Today in History - History - April 5th

1923Firestone Co put their inflatable tires into production

1989David Letterman becomes 1st network TV series to use dolby stereo

200944th Academy of Country Music Awards: Carrie Underwood & Brad Paisley wins

1887Anne Sullivan teaches "water" to Helen Keller

1955Winston Churchill resigns as British PM, Anthony Eden succeeds him

1990John Stockton reaches 1000-assist mark for NBA record 3 yrs in a row

1984Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaks Wilt Chamberlain's all-time career scoring record of 31,419 points (31,421)

1997Steve Irwin's "The Crocodile Hunter" debuts

1818In the Battle of Maipú, Chile's independence movement - led by Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín - win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.

1925Yankees whip Dodgers in exhibition 16-9 but Babe Ruth collapses in NC due to an ulcer

1937Colin Powell, Bronx NY, general/asst to president (Nat Sec Affairs)

1908(Ruth Elizabeth) Bette Davis, Lowell Mass, US actress (Of Human Bondage, Jezebel)

1950Agnetha Fältskog [Anna Ulvaeus], Swedish singer (ABBA)

1856Booker Taliaferro Washington, pioneer educator (1st black on US stamp)

1923Nguyen Van Thieu, South Vietnam President (1965-75)

1947Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines (2001-2010) in San Juan Philippines

1588Thomas Hobbes, Westport England, philosopher (Leviathan)

1916Gregory Peck, La Jolla California, actor (To Kill a Mockingbird, MacArthur)

1955Musician Ray Charles (24) weds Della Beatrice Howard

1999Talk show host Wayne Brady (26) weds dancer Mandie Taketa

2005Saul Bellow, Canadian born writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1915)

2008Charlton Heston, American Actor, dies at 84

1964Douglas MacArthur, US general (Pacific theater-WW II), dies at 84

1992Sam Walton, Billionaire CEO (Wal-Mart), dies of multiple myeloma at 74

1997Allen Ginsberg, beat poet, dies at 80

1994Kurt Cobain, grunge rocker (Nirvana), commits suicide by gun at 27 in Seattle, Washington