http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Apr 5, 1994: Kurt Cobain commits suicide
Modern rock icon Kurt Cobain commits suicide on this day in 1994. His body was discovered inside his home in Seattle, Washington, three days later by Gary Smith, an electrician, who was installing a security system in the suburban house. Despite indications that Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, killed himself, several skeptics questioned the circumstances of his death and pinned responsibility on his wife, Courtney Love.
At least two books, including one penned by Love's estranged father, and a nationally released documentary, Kurt & Courtney, openly expressed doubt that Cobain killed himself and all but accused Love of having her husband killed. Her volatile reputation and healthy list of enemies helped to circulate the rumors. However, police have concluded that Cobain's death was the result of suicide.
Cobain's downward spiral began taking shape in Italy the previous month. He went into a coma and nearly died after mixing champagne and the drug Rohypnol. The public was led to believe that the coma was induced by an accidental heroin overdose, since Cobain had a well-known problem with the drug.
Back at home in Seattle, the police were called to Cobain and Love's home when he again threatened to kill himself. Although Cobain stated in a 1991 interview that he didn't believe in guns, the officers confiscated four from his possession. As his wife and friends watched him spin out of control, they attempted to intervene. Cobain mostly ignored their concerns but reluctantly checked into a rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles at the end of March.
On March 30, Cobain walked away from the clinic without informing his family or friends. For the next few days, Love could not locate him and decided to hire a private detective on April 3. The detective made contact with Cobain the following day in Seattle, but Cobain refused to return to Los Angeles. In the meantime, Cobain had convinced a friend to buy him a gun, claiming he needed it for protection. On April 5, Cobain returned home. He had ingested enough Valium and heroin to reach near-fatal levels. In the apartment above the garage was Cobain's sloppily written suicide note, quoting Neil Young's lyric that it is "better to burn out than to fade away."
Apr 5, 1951: Rosenbergs sentenced to death for spying
The climax of the most sensational spy trial in American history is reached when a federal judge sentences Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for their roles in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. Although the couple proclaimed their innocence, they died in the electric chair in June 1953.
The Rosenbergs were convicted of playing a central role in a spy ring that passed secret data concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union during and immediately after World War II. Their part in the espionage came to light when British physicist Klaus Fuchs was arrested in Great Britain in early 1950. Under questioning, Fuchs admitted that he stole secret documents while he was working on the Manhattan Project—the top-secret U.S. program to build an atomic bomb during World War II. He implicated Harry Gold as a courier who delivered the documents to Soviet agents. Gold was arrested a short time later and informed on David Greenglass, who then pointed the finger at his sister and brother-in-law, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Julius was arrested in July and Ethel in August 1950. After a brief trial in March 1951, the Rosenbergs were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage. At their sentencing hearing in April, Federal Judge Irving R. Kaufman described their crime as "worse than murder" and charged, "By your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country." He sentenced them to death.
The Rosenbergs and their attorneys continued to plead their innocence, arguing that they were "victims of political hysteria." Humanitarian organizations in the United States and around the world pleaded for leniency, particularly since the Rosenbergs were the parents of two young children. The pleas for special consideration were ignored, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed on June 19, 1953.
Apr 5, 1918: First stage of German spring offensive ends
On April 5, 1918, General Erich Ludendorff formally ends "Operation Michael," the first stage of the final major German offensive of World War I.
Operation Michael, which marked the first sizeable German offensive against Allied positions on the Western Front in more than a year, began on March 21, 1918, with a five-hour-long bombardment of Allied positions near the Somme River from more than 9,000 pieces of German artillery, in the face of which the poorly prepared British 5th Army was rapidly overwhelmed and forced into retreat. For a week, the Germans pushed toward Paris, shelling the city from a distance of 80 miles with their "Big Bertha" cannons; by March 25, they had crossed the Somme and broken through the Allied lines. Hampered by a lack of supplies and cavalry, as well as hardening Allied defenses, German troops became exhausted, and by the end of March the Allies had halted their advance. On April 2, U.S. General John J. Pershing sent several thousand fresh American troops down into the trenches to fight alongside the British and French. It was the first major deployment of U.S. troops in World War I.
