1964, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." General Douglas MacArthur dies in Washington at age 84. MacArthur led US forces in the Pacific during World War II and the Korean War also overseen the occupation of Japan.

1856, Booker T. Washington, the African-American educator who found the Tuskegee Institute, is born in Franklin county, Virginia. 1972, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes dies at age 72 of being flown from Acapulco, Mexico to Houston to seek medical treatment.

And 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar becomes the highest-scoring player in NBA history, a record which he holds to this day. And 2006, "Sometimes I think change is a good thing."Katie Couric says she is leaving NBC's today show to become anchor of the CBS Evening News. She is the first woman hired to be the solo anchor of network evening news cast.

Today In History, April 5th, Mike Gracia, the Associated Press.