Historical Events on August 5

Events 1 - 200 of 223

• 135 Betar last outpost of Bar Kochba falls to Rome
• 642 Battle of Maserfield - British Anglo-Saxon king Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia
• 910 The last major Viking army to raid England is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred

• 1100 Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey, London
• 1264 Anti-Jewish riots break out in Arnstadt Germany

• 1388 Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England
• 1391 Castilian sailors fire attack Jewish ghetto of Barcelona, 100's killed
• 1399 Battle at Worskla: Tataren beat Russians and Litouwers
• 1420 Duke John VI of Bavaria visits Dutch mystic Lidwina (Christ's bride)

• 1543 French and Turkish troops occupy Nice
• 1552 Battle of Ponza: Ottoman naval fleet led by Dragut defeats Genoese fleet under Andrea Doria capturing seven galleys
• 1583 Humphrey Gilbert claims Newfoundland for the British crown, the first English colony in North America and the beginning of the British Empire
• 1654 French troops occupy Stenay during Franco-Spanish war
• 1666 Second day of the St. James' Day Battle (Two Day Battle) English fleet defeat Dutch under Michiel de Ruyter
• 1667 State of Holland obtain Eternal Edict
• 1689 1,500 Iroquois attack the village of Lachine, in New France

• 1745 Jacobite Rising 1745: Jacobite forces capture British company of troops under Captain Scott
• 1763 Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run - British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run
• 1772 1st Partition of Poland between Austria, Prussia and Russia is made public
• 1775 1st Spanish ship, San Carlos, enters San Francisco Bay
• 1781 Battle of Dogger Bank (Fourth Anglo-Dutch War): a British strategic victory, although both sides claimed to have won

• 1837 1st ascent of Mt Marcy (5,344') highest in Adirondack, NY
• 1846 Oregon territory divided between the United States and Britain at the 49th parallel

• 1860 Carl IV of Sweden-Norway is crowned King of Norway in Trondheim
• 1861 Enlistment in US Union army increases from 3 months to 2 years
• 1861 Naval Engagement at Fernandina, Florida, the USS Vincennes ends rebel blockade
• 1861 President Lincoln signs the first US personal Income Tax into law (3% of incomes over $800)
• 1861 US Army abolishes flogging
• 1862 Battle of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Union forces prevent Confederate attempts to capture the city

• 1864 Spectrum of a comet observed for 1st time, by Giovanni Donati
• 1874 Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled after a similar system in England
• 1882 Martial law is imposed in Japan
• 1882 Standard Oil of New Jersey is established

• 1890 British and French accord to divide African colonization
• 1891 World's 1st traveler's cheques issued by American Express
• 1900 In Russia, anti-Jewish riots spread from Odessa into other parts of the country
• 1901 Peter O'Connor of Ireland, sets the first officially recognised world long jump record at 24' 11 3/4" in Dublin, Ireland

• 1912 Japan's first taxicab service begins in Ginza, Tokyo
• 1914 1st electric traffic light installed in the USA on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio

• 1914 Cuba, Uruguay, Mexico and Argentina proclaim neutrality in WW I
• 1914 Dutch Cort Van de Linden government issues silver bonds as money
• 1914 Montenegro declares war against Austria-Hungary in World War I
• 1914 US and Nicaragua sign treaty granting canal rights to US
• 1914 Westerschelde leaves due to German invasion in Belgium

• 1915 The Latin-American Conference Convenes in Washington, with representatives from leading South American nations joining the US to discuss conditions in Mexico
• 1915 Warsaw, evacuated by the Russians, is occupied by Germans
• 1917 British troops attack canal of Ypres in Boesinghe, Belgium
• 1917 The entire US National Guard is taken into national service, subject to presidential rather than state control

• 1921 KDKA Pittsburgh presents first radio broadcast of MLB; Pirates beat Phillies, 8-0; Harold Arlin first play-by-play broadcaster
• 1921 Treaty of Berlin: US and Germany sign separate peace treaty
• 1924 "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip by Harold Gray is 1st published in the New York Daily News
• 1925 Plaid Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language, which is in danger of dying out
• 1926 French & German trade agreement signed

• 1927 Phillies outfielder Cy Williams hits for cycle in just 4 at bats in 9-7 win v Pirates

