Daily Archives: April 5, 2026

Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes dies on emergency flight en route to Houston 50 years ago this hour (Apr 5 1976)

1970s


Video: 'The death of Houston billionaire Howard Hughes'

(Monday, April 5, 1976, 1:27 p.m. CST) — American business tycoon, entrepreneur, investor, aviator, aerospace engineer, inventor, filmmaker and philanthropist Howard Hughes, 70, died today of kidney failure on board an aircraft en route from his penthouse at the Acapulco Fairmont Princess Hotel in Mexico to the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. Continue reading Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes dies on emergency flight en route to Houston 50 years ago this hour (Apr 5 1976) →

‘R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.’ by John Cougar Mellencamp peaks at #2 in USA 40 years ago today (Apr 5 1986)

1980s, Popular Music 1980s

(Saturday, April 5, 1986) — “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” by John Cougar Mellencamp peaked at #2 on today’s Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for one week. Continue reading ‘R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.’ by John Cougar Mellencamp peaks at #2 in USA 40 years ago today (Apr 5 1986) →

‘Calling America’ by Electric Light Orchestra peaks at #18 in USA 40 years ago today (Apr 5 1986)

1980s, Popular Music 1980s

(Saturday, April 5, 1986) — “Calling America” by Electric Light Orchestra peaked at #18 on today’s Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for one week. Continue reading ‘Calling America’ by Electric Light Orchestra peaks at #18 in USA 40 years ago today (Apr 5 1986) →

‘The Soiling of Old Glory’ photograph taken in Boston 50 years ago today (Apr 5 1976)

1970s


Video: 'When Old Glory was turned into a weapon'

(Monday, April 5, 1976, late morning EST) — During an outdoor demonstration against court-ordered school busing in Boston, a white teenager swung a pole holding an American flag at a black attorney in a scene captured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph now known as The Soiling of Old Glory, taken by Stanley Forman of the Boston Herald American.