Today in History - April 5th

1614 - American Indian Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.

1621 - The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, MA, on a return trip to England.

1792 - U.S. President George Washington cast the first presidential veto. The measure was for apportioning representatives among the states.

1806 - Isaac Quintard patented the cider mill.

1827 - James H. Hackett became the first American actor to appear abroad as he performed at Covent Garden in London, England.

1843 - Queen Victoria proclaimed Hong Kong to be a British crown colony.

1869 - Daniel Bakeman, the last surviving soldier of the U.S. Revolutionary War, died at the age of 109.

1887 - Anne Sullivan taught Helen Keller the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the manual alphabet.

1892 - Walter H. Coe patented gold leaf in rolls.

1895 - Playwright Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry. Wilde had been accused of homosexual practices.

1923 - Firestone Tire and Rubber Company began the first regular production of balloon tires.

1930 - Mahatma Ghandi defied British law by making salt in India.

1933 - The first operation to remove a lung was performed at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO.

1941 - German commandos secured docks along the Danube River in preparation for Germany’s invasion of the Balkans.

1951 - Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for committing espionage for the Soviet Union.

1953 - Jomo Kenyatta was convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison for orchestrating the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya.

1955 - Winston Churchill resigned as British prime minister.

1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) became the all-time NBA regular season scoring leader when he broke Wilt Chamberlain's record of 31,419 career points.

1985 - John McEnroe said "any man can beat any woman at any sport, especially tennis."

1986 - A discotheque in Berlin was bombed by Libyans. The U.S. attacked Libya with warplanes on April 15, 1986.

1987 - FOX Broadcasting Company launched "Married....With Children" and "The Tracey Ullman Show". The two shows were the beginning of the FOX lineup.

1989 - In Poland, accords were signed between Solidarity and the government that set free elections for June 1989. The eight-year ban on Solidarity was also set to be lifted.

1998 - The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan opened becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world. It links Shikoku and Honshu. The bridge cost about $3.8 billion.

1999 - Two Libyans suspected of bombing a Pan Am jet in 1988 were handed over so they could be flown to the Netherlands for trial. 270 people were killed in the bombing.

1999 - In Laramie, WY, Russell Henderson plead guilty to kidnapping and felony murder in the death of Matthew Shepard.

2004 - Near Mexico City's international airport, lightning struck the jet Mexican President Vicente Fox was on.