April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). There are 270 days remaining.
- 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 - United States 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 (1862) - The battle begins when Union forces under General George McClellan close in on the Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.
- 1930 - In an act of civil disobedience, Mahatma Gandhi breaks British law after marching to the sea and making salt.
- 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 heath.
- 1957 - In India, Communists[?] won the first elections in united Kerala and EMS Namboodiripad sworn in as the first chief minister.
- 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 apparent hate crime killing of Matthew Shepard.
See Also:
April 4 - April 6 - March 5 - May 5 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