• 1936 Italian athlete Ondina Valla runs a world record 11.6 in the semi finals of the 80m hurdles at the Berlin Olympics; wins final the next day but can't match the time
• 1936 Ken Carpenter (50.48 Olympic record) and Gordon Dunn make it an American 1-2 in the men’s discus throw at the Berlin Olympics
• 1940 "Acquaintance" blows-up Zandvoortse synagogue
• 1940 St Louis Brown's pitcher John Whitehead no-hits Detroit Tigers, 4-0 in 6 innings (rain shortened)
• 1942 British government cancels agreement of Munich
• 1942 German troops cross Russian Kuban River in Western Caucasus
• 1943 Sicily: 3 US A-36's bomb British headquarters
• 1943 Soviet forces reconquer Orel and Bjelgorod
• 1943 World War II: at around 11 A.M during the Battle of Troina, Mount Etna erupts sending ash and lava miles into the sky
• 1944 German forces begin the mass killing of between 40,000 and 50,000 Polish civilians in the Wola district of Warsaw during the uprising
• 1944 US 79th/90th division occupy Laval (Mayenne), southwest of Paris
• 1944 US troops occupy Vannes, Brittany
• 1947 Netherlands ceases political action in Indonesia, due to UN pressure
• 1948 A Jamaican 1-2 in the men's 400m at the London Olympics with Arthur Wint (46.2) beating teammate Herb McKenley for the gold medal
• 1948 A Swedish sweep of the medals in the 3000m steeplechase at the London Olympics with Tore Sjöstrand taking gold ahead of teammates Erik Elmsäter & Göte Hagström
• 1948 Americans Sammy Lee and Bruce Harlan go 1-2 in the 10m platform diving at the London Olympics
• 1948 Cleveland Indians set club record for most double plays in a game (6) in a 3-0 win v Washington
• 1949 6.4 Earthquake strikes Tungurahua Province, Ecuador, killing 5,000 people
• 1951 Uprising by Moluccan soldiers from Indonesia at Ambonezen Camp, Netherlands

• 1953 Operation "Big Switch"; Korean War prisoner exchanged at Panmunjom
• 1956 Belgian race car driver André Milhoux (27) runs in his only Grand Prix driving a Gordini T32 in Germany; forced to retire after 15 laps due to engine problem
• 1956 KUAM TV channel 8 in Agana, Guam (CBS/ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1956 WCYB TV channel 5 in Bristol-Kingsport, Virginia (NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1957 "American Bandstand" premieres on network TV (ABC)
• 1957 Comic strip "Andy Capp" makes its debut
• 1957 WJZ-TV in Baltimore MD begins radio transmissions
• 1958 Philip Kapleau, Zen teacher, 1st awakening under Yasutani Roshi
• 1959 42.4 cm rainfall in Decatur Co, Iowa (state record)
• 1959 Chicago Cardinals (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (CFL), 55-26 in a pre-season exhibition at CNE Stadium in Toronto
• 1960 Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) declares independence from France
• 1961 118°F (48°C), Ice Harbor Dam, Washington (state record)
• 1961 Chicago Bears (NFL) beat Montreal Alouettes (CFL), 34-16 in a pre-season exhibition at Molson Stadium in Montreal
• 1962 1st quasar located by radio

• 1962 UN command forbids flights to Congo breakaway Katangese airports
• 1963 Britain, USA and USSR sign nuclear test ban treaty

• 1964 Beatles record a cover of Little Willie John's "Leave My Kitten Alone"; not released until 1995's "Anthology 1"
• 1964 Congo rebellion: Christopher Gbenye and Pierre Mulele conquer Stanleyville
• 1964 US begins bombing North Vietnam in response to the real and imagined attacks on US Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin
• 1965 South African cricket batsman Graeme Pollock scores a classic 125 to set the Proteas on the way to a 2nd Test win against England at Trent Bridge
• 1966 33rd NFL Chicago College All-Star Game: Green Bay 38, All-Stars 0; 72,000 at Soldier Field

• 1966 The Beatles release single "Yellow Submarine" with "Eleanor Rigby" in the UK
• 1966 The Beatles release their "Revolver" album in the UK
• 1966 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

• 1967 Bobby Gentry releases her only hit "Ode to Billy Joe"
• 1967 First exhibition after AFL/NFL merger, Denver Broncos (AFL) surprise Detroit Lions (NFL), 13-7 at University of Denver
• 1967 Pirate Radio Station 333 (Radio Britain) & Radio London close down
• 1968 WMCV (now WZTV) TV channel 17 in Nashville, TN (IND) 1st broadcast
• 1969 Mariner 7 flies past Mars

• 1969 The UVF plant their first bomb in the Republic of Ireland, damaging the RTÉ Television Centre in Dublin
• 1970 Robert Morley's "How the Other Half Loves" premieres in London
• 1970 US Black P. Panther leader Huey Newton freed from jail after two trials ended in hung juries and the district attorney decides against a 4th trial
• 1971 The British Parliament debate the security situation in Northern Ireland
• 1971 WNPE TV channel 16 in Watertown, NY (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1972 Detroit Tigers shortstop Ed Brinkman commits an error, ending record streak of 72 games & 331 total chances without a misplay
• 1972 Moody Blues re-issue their 1967 single "Nights in White Satin", and it reaches #2 on US charts, higher than the initial release
• 1973 15-year-old Australian swimmer Stephen Holland smashes Mike Burton's 1,500m world record by a massive 14.78 seconds (15:37.8) in Brisbane
• 1973 Arab terrorists open fire at Athens airport, kill 3 injure 55