By April 5, when Ludendorff shut down the attacks, Operation Michael had produced the biggest gains of territory on the Western Front by either side since 1914. The Germans had advanced almost 40 miles, inflicted some 200,000 casualties and captured 70,000 prisoners and more than 1,000 Allied guns. The costs of battle were high, however: Germans suffered nearly as many casualties as their enemies and lacked the fresh reserves and supplies the Allies enjoyed following the American entrance into the war. Still, Ludendorff would launch four more similar operations that spring of 1918, as the Germans staked everything on a last, desperate offensive on the Western Front.
Apr 5, 1945: Tito signs "friendship treaty" with Soviet Union
On this day in 1945, Yugoslav partisan leader Tito signs an agreement permitting "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory."
Josip Broz, alias "Tito," secretary general of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, led a partisan counteroffensive movement against the Axis occupying powers of Germany and Italy in 1941. Recognized by the Allies as the leader of the Yugoslav resistance, he was, in fact, the leader of a power grab meant not only to expel the Axis forces but to wrest control of Yugoslavia in the postwar environment from both royalist and democratic movements. Once the Soviet army liberated Serbia, the fate of Yugoslavia as a communist-dominated nation was sealed. Tito's task now lay in remaining independent of both the U.S.S.R. and the West. To this end, he created a "second Yugoslavia," a socialist federation that became known for its nonalignment stance.
As part of the agreement signed on April 5, 1945, Tito secured a proviso that the Soviets would leave Yugoslavia once its "operational task" was completed. Ensuring compliance with this clause proved problematic, as Stalin tried to maintain a presence in postwar Yugoslavia, attempting to co-opt the Yugoslav Communist Party and create another puppet state. He failed; Tito played the West against the East in a Machiavellian scheme to keep his own Stalin-like grip on his country. Although he permitted cultural and scientific freedom unheard of in Soviet-bloc countries, he was also guilty of purging centrist and democratic forces fighting for reform within Yugoslavia and centralizing all power in one party. But upon Tito's death, in 1980, the center could not hold--chaos was ultimately unleashed in the form of ethnic civil war.
Apr 5, 1969: Antiwar demonstrations held across United States
Approximately 100,000 antiwar demonstrators march in New York City to demand that the United States withdraw from Vietnam. The weekend of antiwar protests ended with demonstrations and parades in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and other cities. The National Mobilization Committee, the Student Mobilization Committee, and the Socialist Workers Party were among the groups that helped organize the demonstrations. At the same time, Quakers held sit-ins at draft boards and committed other acts of civil disobedience in more than 30 cities.
Apr 5, 1862: Siege of Yorktown begins
Union forces under General George McClellan arrive at Yorktown, Virginia, and establish siege lines instead of directly attacking the Confederate defenders.
This was the opening of McClellan's Peninsular campaign. He sailed his massive Army of the Potomac down Chesapeake Bay and landed on the James Peninsula southeast of the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. He reasoned that this would bring him closer to Richmond, and the Confederates would have a difficult time gathering their scattered forces to the peninsula. The first resistance came at Yorktown, the site of George Washington's decisive victory over Lord Cornwallis to end the American Revolution 91 years earlier.
McClellan was discouraged by what he thought was a substantial force resting inside of strong and well-armed fortifications. The Confederates he saw were actually 11,000 troops under General John B. Magruder. Although vastly outnumbered, Magruder staged an elaborate ruse to fool McClellan. He ordered logs painted black, called "Quaker Guns," placed in redoubts to give the appearance of numerous artillery pieces. Magruder marched his men back and forth to enhance the illusion. The performance worked, as McClellan was convinced that he could not make a frontal assault.
He opted to lay siege instead. Not until May 4 did Magruder's troops finally abandon Yorktown, giving the Confederates valuable time to gather their troops near Richmond. The campaign climaxed in late June when McClellan was driven away from the gates of Richmond in the Seven Days' battles.
Apr 5, 1859: Darwin sends first three chapters of The Origin of Species to his publisher
Naturalist Charles Darwin sends his publishers the first three chapters of Origin of Species, which will become one of the most influential books ever published.
Knowing the fates of scientists who had published radical theories and been ostracized or worse, Darwin held off publishing his theory of natural selection for years. He secretly developed his theory during two decades of surreptitious research following his return from a five-year voyage to South America on the HMS Beagle as the ship's unpaid botanist.
