Today in History

Today is Saturday, April 5, the 95th day of 2014. There are 270 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 5, 1614, Pocahontas, Indian Chief Powhatan's daughter, married Englishman John Rolfe in the Virginia Colony. (A convert to Christianity, Pocahontas had adopted the name "Rebecca" when she was baptized.)

On this date:

In 1614, England's King James I convened the second Parliament of his rule; the "Addled Parliament," as it came to be known, lasted only two months.

In 1621, the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts on a monthlong return trip to England.

In 1764, Britain's Parliament passed The American Revenue Act of 1764, also known as The Sugar Act.

In 1864, Ben Field and George M. Pullman received a U.S. patent for an "improvement in (rail) sleeping-cars" that consisted of a folding upper berth.

In 1895, Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, who'd accused the writer of homosexual practices.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the Civilian Conservation Corps and an anti-hoarding order that effectively prohibited private ownership of gold.

In 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death following their conviction in New York on charges of conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Federal Communications Commission v. American Broadcasting Co., Inc., unanimously ruled that TV quiz shows did not violate lottery laws.

In 1964, Army General Douglas MacArthur died in Washington at age 84.

In 1974, Stephen King's first published novel, "Carrie," was released by Doubleday.

In 1986, two American servicemen and a Turkish woman were killed in the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque, an incident which prompted a U.S. air raid on Libya more than a week later.

In 2010, an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine near Charleston, W.Va., killed 29 workers.

Ten years ago: A U.S.-Canadian task force investigating the massive power blackout of August 14, 2003, called for urgent approval of mandatory reliability rules to govern the electric transmission industry. Flash floods killed some three dozen people in northern Mexico. The Los Angeles Times won five Pulitzer Prizes; the Pulitzer for fiction went to Edward P. Jones for "The Known World." The Connecticut Huskies defeated Georgia Tech 82-73 to win the men's NCAA basketball championship. Six people were named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Clyde Drexler; Lynette Woodard, an Olympic gold medalist and first female Harlem Globetrotter; coach Bill Sharman, already in the hall as a player; the late Maurice Stokes, the 1956 NBA rookie of the year; Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Phoenix Suns; and Drazen Dalipagic, an international star for Yugoslavia.

Five years ago: North Korea fired a rocket over Japan, defying Washington, Tokyo and others who suspected the launch was a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology. President Barack Obama, visiting Prague, launched an effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons, calling them "the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War." The Pentagon quietly lifted an 18-year ban on media coverage of fallen U.S. service members.

One year ago: Kansas legislators gave final passage to a sweeping anti-abortion measure declaring that life began "at fertilization." (Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, signed the measure two weeks later.) A federal judge in New York ordered the Food and Drug Administration to lift age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception, ending a requirement that buyers show proof they were 17 or older if they wanted to buy it without a prescription. (After months of back-and-forth legal battles, the Obama administration agreed to lift the age limits.)

Today's Birthdays: Movie producer Roger Corman is 88. Former U.S. Secretary of State and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell is 77. Country singer Tommy Cash is 74. Actor Michael Moriarty is 73. Pop singer Allan Clarke (The Hollies) is 72. Writer-director Peter Greenaway is 72. Actor Max Gail is 71. Actress Jane Asher is 68. Singer Agnetha Faltskog (ABBA) is 64. Actor Mitch Pileggi is 62. Singer-songwriter Peter Case is 60. Rock musician Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) is 48. Country singer Troy Gentry is 47. Singer Paula Cole is 46. Actress Krista Allen is 43. Country singer Pat Green is 42. Rapper-producer Pharrell Williams is 41. Rapper/producer Juicy J is 39.

Thought for Today: "A man is only as good as what he loves." -- Saul Bellow, Canadian-born American author (1915-2005).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.