Today is Friday, April 5, the 95th day of 2019. There are 270 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 5, 1986, two American servicemen and a Turkish woman were killed in the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque, an incident which prompted a U.S. air raid on Libya more than a week later.
On this date:
In 1614, Indian Chief Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas married Englishman John Rolfe, a widower, in the Virginia Colony.
In 1915, Jess Willard knocked out Jack Johnson in the 26th round of their fight in Havana, Cuba, to claim boxing’s world heavyweight title.
In 1955, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigned his office for health reasons. Democrat Richard J. Daley was first elected mayor of Chicago, defeating Republican Robert E. Merriam.
In 1964, Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur died in Washington, D.C., at age 84.
In 1974, Stephen King’s first published novel, “Carrie,” was released by Doubleday.
In 1975, nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek died in Taipei at age 87.
In 1976, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes died in Houston at age 70.
In 1988, a 15-day hijacking ordeal began as gunmen forced a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet to land in Iran.
In 1991, former Sen. John Tower, R-Texas, his daughter Marian and 21 other people were killed in a commuter plane crash near Brunswick, Georgia.
In 2001, Wang Zhizhi became the first Chinese player to play in the NBA when he took the court for Dallas against Atlanta. (Wang scored six points and grabbed three rebounds as the Mavericks beat the Hawks 108-94.)
In 2005, ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings revealed he had lung cancer (he died in August 2005 at age 67).
In 2008, actor Charlton Heston, big-screen hero and later leader of the National Rifle Association, died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 84.