5 April
Notable Births
John Beecher (ice hockey)
b. 2001
American ice hockey player (born 2001)
Bobby Miller (baseball)
b. 1999
American baseball player (born 1999)
Nathan Broadhead
b. 1998
Welsh footballer (born 1998)
Borja Mayoral
b. 1997
Spanish footballer (born 1997)
Dominik Mysterio
b. 1997
American professional wrestler (born 1997)
Viliame Kikau
b. 1995
Fiji international rugby league footballer
Sei Muroya
b. 1995
Japanese footballer
Sebastian Starke Hedlund
b. 1995
Swedish footballer
Mateusz Bieniek
b. 1994
Polish volleyball player (born 1994)
Edem Rjaïbi
b. 1994
Tunisian footballer
Richard Sánchez (footballer, born 1994)
b. 1994
Professional footballer
Pharrell Williams
b. 1973
American musician (born 1973)
Colin Powell
b. 1937
American general, diplomat and statesman (1937–2021)
Roger Corman
b. 1926
American film director, producer, and actor (1926–2024)
Gregory Peck
b. 1916
American actor (1916–2003)
Bette Davis
b. 1908
American actress (1908–1989)
Herbert von Karajan
b. 1908
Austrian conductor (1908–1989)
Chester B. Bowles
b. 1901
American politician (1901–1986)
Spencer Tracy
b. 1900
American actor (1900–1967)
Booker T. Washington
b. 1856
American educator, author, orator and adviser
Notable Deaths
C. J. Snare
d. 2024
American rock singer (1959–2024)
Nehemiah Persoff
d. 2022
American actor and painter (1919–2022)
Jimmy Wang Yu
d. 2022
Taiwanese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (1943–2022)
Paul Ritter
d. 2021
English actor (1966–2021)
Sydney Brenner
d. 2019
South African biologist and Nobel prize winner (1927–2019)
Isao Takahata
d. 2018
Japanese film director, screenwriter and film producer (1935–2018)
Arthur Bisguier
d. 2017
American chess grandmaster (1929–2017)
Makoto Ōoka
d. 2017
Japanese poet and literary critic (1931–2017)
Paul O'Neill (producer)
d. 2017
American composer, musician, and record producer (1956–2017)
Atanase Sciotnic
d. 2017
Romanian canoeist
Fredric Brandt
d. 2015
American physician (1949–2015)
Juan Carlos Cáceres
d. 2015
Musical artist
Peter Matthiessen
d. 2014
American novelist
John Pinette
d. 2014
American comedian and actor (1964–2014)
José Wilker
d. 2014
Brazilian actor and director
Regina Bianchi
d. 2013
Italian actress (1921–2013)
Kurt Cobain
d. 1994
American rock musician (1967–1994)
Sam Walton
d. 1992
American business magnate (1918–1992)
Howard Hughes
d. 1976
American aviator, aerospace engineer and business magnate (1905–1976)
Douglas MacArthur
d. 1964
American general (1880–1964)
On This Day in History
All 50 ›
2018
Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid a slaughterhouse in Tennessee, detaining nearly 100 undocumented Hispanic workers in one of the largest workplace raids in the history of the United States.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
2010
Up to 50 people are killed and another 100 injured in two militant suicide bombings and attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan: the first on an Awami National Party rally in Timergara; the second on the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar.
2010 North-West Frontier Province attacks
2010
Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.
Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
2010
Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-131 to resupply the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle Discovery
2009
North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite. 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.
North Korea
2007
The cruise ship MS Sea Diamond strikes a volcanic reef near Nea Kameni and sinks the next day. Two passengers were never recovered and are presumed dead.
Cruise ship
1999
Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi
1998
In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opens to traffic, becoming the longest bridge span in the world.
Japan
1992
Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolves the Peruvian congress by military force.
Alberto Fujimori
1992
Peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić are killed on the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, becoming the first casualties of the Bosnian War.
Suada and Olga bridge
1991
An ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard, including Sen. John Tower and astronaut Sonny Carter.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines
1991
The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-37 to deploy the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.
Space Shuttle Atlantis
1983
The People's Armed Police is officially founded.
People's Armed Police
1977
The US Supreme Court rules that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people's reservation thereby destroyed the tribe's jurisdictional authority over the area in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip.
Supreme Court of the United States
1976
In China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen Incident.
China
1974
Carrie, the first novel by American author Stephen King, is published for the first time with a print run of 30,000 copies.
Carrie (novel)
1971
In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches a revolt against the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
1966
During the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ personally attempts to lead the capture of the restive city of Đà Nẵng before backing down.
Buddhist Uprising
1965
My Fair Lady wins Best Picture at the 37th Academy Awards.
My Fair Lady (film)
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.
Ripple Rock