Darwin, the privileged and well-connected son of a successful English doctor, had been interested in botany and natural sciences since his boyhood, despite the discouragement of his early teachers. At Cambridge, he found professors and scientists with similar interests and with their help began participating in scientific voyages, including the HMS Beagle's trip. By the time Darwin returned, he had developed an outstanding reputation as a field researcher and scientific writer, based on his many papers and letters dispatched from South America and the Galapagos Islands, which were read at meetings of prominent scientific societies in London.
Darwin began publishing studies of zoology and geology as soon as he returned from his voyage, while secretly working on his radical theory of evolution. Meanwhile, he married and had seven children. He finally published The Origin of Species after another scientist began publishing papers with similar ideas. When the book appeared in November 1859, it sold out immediately. By 1872, six editions had been published. It laid the groundwork for modern botany, cellular biology, and genetics. Darwin died in 1882.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
456 - St. Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop.
823 - Pope Peschalis I crowns Lotharius I, co-emperor of
France
1058 - Bishop John "Minchio," [domkop] elected as
Pope Benedictus X
1242 - Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeats Teutonic Knights
1566 - 200 Brussel nobles offer Margaretha of Parma a
petition
1585 - Clemens Crabbeels becomes bishop of Hertogenbosch
1603 - New English king James I departs Edinburgh for London
1609 - Daimyo (Lord) of the Satsuma Domain in southern
Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in
Okinawa.
1614 - 2nd parliament of King James I begin session (no
enactments)
1621 - Mayflower sails from Plymouth on a return trip to
England
1648 - Spanish troops/feudal barons strike down people's
uprising in Naples
1722 - Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island
1739 - French emperor Karel VI sign secret treaty
1751 - Adolf Frederik of Holstein-Gottorp crowns himself
king of Sweden
1762 - British take Grenada, West Indies, from French
1768 - 1st US Chamber of Commerce forms (NYC)
1792 - George Washington casts 1st presidential veto
1803 - 1st performance of Beethoven's 2nd Symphony in D
1804 - High Possil Meteorite: The first recorded meteorite
in Scotland falls in Possil.
First US President George WashingtonFirst US President
George Washington 1806 - Isaac Quintard patents apple cider
1812 - Brits storm Badajoz fortress, held by French &
Spanish
1814 - Netherlands Bank issues it's 1st banknotes
1815 - Eruption of Tambora volcano (Sumbawa Java)
1818 - In the Battle of Maipú, Chile's independence movement
- led by Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín - win a decisive victory
over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
1861 - Federals abandon Ft Quitman, Tx
1862 - Siege of Yorktown VA
1865 - Battle at Amelia Springs/Jetersville Va (Appomattox
Campaign)
1874 - Johann Strauss Jr's opera "Die Fledermaus,"
premieres in Vienna
1874 - Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, is
opened in Birkenhead, England. Designed by Joseph Paxton
1879 - Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the
War of the Pacific.
1881 - Transvaal regains independence under British
suzerainty
1887 - Anne Sullivan teaches "water" to Helen
Keller
1889 - Start of Sherlock Holmes' "Adventure of Copper
Beeches" (BG)
1893 - Cleveland passes Park Act (forerunner of Metroparks)
Author Helen KellerAuthor Helen Keller 1894 - 11 strikers
killed in riot at Connellsville, Penn
1894 - Start of Sherlock Holmes' "Adventure of Empty
House" (BG)
1895 - Start of Sherlock Holmes' "Adventure of 3
Students" (BG)
1895 - Oscar Wilde loses libel case against Marquess of
Queensberry, who accused him of homosexual practices
1897 - The Greco-Turkish War, also called "Thirty Days'
War", is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
1900 - Attempted assassination of Edward, British Prince of
Wales in Brussels, fails
1902 - Maurice Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante
defunte," premieres in Paris
1902 - In Glasgow, Scotland the Ibrox disaster occurs after
a section of a grandstand collapses killing 25 and injuring 517
1904 - The first international rugby league match is played
between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh & Scottish players)
in Central Park, Wigan, England.
