On This Day April 5

1986
West Berlin disco bombing: An American soldier and a Turkish woman are killed. U.S. intelligence blamed Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi and responded by bombing Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya. It was later determined that a German woman was responsible.

1958
Fidel Castro declares war against the Cuban regime of Pres. Fulgencio Batista.

1955
Winston Churchill: TheBritish Prime Minister resigns due to failing health.

1951
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: The couple are sentenced to death for selling top secret information to the Soviets. They were executed in 1953, making them the first U.S. citizens executed for treason during peace time and the first married couple executed together in the U.S.

1933
First lung removal operation: Dr. Evarts Ambrose Graham removes the cancerous lung of a fellow physician, curing the patient.

1923
First commercial automobile balloon tire: Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. begins regular production.

1815
Largest recorded volcanic eruption, Tambora, on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia, spewing approximately 40 cubic miles.

1792
First Presidential veto: George Washington vetoes an Apportionment Bill for the members of the House.

1614
Pocahontas: The daughter of Indian Chief Powhatan marries Capt. John Rolfe.

1949 d. 1986
Judith A. Resnik, American astronaut, the first U.S. woman astronaut to die on a space mission (1986, Challenger disaster).

1937
General Colin Luther Powell, U.S. Secretary of State (2001-05), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93), and National Security Advisor (1987-89). His appointment to Secretary of State made him the highest-ranking African-American government official in U.S. history.

1934 d. 2005
Frank Gorshin, American actor. TV: Batman (The Riddler). He also played the half-whiteface, half-blackface Bele in a Star Trek episode.

1920 d. 2004
Arthur Hailey, British-born author, Hotel (1965) and Airport (1968).

1918 d. 1998
Joseph Sobek, American sportsman, inventor of racquetball (1950).

1917 d. 1994
Robert Bloch, American author. Writings: Psycho (1959, the basis for the Hitchcock film).

1916 d. 2003
Gregory Peck, American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Roman Holiday (1953), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, Oscar), and The Omen (1976).

1909 d. 1996
Albert Broccoli, American movie producer of the James Bond movies.

1908 d. 1989
Bette Davis (Ruth Elizabeth Davis), American Oscar-winning actress. She turned down the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939). Film: All About Eve (1950) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).

1900 d. 1967
Spencer Tracy (John Edward Tracy), American actor. Film: Boys Town (1938, Father Flanagan), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941, Dr. Jekyll), and The Old Man and the Sea (1958, narrator).

1858 d. 1915
W. Atlee Burpee, American seedsman. In 1876 at age 18, he founded what would become the world's largest mail-order seed company.

1856 d. 1915
Booker T. Washington (Booker Taliaferro Washington), American educator, founder of the Tuskegee Institute (1881) for the training of Negroes.

1827 d. 1912
Joseph Lister, English physician, founder of antiseptic surgery. He performed the first operation using antiseptic (1867, mastectomy on his sister).

1649 d. 1721
Elihu Yale, English colonial official, for whom Yale University is named.

1992 b. 1918
Samuel Moore Walton, American businessman, founder of Wal-Mart Discount City and Sam's Wholesale.

1976 b. 1905
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., American billionaire, world-class aviator, motion picture executive. His eccentricity is described in the book I Caught Flies for Howard Hughes and the film The Aviator (2004).

1975 b. 1887
Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese general, head of state (1927-75). He led the Allied forced in China during World War II.

1933 b. 1884
Earl Derr Biggers, American author, created the Chinese detective Charlie Chan.

1621 b. circa 1576
John Carver, American colonist, church elder. He chartered the Mayflower for its expedition to the New World (1620) and was the first governor of the Plymouth colony.

April 5

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Deaths