Old clock in sand with the words: It Happend in April

By Day: Historical Events on April 5th

Explore key moments from this day in history, organized by year. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.

Note: Sources for the historical content shown, include research and reviews of relevant Online History Resources or printed material. When possible, we show a link to a source which provides additional or unique perspective about the event.

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1125 CE, April 5

Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, dies.

1291 CE, April 5

The death of Mongol ruler Kublai Khan is kept secret until February 5, 1294, to prevent unrest in the empire.

1300 CE, April 5

King Albert I of Germany is assassinated by his nephew John Parricida.

1316 CE, April 5

Louis X becomes King of France after the death of his father, Philip IV.

1600 CE, April 5

Scottish preacher John Craig is appointed the first minister of Edinburgh.

1621 CE, April 5

The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts, returning to England.

1695 CE, April 5

The Treaty of Karlowitz ends the Austro-Ottoman War.

1700 CE, April 5

1700, April 5 - English pirate William Kidd is captured in Boston and sent to England for trial.

1764 CE, April 5

The Sugar Act is passed by the British Parliament, imposing new duties and stricter enforcement on the American colonies.

1770 CE, April 5

The Boston Massacre occurs when British soldiers fire into a crowd, killing five civilians, in Boston, Massachusetts.

1774 CE, April 5

Benjamin Franklin writes a satirical open Letter to Lord North, then Prime Minister of Great Britain. It was published in The Public Advertiser, a British newspaper, on April 15, 1774. The letter suggested that the British “should introduce into North America a Government absolutely and entirely Military” to “quiet all the Disturbances in America, procure a decent Revenue from our Colonies, make our royal Master (at least there) a King de facto..." The letter turned out to be prophetic, just one month later North imposed martial law on Massachusetts with the passage of the Massachusetts Government Act, the second of four acts passed by Parliament known together as the Coercive Acts, or the “Intolerable Acts” as most people in Colonies refer to them. The Acts were meant to punish the colonies for their actions of defiance. More

1795 CE, April 5

Beethoven debuts as a pianist in Vienna, showcasing his own compositions.

1902 CE, April 5

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen dies in Copenhagen.

1951 CE, April 5

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (née Greenglass) are sentenced to death after being convicted of spying and passing secret information about the atomic bomb and other military information to the Soviet Union. They were executed in June, 1953. President Eisenhower declined to grant executive clemency to the Rosenbergs, stating: "The nature of the crime for which they have been found guilty and sentenced far exceeds that of the taking of the life of another citizen; it involves the deliberate betrayal of the entire nation and could very well result in the death of many, many thousands of innocent citizens…" More

1955 CE, April 5

Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

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