1905 - James Barrie's "Alice-sit-by-the-fire,"
premieres in London
1906 - St Pius X encyclical "On the Mariavites or
Mystic Priests of Poland"
1908 - British premier Henry Campbell-Bannerman resigns
1911 - MCC tour match v Jamaica finishes in a tie
1911 - Waldorf W Aster acquires Daily Observer
1915 - French begin Woëvre-offensive
Writer/Poet Oscar WildeWriter/Poet Oscar Wilde 1915 - Jess
Willard KOs Jack Johnson in 26 for heavyweight boxing title
1916 - French troops occupy Bois de Caillette
1919 - Eamon de Valera becomes president of Dail Eireann
1919 - Polish Army executes 35 young Jews
1922 - KOB-AM in Albuquerque NM begins radio transmissions
1922 - WDZ-AM in Decatur IL begins radio transmissions
1923 - Firestone Co put their inflatable tires into
production
1925 - Belgian Workers Party wins parliamentary election
1925 - Yankees whip Dodgers in exhibition 16-9 but Babe Ruth
collapses in NC due to an ulcer
1927 - Johnny Weissmuller set records in 100 & 200 m
free style
1929 - Lithuania signs Litvinov-pact
1930 - England out for 849 v WI Kingston, Sandham out for
325
1932 - Dutch textile strike broken by trade unions
1932 - Dominion of Newfoundland: 10,000 rioters seize the
Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
1935 - Croatian Farmers Party wins Yugoslavian election
Baseball Great Babe RuthBaseball Great Babe Ruth 1936 -
Tupelo Mississippi virtually annihilated by a tornado, 216 die
1938 - Anti-Jewish riots break out in Dabrowa Poland
1939 - Membership in Hitler Youth becomes obligatory
1941 - In SF, Castro & Fillmore streetcars replaced by
buses
1943 - Allies bomb Mortsel
1943 - Japanese troops conquer Indin
1943 - Poon Lim found after being adrift 133 days
1944 - 140 Lancasters bomb airplane manufacturer in Toulouse
1944 - World War II: 270 inhabitants of the Greek town of
Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.
1945 - Almelo Netherlands freed
1945 - Kuniaki Koiso resigns as PM of Japan; replaced by
Kantaro Suzuki
1946 - 1st performance of Charles Ives' 3rd Symphony
1948 - WGN TV channel 9 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins
broadcasting
1949 - 60 year old St Anthony's Hospital burns, kills 77
(Effingham Ill)
1949 - Fireside Theater debuts on television.
1950 - Prague espionage trial against bishops & priests
begins
1951 - Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, atomic spies, sentenced
to death
1952 - Henry Wittenberg wins his 8th AAU wrestling title
1953 - Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Babe
Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1953 - WEYI TV channel 25 in Saginaw, MI (CBS) begins
broadcasting
Singer & Cultural Icon Elvis PresleySinger &
Cultural Icon Elvis Presley 1954 - Elvis Presley records his debut single,
"That's All Right"
1955 - Winston Churchill resigns as British PM, Anthony Eden
succeeds him
1956 - In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna win the
general elections in a landslide and S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike is sworn in as the
Prime Minister.
1958 - Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in
the Seymour Narrows in Canada is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear
controlled explosions of the time.
1959 - 23rd Golf Masters Championship: Art Wall Jr wins,
shooting a 284
1961 - Barbra Streisand appears on "Jack Paar
Show"
1961 - Dutch governor Platteel installs New Guinea Council
1962 - Herb Gardner's "Thousand Clowns," premieres
in NYC
1962 - Mgr J Daems appointed bishop of Antwerp
1962 - NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to
54,600 m
1962 - St Bernard Tunnel finished-Swiss/Italians workers
shake hands
1963 - Beatles receive their 1st silver disc (Please Please
Me)
1963 - Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II becomes chief of
Western Samoa
1964 - 1st driverless trains run on London Underground
1964 - Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA St Petersburg Women's Golf
Open
Singer-songwriter & Actress Barbra
StreisandSinger-songwriter & Actress Barbra Streisand 1965 - 37th Academy
Awards - "My Fair Lady," Rex Harrison & J Andrews win
1965 - Lava Lamp Day celebrated
1965 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1966 - WTVX TV channel 34 in Ft Pierce-Vero Beach, FL (IND)
1st broadcast
1967 - '76er Wilt Chamberlain sets NBA record of 41 rebounds
1967 - ATS II launched but fails to reach orbit
1968 - Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego opens
1968 - US marine base Khe San Vietnam, appalled
1969 - Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in
many U.S. cities.
