This day in history: 5 april

1242: Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeated the Teutonic Knights in the famous Battle of the Ice on Lake Peipus, a pivotal event in medieval European history.
1424: Scottish King James I returned to Scotland after 18 years of captivity at the English court.
1722: Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen discovered Easter Island (Rapa Nui), though this event is more globally significant than specifically European.
1764: The British Parliament passed the Sugar Act, which had implications for trade between Britain and its colonies.
1803: Ludwig van Beethoven’s 2nd Symphony in D premiered, showcasing his growing reputation as a composer in Europe.
1815: Mount Tambora began erupting in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia), with devastating global climatic effects that were felt across Europe in subsequent years.
1945: The Soviet Union officially denounced its neutrality pact with Japan during World War II, signaling an impending shift in global alliances.
1895: Oscar Wilde lost his libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, which led to his eventual imprisonment and scandal in Victorian England.

1614: Pocahontas, a Native American woman, married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia, symbolizing a brief period of peace between the Powhatan Confederacy and English settlers.
1792: President George Washington issued the first presidential veto in U.S. history, rejecting congressional legislation on redistricting.
1856: Booker T. Washington, a prominent educator and reformer, was born in Virginia. He later became the first president of Tuskegee University.
1862: Union and Confederate forces clashed at the Battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War, marking one of the war’s bloodiest engagements.
1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, prohibiting U.S. citizens from hoarding gold during the Great Depression.
1949: A devastating hospital fire in Effingham, Illinois, killed 77 people, leading to nationwide improvements in fire codes.
1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for espionage, accused of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
1986: A bomb exploded at La Belle nightclub in West Berlin, frequented by U.S. military personnel. The attack was later attributed to Libyan intelligence.

1921: Reza Khan began consolidating power in Persia (modern-day Iran), marking the rise of his influence and eventual establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty.
1942: The Japanese Navy initiated the Indian Ocean Raid, a significant World War II operation targeting Allied forces in Southeast Asia.
1976: The Tiananmen Incident occurred in Beijing, China. During the Qingming Festival, hundreds of thousands gathered in Tiananmen Square to mourn Zhou Enlai, which escalated into a protest against authoritarianism under Mao Zedong’s regime.
1998: The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan, the world’s longest suspension bridge, opened to traffic.

1660: Jan van Riebeeck, a Dutch colonial administrator, began peace negotiations with the Kaapmans (a Khoi-Khoi group) in the Cape Colony, South Africa.
1906: Isaka Seme, a prominent African intellectual and founder of the African National Congress (ANC), delivered his famous speech The Regeneration of Africa, which highlighted the potential and unity of the African continent.
1942: Eighty-six South Africans survived a Japanese attack on the HMS Cornwall near the coast of Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) during World War II.
1961: The United Kingdom announced its support for a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning apartheid in South Africa, marking a significant international stance against racial segregation policies.
1986: Lucky Kutumela, a journalist and activist associated with AZAPO/MWASA, was found dead in police custody in Mahwelereng, South Africa, under suspicious circumstances involving allegations of police brutality.