What Happened On
Lord Carnarvon and his daughter with Howard Carter at Tut's tomb
Lord Carnarvon and his daughter with Howard Carter at Tut's tomb
Victim of the Mummy's Curse?
April 5, 1923
Lord Carnarvon dies of an infected mosquito bite five months after he and Howard Carter opened King Tutankhamen's tomb, leading many to speculate, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes), that his death was caused by protections put in place by Tutankhamen's priests to guard the royal tomb.
April 5, 1892 ad and an Ice Cream Sundae
April 5, 1892 ad and an Ice Cream Sundae
Ice Cream Sundae
April 5, 1892
The first newspaper ad for an Ice Cream Sundae appeared on April 5, 1892, in the Ithaca Daily Journal. Although there are many claims as to where and by whom the Ice Cream Sundae was invented, this is the first historically documented evidence for one. Reportedly, the first one was created the previous Sunday, April 3 by Church minister John M. Scott and pharmacy co-owner Chester Platt. They covered dishes of ice cream with cherry syrup and candied cherries. The men named the dish "Cherry Sunday" in honor of the day it was created. It was an immediate sensation and Platt soon added "Strawberry Sundays" and "Chocolate Sundays".
Pocahontas Marries Capt. Rolfe
April 5, 1614
Pocahontas, the daughter of Indian Chief Powhatan, marries Capt. John Rolfe. She is famous for the story told by Captain John Smith of how she risked her life to save his after his capture. After being falsely told that Smith had died, she married Rolfe and traveled to England with him, where she died. Her exact cause of death is unknown, but theories range from pneumonia, smallpox, tuberculosis, or even to her having been poisoned.
First Ladies Nancy Reagan and Edith Wilson are both descendants of Pocahontas and Rolfe.
West Berlin Disco Bombing
April 5, 1986
Three people are killed and 229 are injured when a West Berlin Disco is bombed. It was a popular venue for U.S. soldiers and two of the dead and 79 of the injured were American servicemen. U.S. intelligence blamed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and responded by bombing Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya killing at least 30 soldiers and 15 civilians. Eleven days after the bombing the U.S. would retaliate by bombing Libya attempting to assassinate Gaddafi, killing his infant daughter. In 2001, a German woman was convicted of placing the bomb. She was aided by her Palestinian husband, another Palestinian, and a Libyan who worked at the German embassy.
The Amazing Spider-Man
April 5, 1978
The Amazing Spider-Man debuts on CBS.
Cuba
April 5, 1958
Fidel Castro declares war against the Cuban regime of President Fulgencio Batista.
Churchill Resigns
April 5, 1955
The British Prime Minister resigns due to failing health.
Ethel and Julius after being found guilty
Ethel and Julius after being found guilty
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Sentenced to Death
April 5, 1951
The married couple, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, 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.
First Lung Removal Operation
April 5, 1933
Dr. Evarts Ambrose Graham removes the cancerous lung of a fellow physician, curing the patient.
First Presidential Veto
April 5, 1792
George Washington vetoes an Apportionment Bill for the members of the House.
Birthdays
Judith A. Resnik
Born April 5, 1949 d. 1986
American astronaut. She and civilian teacher Christa McAuliffe were the first U.S. women astronauts to die on a space mission (1986, Challenger disaster).
Frank Gorshin, Jr.
Born April 5, 1933 d. 2005
American actor. TV: Batman (1966-67, The Riddler). He also played the half-whiteface, half-blackface Bele in the Star Trek episode, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (1969).
Inventor of Racquetball
Joseph Sobek
Born April 5, 1918 d. 1998
American sportsman, inventor of racquetball (1950). He was the first person inducted into the Racquetball Hall of Fame.
Bette Davis in Jezebel (left) and a publicity photo
Bette Davis in Jezebel (left) and a publicity photo
Bette Davis (Ruth Elizabeth Davis)
Born April 5, 1908 d. 1989
American Oscar-winning actress. After her success in her Oscar-winning role as as a spoiled Southern belle in Jezebel (1938), she sought the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), but was turned down by producer David O. Selznick.
On the death of her nemesis Joan Crawford she commented, "You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good. Joan Crawford is dead. Good."
Film: All About Eve (1950) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).
Booker T. Washington (Booker Taliaferro Washington)
Born April 5, 1856 d. 1915
American educator, presidential advisor. First leader of the Tuskegee Institute (1881) for the training of Negroes. Born into slavery, he was emancipated at the end of the Civil War. He believed the way for blacks to gain equal social rights was to demonstrate "industry, thrift, intelligence, and property." He helped create numerous education opportunities for blacks. He was the first African-American depicted on a U.S. coin.
Mike McCready
Born April 5, 1966
American Hall of Fame guitarist and founding member of Pearl Jam.
Lana Clarkson
Born April 5, 1962 d. 2003
American actress. She was found shot to death in music producer Phil Spector's home. In 2009, Spector was found guilty of second degree murder for her death. Film: Deathstalker (1983, warrior Kaira) and Barbarian Queen (1985, title role).
Dean Kamen
Born April 5, 1951
American inventor. He invented the Segway PT, an electric, self-balancing human transporter. He also invented the first drug infusion pump.
