What are the important events that happened on April 5? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

April 5: Facts & Myths About This Day

April 5 is the 96^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 270 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is March 23, 2024 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 475,632 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘enneacontahexagon’ day.

Aries is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Diamond is the modern birthstone for this month. Opal is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 299 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,123 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

April 5 Historical Events

• 1818 –
  In the Battle of Maipú, Chile’s independence movement – led by Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín – win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
• 1874 –
  Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, is opened in Birkenhead.
• 1932 –
  Dominion of Newfoundland: 10,000 rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
• 1942 –
  World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean Raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
• 1943 –
  World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. The target is the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.
• 1951 –
  Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for performing espionage for the Soviet Union.
• 1976 –
  In the People’s Republic of China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen incident.
• 1986 –
  Three people are killed in the bombing of the La Belle Discothèque in West Berlin, Germany.
• 1999 –
  Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
• 2010 –
  Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.

Who were born on April 5?

• 1588 –
  Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)
• 1922 –
  Christopher Hewett, British actor (d. 2001)
• 1933 –
  Barbara Holland, American writer (d. 2010)
• 1939 –
  Crispian St. Peters, English singer (d. 2010)
• 1944 –
  Pedro Rossello, Puerto Rican politician
• 1966 –
  Mike McCready, American musician (Pearl Jam)
• 1971 –
  Dong Abay, Filipino musician and singer-songwriter
• 1973 –
  Pharrell, American music producer (The Neptunes)
• 1980 –
  Lee Jae Won, South Korean actor, singer, and rapper
• 1984 –
  Shin Min-a, South Korean model and actress

Who died on April 5?

• 1765 –
  Edward Young, English poet (b. 1683)
• 1932 –
  Phar Lap, Australian Racehorse (b. 1926)
• 1941 –
  Sir Nigel Gresley, Steam locomotive engineer (b. 1876)
• 1967 –
  Mischa Elman, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1891)
• 1969 –
  Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian Nazi (b. 1903)
• 1991 –
  John Tower, American politician (b. 1925)
• 1994 –
  Kurt Cobain, musician (Nirvana) (b. 1967)
• 2006 –
  Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1941)
• 2007 –
  Maria Gripe, Swedish writer (b. 1923)
• 2007 –
  Poornachandra Tejaswi, Kannada writer (b. 1938)