April 5: Day of the year

April 5 is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 270 days remaining until the end of the year.

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 discothèque 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.

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-Honoré 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 Fältskog, 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, writer 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 Audé, 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 Andrés 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

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'Orléans, 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 François 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-Félix Patassé, 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 writer (b. 1927)
• 2014 - John Pinette, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)
• 2014 - José 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 writer (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 - Memè 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 León, 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 Pöysti, Finnish actor, director, theatre manager and writer (b. 1927)
• 2019 - Shawn Smith, American singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1965)

• Feast Day of Saint Vincent Ferrer (Roman Catholicism)
• Sikmogil (South Korea)
• Children's Day (Palestinian territories)