1970 - WSNS TV channel 44 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins
broadcasting
1971 - Fran Phipps is 1st woman to reach North Pole
1971 - Mount Etna erupts in Sicily Italy
1971 - US Lt Wiliam Calley (My Lai Massacre) sentenced to
life
1971 - WNJT TV channel 52 in Trenton, NJ (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1971 - In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches
insurrection against the United Front government of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
1972 - Baseball season is delayed due to a strike
1972 - Mets trade Ken Singleton to Expos for Rusty Staub
1973 - NFL adopts jersey numbering system (ie QBs, 1-19)
1973 - Pioneer 11 launched to Jupiter
1974 - Last day of Test cricket for Garry Sobers & Rohan
Kanhai
1974 - Then tallest building, World Trade Center opens in
NYC (110 stories)
1975 - "Letter for Queen Victoria" closes at ANTA
Theater NYC after 18 perfs
1975 - Soyuz 18A launch aborted short of orbit; cosmonauts
return safely
1976 - Harold Wilson resigns as James Callaghan becomes PM
of England
Playwright Tom StoppardPlaywright Tom Stoppard 1976 - Tom
Stoppard's "Dirty Linen," premieres in London
1977 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1979 - Balt manager Earl Weaver wins his 1,000th game as a
skipper
1979 - Ex-premier Pol Jar flees out of Cambodia
1981 - 10th Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by
Nancy Lopez
1981 - Phila Flyers amass a record 2,621 penalty minutes
1982 - British fleet sails to Falkland Islands
1982 - Cards' Jim Kaat, pitches in record 24th consecutive
season
1982 - Lord Carrington, British foreign sect resigns due to
Falkland Is war
1983 - France throws out 47 Soviet diplomats
1983 - NY Met Tom Seaver's sets record 14th NL Opening Day
assignment
1984 - "Human Comedy" opens at Royale Theater NYC
for 13 performances
1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaks Wilt Chamberlain's
all-time career scoring record of 31,419 points (31,421)
1986 - Record for a throw-and-return boomerang toss is set
(121m)
1986 - US soldier & Turkish woman killed in West Berlin
disco bombing
1987 - 16th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by
Betsy King
1987 - Fox TV network premieres showing Married With
Children & Tracey Ullman
NHL all-time top scorer Wayne GretzkyNHL all-time top scorer
Wayne Gretzky 1987 - Wayne Gretzky wins 7th straight NHL scoring title
1988 - Democratic convention picks Michael Dukakis as their
pres candidate
1989 - David Letterman becomes 1st network TV series to use
dolby stereo
1989 - Orel Hershiser ends his 59 consecutive scoreless
pitched inning streak
1989 - Solidarity grants legal status in Poland
1990 - John Stockton reaches 1000-assist mark for NBA record
3 yrs in a row
1990 - NY Rangers beat NY Islanders 2-1 in 1st game of
preliminary
1990 - Paul Newman wins a court victory over Julius Gold, to
keep giving all profits from Newman foods to charity
1991 - Joe Dumaars (Detroit) ends NBA free throw streak of
62 games
1991 - Kitty Kelly publishes a book knocking Nancy Reagan
1991 - Southeast Airlines Embracer 120 crashes in Georgia,
killing 23
1991 - Space Shuttle STS 37 (Atlantis 8) launched
1991 - US begins air drops to Kurd refugees in Northern Iraq
1992 - "Search & Destroy" closes at Circle in
Sq Theater NYC after 46 perfs
1992 - 11th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Stanford
beats Western Ky 78-62
Comedian David LettermanComedian David Letterman 1992 - 4th
Seniors Golf Tradition: Lee Trevino
1992 - Dana Lofland wins Las Vegas LPGA Golf International
1992 - Game 2 of Mayor Challenge - NY Yankees sweep NY Mets
6-5 at Shea
1992 - Peru's Pres Alberto Fujimori suspend constitution
& dissolved Congress
1992 - Thailand General Suchinda Kraprayoon installed as
president
1992 - Wrestlemania VIII, 62,167 at Hoosier Dome, Hulk Hogan
DQs Sid Justice
1992 - Several hundred-thousand abortion rights
demonstrators march in Washington, D.C.
