April 5
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Featured Event
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Mendenhall Order is passed
On this day in 1893, Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, superintendent of the Bureau of Weights and Measures in the U.S. Treasury, published a paper now known as the Mendenhall Order. The paper, entitled âFundamental Standards of Length and Mass,â defined American measurements by the metric system. Until that point, the U.S. had been using measures that were based on the British Imperial System, but with subtle (and confusing) differences. To standardize American measurements, Mendenhall determined that the fundamental standard of length would be the meter, and the standard of mass would be the kilogram. U.S. Customary units of the yard and pound would then be determined from those measuresâessentially making the U.S. a metric-oriented country.[Read todayâs edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
U.S. Department of State
U.S. general and statesman Colin Powell, born this day in 1937, served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989â93) and secretary of state (2001â05), the first African American to hold either position.
Famous Birthdays
More on April 5
Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
2008
American actor Charlton Hestonâwho possessed a commanding screen presence and was best known for such films as Ben-Hur (1959), The Ten Commandments (1956), and Planet of the Apes (1968)âdied at the age of 84. [Take our actors and acting quiz.]
Eric Draper/The White House
2000
Mori Yoshiro of the Liberal-Democratic Party became prime minister of Japan, replacing Obuchi Keizo, who had suffered a stroke earlier in the month and subsequently died. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Japanese history.]
© Kevin MazurâWireImage/Getty Images
1994
Grunge rocker Kurt Cobain, leader of the band Nirvana, died by suicide at the age of 27. [Read our list of Seattleâs 10 claims to fame.]
© Jerry Coli/Dreamstime.com
1984
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Wilt Chamberlain as the all-time leading scorer in the National Basketball Association. [See where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks on our list of the 10 best basketball players of all time.]
NARA
1951
Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for espionage; two years later they became the first American civilians executed for that crime. [Discover 10 famous names in the espionage game.]
Courtesy of Warner Brothers, Inc.
1908
Actress Bette Davisâwhose raw unbridled intensity kept her at the top of her profession for 50 yearsâwas born in Lowell, Massachusetts. [Take our women in classic cinema quiz.]
Prisma Archivo/Alamy
1879
Chile declared war on Peru and Bolivia, beginning the War of the Pacific; the dispute, which was about control of a mineral-laden area of the Atacama Desert, was won by Chile. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Latin America.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-62933)
1856
Educator and reformer Booker T. Washington, who was the first president and principal developer of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University), was born in Virginia. [Learn more about his achievements.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1818
Chileâs independence movement, led by JosĂ© de San MartĂn and Bernardo OâHiggins, won a decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of MaipĂș, which left 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Jean McGinley Draper, 1954.9.2
1792
George Washington issued the first presidential veto in U.S. history; the rejected legislation concerned congressional redistricting. [Read about the nine U.S. presidents with the most vetoes.]
© Jim Curran/stock.adobe.com
1621
The Mayflower departed for England after having deposited 102 Pilgrims at what became the American colony of Plymouth (Massachusetts). [How much do you know about early America?]
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942
1614
Pocahontas, a Powhatan, married Virginia planter and colonial official John Rolfe. [Test your knowledge of Native American history.]
Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London
1588
Philosopher and political theorist Thomas Hobbes, best known for his publications on individual security and the social contract, was born in England. [Take our Philosophy 101 quiz.]