Today in history: April 5
In 2010, an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine near Charleston, West Virginia, killed 29 workers, and more events that happened on this day in history.
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1887: Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller
In 1887, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, teacher Anne Sullivan achieved a breakthrough as her 6-year-old deaf-blind pupil, Helen Keller, learned the meaning of the word “water” as spelled out in the Manual Alphabet.
1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
In 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death following their conviction in New York on charges of conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.
1955: Winston Churchill
In 1955, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigned his office for health reasons.
1976: Howard Hughes
In 1976, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes died in Houston at age 70.
1986: West Berlin
In 1986, two American servicemen and a Turkish woman were killed in the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque, an incident that prompted a U.S. air raid on Libya more than a week later.
1991: John Tower
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.
2010: Chinese Coal Mine
In 2010, in a televised rescue, 115 Chinese coal miners were freed after spending eight days trapped in a flooded mine, surviving an accident that had killed 38.
2010: Upper Big Branch Mine
In 2010, an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine near Charleston, West Virginia, killed 29 workers.
2011: Laurent Gbagbo
Ten years ago: Ivory Coast’s strongman leader, Laurent Gbagbo (loh-RAHN’ BAHG’-boh), remained holed up in a bunker inside the presidential residence, defiantly maintaining he’d won an election four months earlier even as troops backing the internationally recognized winner encircled the home. (Gbagbo was arrested six days later.)
2011: Texas A&M
Ten years ago: Texas A&M won its first national women’s basketball championship with a 76-70 victory over Notre Dame.
2015: Rolling Stone Magazine
In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine apologized and officially retracted its discredited article about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia.
2016: Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson
Five years ago: The leak of millions of records on offshore accounts claimed its first high-profile political casualty as Iceland’s prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, stepped aside.
2016: UConn
Five years ago: UConn won an unprecedented fourth straight women’s national championship, capping another perfect season by routing Syracuse 82-51.
2019: Donald Trump
In 2019, inspecting a refurbished section of fencing at the Mexican border in California, President Donald Trump declared that “our country is full,” and that illegal crossings must be stopped.
2020: Boris Johnson
One year ago: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to a hospital for tests, as he continued to suffer symptoms 10 days after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
2020: Jerome Adams
One year ago: Surgeon General Jerome Adams told CNN that the coming week would be “the hardest and saddest week of most Americans’ lives” because of the increasing toll from the coronavirus; hours later, President Donald Trump took a more optimistic tone, saying, “We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Your Monday headlines: Vigil set for rapper DMX; an Alabama Easter shooting kills 1, injures others; Stanford tops in women's hoops. Get caught up.