Max Gail
Born April 5, 1943
American actor. TV: Barney Miller (Sgt. Wojohowicz).
General Colin Luther Powell
Born April 5, 1937 d. 2021
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 U.S. government official ever up to that time.
Gale Storm (Josephine Owaissa Cottle)
Born April 5, 1922 d. 2009
American actress. TV: My Little Margie (1952-55, title role).
Arthur Hailey
Born April 5, 1920 d. 2004
British-born author. Writings: Hotel (1965) and Airport (1968).
Robert Bloch
Born April 5, 1917 d. 1994
American author. Writings: Psycho (1959, the basis for the Alfred Hitchcock film).
Gregory Peck
Born April 5, 1916 d. 2003
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Roman Holiday (1953), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, Oscar), and The Omen (1976).
Albert R. Broccoli
Born April 5, 1909 d. 1996
American movie producer.Broccoli and Harry Saltzman produced the James Bond movie series.
In 1966, while in Japan scouting locations to film the You Only Live Twice, he booked a flight on BOAC Flight 911, but canceled his ticket at the last minute to watch a ninja demonstration. The plane crashed due to clear-air turbulence with all 113 passengers and 11 crew members dying in the crash.
Herbert von Karajan
Born April 5, 1908 d. 1989
Austrian classical conductor.
Spencer Tracy (John Edward Tracy)
Born April 5, 1900 d. 1967
American Oscar-winning actor. He teamed with Katharine Hepburn for numerous films.
Spencer Tracy's 1938 Best Actor Oscar for Boys Town was mistakenly inscribed with the name "Dick Tracy".
Tracy was the first actor to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor (1938, 1939).
Film: Boys Town (1938, Father Flanagan, Oscar), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941, Dr. Jekyll), and The Old Man and the Sea (1958, narrator).
W. Atlee Burpee
Born April 5, 1858 d. 1915
American seedsman. In 1876 at age 18, he founded what would become the world's largest mail-order seed company.
Founder of Antiseptic Surgery
Joseph Lister
Born April 5, 1827 d. 1912
English physician, founder of antiseptic surgery. He performed the first operation using antiseptic (1867, mastectomy on his sister).
Elihu Yale
Born April 5, 1649 d. 1721
English colonial official. For whom Yale University is named.
Deaths
Charlton Heston (Charles Carter)
Died April 5, 2008 b. 1923
American Oscar-winning actor. Film: The Ten Commandments (1956, Moses), Ben-Hur (1959, title role, Oscar), Planet of the Apes (1968), The Omega Man (1971), and Soylent Green (1973). He was a five-term president of the National Rifle Association (1998-2003).
Walmart's first store (1962, Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas)
Walmart's first store (1962, Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas)
Founder of Wal-Mart
Samuel Moore Walton
Died April 5, 1992 b. 1918
American businessman, founder of Walmart (1962) and Sam's Club (1983).
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.
Died April 5, 1976 b. 1905
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).
Douglas MacArthur
Died April 5, 1964 b. 1880
American 5-star general. "I shall return." He and his father were the first father and son to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor.
Fahreda Mazar Spyropoulos
Died April 5, 1937 b. circa 1871
Syrian belly dancer, billed as "Little Egypt." She performed at Chicago's 1893 exposition, launching the turn of the century's belly dancing craze.
Reportedly, Mark Twain had a near fatal heart attack watching her perform (1898). In 1896, she was arrested by New York City police for dancing naked at a stag party given by the grandson of P.T. Barnum.
Lord Carnarvon and his daughter with Howard Carter at Tut's tomb
Lord Carnarvon and his daughter with Howard Carter at Tut's tomb
Victim of the Mummy's Curse?
Lord Carnarvon (George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, DL)
Died April 5, 1923 b. 1866
English Aristocrat. Was Lord Carnarvon a victim of the "Mummy's Curse"? In 1922, he and Howard Carter opened King Tutankhamen's tomb. He died five months later due to an infected mosquito bite, leading many to speculate, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes), that his death was caused by protections put in place by Tutankhamen's priests to guard the royal tomb.
Honor Blackman
Died April 5, 2020 b. 1925
English actress. Film: Jason and the Argonauts (1963, Hera) and Goldfinger (1964, Pussy Galore). TV: The Avengers (1962-64, Cathy Gale) and The Upper Hand (1990-96, Laura West).
Richard Dysart
Died April 5, 2015 b. 1929
American actor. TV: L.A. Law (1986-94, Leland McKenzie).
Kurt Cobain
Died April 5, 1994 b. 1967
American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer, songwriter, guitarist, with Nirvana. Music: Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991).
In 1987, Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic and Aaron Burckhard and established it as part of the Seattle music scene that later became known as grunge. Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home on April 8, 1994, at the age of 27. Investigators concluded he had died on April 5 from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.
Quote: They laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at them because they're all the same.
Chiang Kai-shek
Died April 5, 1975 b. 1887
Chinese general, head of state (1927-75). He led the Allied forces in China during World War II.
Earl Derr Biggers
Died April 5, 1933 b. 1884
American author, created the Chinese detective Charlie Chan.
Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall, 1882
Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall, 1882
John Carver
Died April 5, 1621 b. circa 1576
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.