Today in History

Today is Easter Sunday, April 5, the 95th day of 2015. There are 270 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On April 5, 1965, "My Fair Lady" won the Academy Award for best picture, and one of its stars, Rex Harrison, was named best actor; Julie Andrews won best actress for "Mary Poppins." The single version of The Beach Boys' "Help Me, Rhonda" was released by Capitol Records.

On this date:

In 1614, Indian Chief Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas married Englishman John Rolfe in the Virginia Colony. England's King James I convened the second Parliament of his rule; the "Addled Parliament," as it came to be known, lasted only two months.

In 1764, Britain's Parliament passed The American Revenue Act of 1764, also known as The Sugar Act.

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. British historian Lord Acton wrote in a letter, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

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 1925, a tornado estimated at F-3 intensity struck northern Miami-Dade County, Florida, killing five people.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the Civilian Conservation Corps and an anti-hoarding order that effectively prohibited private ownership of gold.

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 1975, nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek died in Taipei at age 87.

In 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.

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.

Ten years ago: ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings revealed he had lung cancer (he died in August 2005 at age 67). Nobel Prize-winning author Saul Bellow died in Brookline, Massachusetts, at age 89. Dale Messick, creator of the long-running comic strip "Brenda Starr, Reporter," died at age 98.

Five years ago: An explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine near Charleston, West Virginia, killed 29 workers. 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. The WikiLeaks website posted classified video of Apache helicopters gunning down at least nine men in Iraq on July 12, 2007, including a Reuters photographer and his driver. The Duke Blue Devils defeated the Butler Bulldogs 61-59, capturing a fourth NCAA men's basketball title. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced inductees that included NBA stars Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson.

One year ago: Millions of Afghans defied Taliban threats and rain as they went to the polls to choose President Hamid Karzai's successor. (Ashraf Ghani emerged the winner.) Breanna Stewart, UConn's 6-foot-4 sophomore star, was named The Associated Press Player of the Year. Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw was selected coach of the year for the second straight season. Award-winning author and environmentalist Peter Matthiessen, 86, died on Long Island, New York.

Thought for Today: "I realized a long time ago that a belief which does not spring from a conviction in the emotions is no belief at all." — Evelyn Scott, American author (1893-1963).

(Above Advance for Use Sunday, April 5)