April 5 in History

1242 — During the Battle on the Ice, Republic of Novgorod (mostly comprising modern-day Russia) troops, led by Prince Alexander Nevsky, repel an invasion attempt by the forces of the Livonian Order and the Bishopric of Dorpat, led by Bishop Hermann of Dorpat, on the frozen Lake Peipus.

1710 — The Statute of (Queen) Anne receives the royal assent, establishing the Copyright Law of the United Kingdom … the first in the world.

1827 — Joseph Lister, English surgeon and pioneer of using antiseptics during surgery, is born in London. 1900 — Archaeologist in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writings in a script they call Linear B.

1916 — Gregory Peck, actor (“To kill a Mockingbird”, “The Guns of Navarone”), is born in La Jolla, San Diego, California.

1917 — Robert Bloch, author (“Psycho”), is born in Chicago, US.

1920 — Arthur Hailey, novelist (“Hotel”, “Airport”), is born in Luton, England.

1938 — Colin Bland, South Rhodesian-South African cricketer who will go down in history as one of the greatest cover fielders, is born in Bulawayo. As a Rhodesian eligible to play Test cricket for SA, he makes his debut against New Zealand in Durban in December 1961. He accumulates 1,669 runs in 21 Tests at an average of 49.08. His Test career ends tragically at the Wanderers in Johannesburg against Australia on December 28 1966 when he crashes into a boundary fence while chasing the ball, badly damaging his left knee.

1958 — Johan Kriek, SA-US tennis player, is born in Pongola. He wins the Australian Open in 1981 as a South African and in 1982 as a US citizen. He is the founder, in 2005, of the Global Water Foundation, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to delivering clean water to the world’s neediest communities.

1976 — Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes dies in Houston, Texas, at age 70. The business magnate, investor, record-setting aviator, engineer, film producer/director and philanthropist was one of the most financially successful individuals in the world. 1976 — Henrik Stenson, Swedish golfer (winner of The Open Championship at Royal Troon in 2016), is born in Gothenburg.

1988 — Quade Cooper, Australian rugby player (2008-2017: 70 Tests at flyhalf, 174 points), is born in Tokoroa, New Zealand.

2001 — Wang Zhizhi, 2.13m (7 feet) tall, makes his NBA debut for the Dallas Mavericks at age 23, becoming the first Chinese to play in the NBA.