April 5

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1998 - In Japan, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge linking Shikoku with Honshu and costing cost 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.

• 1479 - Guru Amar Das, Third Sikh Guru (d. 1574)
• 1588 - Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)
• 1827 - Joseph Lister surgeon (d. 1912)
• 1856 - Booker T. Washington American Educator (d. 1915)
• 1871 - Mirko Seljan, explorer from Croatia
• 1875 - Mistinguett, French vaudeville performer (d. 1956)
• 1900 - Spencer Tracy, actor (d. 1967)
• 1908 - Bette Davis, actress (d. 1989)
• 1908 - Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d. 1989)
• 1912 - John Le Mesurier, British actor (d. 1983)
• 1916 - Gregory Peck, actor (d. 2003)
• 1922 - Gale Storm, singer/actress
• 1923 - Nguyen Van Thieu, South Vietnamese president (d. 2001)
• 1929 - Nigel Hawthorne, British actor (d. 2001)
• 1937 - Colin Powell, US Secretary of State
• 1942 - Peter Greenaway, film director
• 1950 - Agnetha Fältskog, leading voice of ABBA

• 1419 - Saint Vincent Ferrer Eagle in Apocalypse VIII, 13
• 1697 - King Charles XI of Sweden (b. 1655)
• 1964 - General Douglas MacArthur, US Army (b. 1880)
• 1967 - Hermann Joseph Muller, geneticist (b. 1890)
• 1970 - Alfred Henry Sturtevant, geneticist (b. 1891)
• 1975 - Chiang Kai-shek, Kuomintang leader (b. 1887)
• 1976 - Howard Hughes, aviation pioneer, film director, eccentric (b. 1905)
• 1982 - Abe Fortas (b. 1910)
• 1991 - John Tower, Senator from Texas (b. 1925)
• 1991 - Sonny Carter, astronaut (b. 1947)
• 1991 - Davis Love, Sr., golfer
• 1994 - Kurt Cobain, rock musician (b. 1967)
• 1997 - Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet
• 2000 - Lee Petty, 3-time NASCAR Grand champion
• 2002 - Layne Staley, rock musician (b. 1967)