b. 1929)
2018 - Tim O'Connor, American actor (b. 1927)
2018 - Jaime Thorne Leon, Peruvian politician (b. 1943)
2019 - Sydney Brenner, South African-British biologist (b. 1927)
2019 - Nikolay Kovalyov, Russian politician (b. 1949)
2019 - Gianfranco Leoncini, Italian footballer (b. 1939)
2019 - Lasse Poysti, Finnish actor, director, theatre manager and writer (b. 1927)
2019 - Shawn Smith, American singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1965)
Observances
Feast Day of Saint Vincent Ferrer (Roman Catholicism)
Sikmogil (South Korea)
Children's Day (Palestinian territories)
April 05