August 5
August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining.
Events
- 642 - Battle of Maserfeld - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia
- 1583 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes first English colony in North America, at what is now St John's, Newfoundland.
- 1689 - 1,500 Iroquois attack village of Lachine, in New France.
- 1763 - Pontiac's War - Battle of Bushy Run - British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run.
- 1772 - First Partition of Poland begins.
- 1812 - War of 1812: Tecumseh's Indian force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.
- 1858 - Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It operated for less than a month.
- 1861 - American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government issues the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
- 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge - Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Mobile Bay begins - At Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.
- 1882 - Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
- 1884 - The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
- 1914 - In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
- 1944 - Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
- 1949 - In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6000.
- 1962 - Film actress and sex icon, Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her Los Angeles, California home after apparently overdosing on sleeping pills.
- 1963 - United States, Great Britain, and Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow - American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes attacked US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
- 1969 - Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).
- Vietnam War: The United States Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on 1974 military aid to South Vietnam.
- 1981 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
Births
- 1641 - John Hathorn, magistrate (? 1717)
- 1811 - Thomas Ambroise, composer (? 1896)
- 1842 - Ferdinand Keller, painter (? 1922)
- 1850 - Guy de Maupassant, author (+ 1893)
- 1866 - Carl Harries, chemist (? 1923)
- 1877 - Tom Thomson, painter (? 1917)
- 1889 - Conrad Aiken, poet (? 1973)
- 1890 - Erich Kleiber, conductor (? 1956)
- 1906 - John Huston, director (? 1987)
- 1911 - Robert Taylor, actor (? 1969)
- 1930 - Neil Armstrong, astronaut
- 1935 - John Saxon, actor
- 1939 - Princess Irene of the Netherlands
- 1940 - Roman Gabriel, professional football player
- 1946 - Loni Anderson, actress
- 1946 - Jimmy Webb, composer, musician
- 1947 - Rick Derringer, rock and roll musician
- 1951 - Airto, percussionist
- 1956 - Maureen McCormick, actress, The Brady Bunch
- 1959 - Barry Ethridge, inventor
- 1962 - Patrick Ewing, basketball player
- 1981 - Rachel Scott, victim of the Columbine High School massacre (? 1999)
Deaths
- 882 - King Louis III of France
- 1895 - Friedrich Engels, socialist philosopher
- 1955 - Carmen Miranda, actress, singer
- 1960 - Arthur Meighen, ninth Prime Minister of Canada
- 1962 - Marilyn Monroe, actress
- 1984 - Sir Richard Burton, actor
- 2000 - Sir Alec Guinness, 86, British actor
- 2002 - Chick Hearn, pro-basketball announcer
Holidays and observances
- Burkina Faso - Independence Day
- Croatia - National Thanksgiving Day
See Also:
August 4 - August 6 - July 5 - September 5 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December