These historical events took place on April 5th:
1785: The first United States state university is chartered in Athens, Georgia.
1823: United States President James Monroe appoints the first United States Ambassador in South America.
1825: United States Congress approves the Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma, clearing the way for the forced relocation of the Eastern Indian tribes via the “Trail of Tears.”
1880: Thomas Edison, inventor, patents the incandescent lamp.
1888: The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. for “the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge.”
1891: Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant Pennsylvania.
1951: Leonard Bernstein’s musical “Peter Pan”, starring Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff, closes at Imperial Theater, NYC, after 320 performances
1956: RCA records releases Elvis Presly single “Heartbreak Hotel”, his first million-seller that was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden.
1967: A fire in the Apollo 1 Command Module kills astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee during a launch rehearsal.
1973: United States & North Vietnam’s William Rogers & Nguyen Duy Trinh sign cease-fire, ending longest United States war and military draft.
1976: “Laverne & Shirley” television spinoff from “Happy Days” starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams premieres on ABC TV.
1988: Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves nomination of Judge Anthony Kennedy to the United States Supreme Court.