This Day in History on 5th April
The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam.
On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 5th April. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.
Important Days
National Maritime Day of India: On this day in 1919 navigation history was created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company, journeyed to the United Kingdom. National Maritime Day was first celebrated on 5th April 1964. The London-based International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has 158 countries as its members, India became its member in 1959.
Christian feast day
Important Events
1558: Francisco Fernandes first used tobacco to make smoke.
1581: Mahmud Gawan was appointed as Prime Minister, an office which he held till his execution.
1614: Indian princess Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
1663: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj attacked Shahistekhan at Pune.
1848: Satara kingdom came to end.
1851: Establishment of the Geological Survey of India.
1919: India’s first modern shipping company Scindia Steam Navigation’s first ship ‘Liberty’ started its journey. The weight of the ship was 5,940 tonnes.
1930: Mahatma Gandhi reached Dandi, a small costal village in Gujarat, after travelling 385 kms with 78 followers to break the recently imposed “”Salt Law””. This event is known as ‘Dandi March’ and was started from Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
1931: The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed before the Second Round Table Conference.
1933: A severe recession caused US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to close all banks for a few days and ban financial transactions.
1942: World War II- The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisersHMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
1949: Indian Boy Scout and Girl Guide were established and renamed as Bharat Scouts and Guides.
1950: Spurred by recent clashes in East and West Bengal between Muslims and Hindus, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Pakistani couterpart Ali Khan today reached agreement on a “Bill of Rights for Minorities”. This bill included a provision for “drumhead justice,” or summary justice to persons convicted of violating minority
1957: The first Communist ministry in a state was installed in Kerala.
1961: Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited was established in New Delhi by Indian Government for allopathic drugs.
1966: A bill passed to take over a palace of King Wadiyar of Mysore in Bangalore.
1979: First Naval Museum of India established in Bombay.
1984: Rakesh Sharma,Squadron leader, becomes India’s first spaceman when he is launched aboard Soyuz T-11 of Soviet Union.
1987: The centenary of Bombay Fire Brigade was celebrated. (CIVIC).
1990: Mrs.Sheela Flather, an Indian national, becomes the first Asian to be nominated to the House of Lords.
1990: Lok Sabha passes the Punjab Bill.
1991: Kerala Assembly dissolved paving way for elections.
1993: G. V. Iyer’s Sanskrit film ‘Bhagavad Geeta was adjudged the best film at the National Film Awards.
1993: The Left and Democratic Front earns two third majority at the Tripura Assembly elections.
1998: Sindhurakshak submarine, brought from Russia, arrived in Mumbai.
2000: The Kaiga nuclear power plant in Karnataka was dedicated to the country by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Birthday / Anniversary
1512: Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer, and cartographer.
1908: Babu Jagjivan Ram, valiant freedom fighter, was born in Chandwa village in Bhojpur, Bihar.
1911: Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force.
1913: Gangubai Hangal, an Indian singer of Hindustani classical music.
1916: Biju Patnaik, an Indian politician, aviator, and businessman.
1920: Rafiq Zakaria, Indian cleric, scholar, and politician (d. 2005)
1938: Anil Rakeshi, great poet, Hindi writer and critic, was born at Nahan (H.P.).
1947: Virendra Sharma, Indian-English lawyer and politician
1958: M. Nassar, an Indian film actor.
1963: Saurabh Shukla, an Indian film, theatre, and television actor.
1967: Anu Garg, Indian-American journalist and author
Death / Death Anniversary
1827: Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist, chemist, and pioneer of electricity and power.
1849: Mary Lyon, an American pioneer in women’s education.
1922: Pandita Ramabai, social worker and philosophist, passed away.
1940: Charles Freer Andrews, a Christian Missionary, died in Calcutta. He is also referred as “Deenabandhu Andrews”
1953: Joseph Stalin, Former Premier of the Soviet Union.
1989: Prithvi Singh Azad, an Indian independence activist, revolutionary, and one of the founder members of the Ghadar Party.
1989: Pannalal Patel, great Gujrati litterateur, died.
1993: Divya Bharti, Indian actress (b. 1974)
1995: Jalal Agha, an Indian actor, and director.
2007: Leela Majumdar, Indian author and academic (b. 1908)
2007: Poornachandra Tejaswi, Indian ornithologist, author, and photographer (b. 1938)
2013: Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Indian historian and academic (b. 1946)
2016: Raymond Tomlinson, a pioneering American computer programmer who implemented the first email program.