Today in history

On April 5, 1764, Britain’s Parliament passed The American Revenue Act of 1764, also known as the Sugar Act, which was repealed in 1766.

In 1614, Indian Chief Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas married Englishman John Rolfe, a widower, in the Virginia Colony.

In 1887, Anne Sullivan achieved a breakthrough as her 6-year-old deaf-blind pupil, Helen Keller, learned the meaning of the word “water” as spelled out in the Manual Alphabet. British historian Lord Acton wrote in a letter, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In 1915, Jess Willard knocked out Jack Johnson in the 26th round of their fight in Havana, Cuba, to claim boxing’s world heavyweight title.

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 1976, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes died in Houston at age 70.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin opened farewell talks at Putin’s heavily wooded retreat on the Black Sea. Actor Charlton Heston, bigscreen hero and later leader of the National Rifle Association, died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 84.

One year ago: President Donald Trump declared that a deadly chemical attack in Syria the day before had crossed “many, many lines” and abruptly changed his views of Syrian President Bashar Assad. But he refused to say what the U.S. might do in response.