1993 - 55th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: NC beats
Michigan 77-71
1993 - 73,293 see Yankees beat Indians 9-1
1993 - Colorado Rockies 1st game - lose to NY Mets 3-0
1993 - Construction begins on Cleveland's Rock & Roll
Hall of Fame
1993 - Florida Marlins 1st game - beat LA Dodgers 6-3
1993 - Republican Guard kills 64 in Chad
1994 - "Jackie Mason Politically Incorrect" opens
at Golden NYC for 347 perfs
1994 - Miami Heat beat NY Knicks ending 15 game NBA winning
streak
WWF Wrestler Hulk HoganWWF Wrestler Hulk Hogan 1996 - John
Bobbitt is put under house arrest in Las Vegas for 120 days
1996 - Marlon Brando makes anti-semetic remarks about
hollywood on Larry King
1997 - Galileo, 3rd Ganymede Flyby (Orbit 7)
1998 - 10th Seniors Golf Tradition:
1999 - Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight
103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
2009 - North Korea launches its controversial
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which
prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as
well as participating states of Six-party talks.
2009 - 44th Academy of Country Music Awards: Carrie
Underwood & Brad Paisley wins
2012 - Severe storms in Argentina kill 14 people
2012 - 77 year old pensioner's suicide outside Greece's
parliament prompts further protests in Athens
2012 - International internet group Anonymous hack several
Chinese bureaus in opposition to censorship
2013 - Japan’s Nikkei 225 reaches its highest level in five
years
2013 - 60 people are killed in Nigeria after a bus collides
with an oil tanker
2063 - Earth's 1st contact with the extra-terrestrial Vulcan
species in the Star Trek universe
1242 - Russian troops repelled an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights. 1614 - American Indian Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia. 1621 - The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, MA, on a return trip to England. 1792 - U.S. President George Washington cast the first presidential veto. The measure was for apportioning representatives among the states. 1806 - Isaac Quintard patented the cider mill. 1827 - James H. Hackett became the first American actor to appear abroad as he performed at Covent Garden in London, England. 1843 - Queen Victoria proclaimed Hong Kong to be a British crown colony. 1869 - Daniel Bakeman, the last surviving soldier of the U.S. Revolutionary War, died at the age of 109. 1887 - Anne Sullivan taught Helen Keller the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the manual alphabet. 1892 - Walter H. Coe patented gold leaf in rolls. 1895 - Playwright Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry. Wilde had been accused of homosexual practices. 1908 - The Japanese Army reached the Yalu River as the Russians retreated. 1919 - Eamon de Valera became president of Ireland. 1923 - Firestone Tire and Rubber Company began the first regular production of balloon tires. 1930 - Mahatma Ghandi defied British law by making salt in India. 1933 - The first operation to remove a lung was performed at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO. 1941 - German commandos secured docks along the Danube River in preparation for Germany’s invasion of the Balkans. 1951 - Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for committing espionage for the Soviet Union. 1953 - Jomo Kenyatta was convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison for orchestrating the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya. 1955 - Winston Churchill resigned as British prime minister. 1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) became the all-time NBA regular season scoring leader when he broke Wilt Chamberlain's record of 31,419 career points. 1985 - John McEnroe said "any man can beat any woman at any sport, especially tennis." 1986 - A discotheque in Berlin was bombed by Libyan terrorists. The U.S. attacked Libya with warplanes in retaliation on April 15, 1986. 1987 - FOX Broadcasting Company launched "Married....With Children" and "The Tracey Ullman Show". The two shows were the beginning of the FOX lineup. 1989 - In Poland, accords were signed between Solidarity and the government that set free elections for June 1989. The eight-year ban on Solidarity was also set to be lifted. 1998 - The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan opened becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world. It links Shikoku and Honshu. The bridge cost about $3.8 billion. 1999 - Two Libyans suspected of bombing a Pan Am jet in 1988 were handed over so they could be flown to the Netherlands for trial. 270 people were killed in the bombing. 1999 - In Laramie, WY, Russell Henderson pled guilty to kidnapping and felony murder in the death of Matthew Shepard. 2004 - Near Mexico City's international airport, lightning struck the jet Mexican President Vicente Fox was on. 2009 - North Korea launched the Kwangmyongsong-2 rocket, prompting an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
1614 Pocahontas married John Rolfe. 1792 George Washington cast the first presidential veto. 1887 Anne Sullivan makes the breakthrough to Helen Keller by spelling "water" in the manual alphabet. 1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for giving away atomic secrets to the Russians. 1955 Winston Churchill resigned as prime minister of Britain. 1971 Canadian Fran Phipps became the first woman to reach the North Pole. 1999 Libya gave over two suspects in the Lockerbie, Scotland Pan Am bombing.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/apr05.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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