April 5th in History

Michael Dobson | April 5
Douglas MacArthur wading ashore on Leyte, Philippines

Today in History

  • The Republic of Novgorod defeats the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice (Ледовое побоище) (1242)
  • Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe (1614)
  • Copyright law begins in the United Kingdom (1710)
  • Jacob Roggeveen becomes the first European to find Easter Island (1722)
  • George Washington vetoes a bill for the first time in US history (1792)
  • The American Birth Control League, later named Planned Parenthood, is founded (1922)
  • Prohibition in Finland ends (1932)
  • North Korea launches the satellite 광명성 2호 (Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2), resulting in condemnation by the UN Security Council (2009)

Birthdays

  • Thomas Hobbes, philosopher (1588)
  • Elihu Yale, university namesake (1649)
  • Sir Thomas Hardy, Admiral Nelson’s flag captain (1769)
  • Joseph Lister, pioneer of antiseptic surgery and Listerine namesake (1827)
  • Algernon Swinburne, poet (1837)
  • Robert Smalls, slave who commandeered a Confederate transport to sail himself, family and crew to freedom, later a member of the US House of Representatives from South Carolina (1939)
  • Booker T. Washington, author and educator (1856)
  • Walter Huston, actor (1883)
  • Spencer Tracy, actor (1900)
  • Melvyn Douglas, actor (1901)
  • Bette Davis, actress (1908)
  • Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, co-author of Cheaper by the Dozen (1908)
  • Albert (Cubby) Broccoli, producer (1909)
  • Gregory Peck, actor (1916)
  • Robert Bloch, author (1917)
  • Arthur Hailey, author (1920)
  • Christopher Hewett, played Mr. Belvedere (1922)
  • Gale Storm, actress and singer (1922)
  • Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, last president of South Vietnam (1923)
  • Roger Corman, director and producer (1926)
  • Frank Gorshin, actor, impressionist, and The Riddler (1933)
  • Colin Powell, US general and politician (1937)
  • Michael Moriarty, actor (1941)
  • Max Gail, actor (1943)
  • Dean Kamen, inventor (1951)
  • 鳥山 明 (Akira Toriyama), manga artist (1955)
  • Paula Cole, singer-songwriter (1968)
  • Krista Allen, actress (1971)

Deaths

  • Georges Danton, French revolutionary (1794)
  • Douglas MacArthur, US general (1964)*
  • Brian Donlevy, actor (1972)
  • 蔣介石 (Chiang Kai-shek), Republic of China leader (1975)
  • Howard Hughes, pilot, engineer, director, recluse (1976)
  • Abe Fortas, Supreme Court justice (1982)
  • John Tower, US senator (1991)
  • Sam Walton, businessman (1992)
  • Kurt Cobain, singer-songwriter and guitarist (1994)
  • Allen Ginsberg, poet (1997)
  • Lee Petty, race car driver (2000)
  • Saul Bellow, author (2005)
  • Dale Messick, creator of Brenda Starr (2005)
  • Debralee Scott, actress (2005)
  • Gene Pitney, singer-songwriter (2006)
  • Charlton Heston, actor (2008)

* Douglas MacArthur is the lead character in my alternate history novel (with Douglas Niles), MacArthur’s War.

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Arbor Day (South Korea)
  • Cold Food Festival (Hanshi Festival, 寒食節) (China), also known as Hanshik (한식) in Korea and similar to Tết Hàn Thực (third day of the third lunar month) in Vietnam
  • International Day of the Seal
  • National Raisin and Spice Bar Day (US food holidays)
  • Ougadie (Mauritius)
  • Sunning of the Buddha (Tibet)
  • Tomb Sweeping Day (Taiwan)
Informal and made-up holidays include Accelerate ACL Awareness Among Young Women Day, German-American Day, “Go for Broke” Day, Lady Luck Day, Mother-in-Law’s Day, National Birding Day, National Love Our Children Day, National Read a Road Map Day, Stop the Clocks Day, and Tangible Karma Day.
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April 5 is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years). There are 270 days remaining until the end of the year.