• 1973 USSR launches Mars 6
• 1974 Joan Jett forms her rock group Runaways in England

• 1975 Philadelphia Phillies create MLB record when first 8 batters get hits off Bill Bonham, beat Cubs 13-5

• 1978 New Orleans Saints beat Philadelphia Eagles 14-7 in an NFL exhibition at Mexico City's Olympic Stadium
• 1978 The first all-seater stadium is opened in Aberdeen, Scotland; Aberdeen & London club Tottenham Hotspurs play a friendly to inaugurate the Pittodrie Stadium
• 1979 Government of Mauretania signs peace treaty with Polisario

• 1979 Varetta Shankle (Miss), crowned 12th Miss Black America

• 1980 Montreal Expos Dick Williams wins his 1,000th career game as a manager in 11-5 win v Mets, for whom Doug Flynn hits MLB record tying 3 triples
• 1981 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

• 1982 Stephabue Hix, of Alabama, 18, crowned Miss National Teen-Ager
• 1982 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1983 American rock singer David Crosby sentenced to 5 years in Texas state prison on drug and weapons convictions

• 1984 American super-hurdler Edwin Moses wins the 400m hurdles gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, his 105th consecutive race victory
• 1984 Evelyn Ashford runs an Olympic 100m record time of 10.97 to beat American teammate Alice Brown in the LA Games final
• 1984 The rowing competition at the LA Olympics concludes with Romania dominant in the women's section winning 5 of 6 gold medals; US wins the eights from Romania
• 1984 Toronto designated hitter Cliff Johnson hits MLB record 19th career pinch-hit HR in Blue Jays 4-3 win over Baltimore Orioles
• 1985 Establishment of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is announced

• 1986 It's revealed Andrew Wyeth of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, had secretly created 240 drawings and paintings of his neighbor Helga Testorf
• 1986 US Senate votes for SDI-project ("Star Wars")
• 1988 American politician Mario Biaggi (Rep-D-NY) convicted of racketeering resigns his seat
• 1988 Thoroughbred trainer Dale Baird wins his 5,000th career race with Stuffed Johnnie at Mountaineer Park; second to reach milestone behind Jack Van Berg
• 1989 First ever dead heat in harness racing's Hambletonian; Park Avenue Joe and Probe tie the 3rd and final heat; Park Avenue Joe wins series on count back
• 1989 General elections are held in Nicaragua with the Sandinista Front winning a majority.
• 1989 NASA Venus probe Magellan launched from Space shuttle, 1st to do so
• 1991 Sergei Bubka of the Soviet Union breaks his own world pole vault record (6.10m) in Malmö Sweden
• 1992 Cuba wins baseball's inaugural gold medal at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, beating Chinese Taipei 11-1

• 1993 Republican Guard kills 64 civilians at Gninguilimin marketplace, in Chad
• 1994 Antonov-12 crashes at Boda, Eastern Siberia, 47 killed
• 1994 British rocker Billy Idol admitted to the hospital after drug overdose in Los Angeles, California

• 1996 Kansas City Chiefs rout Dallas Cowboys 32-6 in an NFL pre-season exhibition game in Monterrey Mexico
• 1997 Korean Air 747 with 331 aboard crashes in Guam, 29 survive
• 1997 Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of world trade center bombing goes on trial
• 1997 Soyuz TM-26 crew of Anatoly Solovyov & Pavel Vinogradov, launched

• 2000 Moni Maker wins the $500,00 Nat Ray at the Meadowlands in world record 1:52.1 to become harness racing's first $5m stakes earner
• 2001 Cleveland Indians tie a MLB record in erasing a 12 run Seattle lead to win 15-14, also preventing the Mariners from reaching a record 117 season wins
• 2003 A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.
• 2005 Discovery of Skull 5, the earliest complete Homo erectus skull aged 1.8 million years old, at Dmanisi, Georgia, by archaeologist David Lordkipanidze, site of first known hominids to leave Africa [1]
• 2005 NBA announces Las Vegas will host the 2007 All Star game; first time event will be held in a city without an NBA team

• 2011 NASA launches its Juno space probe from Cape Canaveral to orbit and study Jupiter
• 2011 Svalbard Polar Bear Attack - a rogue Polar Bear attacks and kills a British schoolboy
• 2012 19 people are killed by Kurdish rebels in Hakk
• 2012 Gunman opens fire on Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin killing six people and committing suicide

• 2013 160 people are killed by flash floods across Afghanistan and Pakistan

• 2013 Rain intervenes to end the 3rd cricket Test between Australia and England at Old Trafford; England retains the Ashes after winning the first 2 Tests

• 2013 The world's first bovine stem cell lab-grown burger is eaten in London

• 2015 Fishing boat carrying around 600 migrants sinks of the coast of Libya, 373 rescued
• 2015 Torrential rains and flooding leave at least 178 people dead in India, in the wake of Cyclone Komen

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