December 5
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December 5 is the 339th day of the year (340th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 26 days remain until the end of the year.
Events
- 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations.
- 663 - Fourth Council of Toledo.
- 771 - Charlemagne becomes the sole King of the Franks after the death of his brother Carloman.
- 1082 - Assassination of Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona.
- 1360 - Creation of the French Franc.
- 1408 - Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow.
- 1484 - Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany and leads to one of the severest witchhunts in European history.
- 1492 - Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola.
- 1496 - King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree of expulsion of "heretics" from the country.
- 1590 - Niccolò Sfondrati becomes Pope Gregory XIV.
- 1715 - Alexander Dalzeel, a Scottish privateer in French service, is executed in London, England.
- 1746 - Revolt in Genoa against the Spanish rule.
- 1757 - Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen - Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.
- 1766 - In London, James Christie holds his first sale.
- 1775 - At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1776 - In the Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia, students from the College of William and Mary met for the first time founding Phi Beta Kappa, the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.
- 1815 - Foundation of Maceió in Brazil.
- 1830 - The premiere of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique in Paris.
- 1831 - Former US President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
- 1847 - Jefferson Davis gets elected to the US senate, his first political occupation.
- 1848 - California Gold Rush: In a message before the U.S. Congress, US President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.
- 1865 - Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.
- 1892 - Sir John Thompson becomes the fourth Prime Minister of Canada.
- 1893 - First appearance of an electric car.
- 1914 - The Italian Parliament proclaims the neutrality of the country.
- 1920 - Dimitrios Rallis forms a government in Greece.
- 1926 - Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin premieres.
- 1932 - German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
- 1933 - Prohibition ends: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to enact the amendment (this overturned the 18th Amendment which had outlawed alcohol in the United States).
- 1934 - Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.
- 1936 - The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.
- 1941 - World War II: In Battle of Moscow Zhukov launched a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army, with the biggest offensive launched against Army Group Centre.
- 1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war to Finland, Hungary and Romania.
- 1943 - World War II: U.S. Air force begins Operation Crossbow attacking Germany's secret weapons bases.
- 1944 - World War II: Allied troops occupy Ravenna.
- 1945 - Flight 19 is lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
- 1952 - Great Smog of 1952: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
- 1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL-CIO.
- 1955 - E.D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- 1957 - Sukarno expels all Dutch people from Indonesia.
- 1958 - Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.
- 1958 - The Preston bypass, the UK's first stretch of motorway opens to traffic for the first time, now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
- 1969 - Life Magazine reports the My Lai Massacre .
- 1970 - Premiere of Dario Fo's Morte accidentale di un anarchico.
- 1976 - United Nations General Assembly adopts Pakistan resolution on security of non-Nuclear States.
- 1977 - Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation to the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.
- 1978 - The Soviet Union signs a 'friendship treaty' with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
- 1979 - Sonia Johnson is formally excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her outspoken criticism of the church concerning the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
- 1983 - Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.
- 1989 - TGV Atlantique sets a new railways speed record with 482.4 km/h.
- 1993 - The mayor of Wien Helmut Zilk is wounded by a letter bomb.
- 1995 - Sri Lanka government announces the conquest of Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.
- 2003 - Suicide bombers kill at least 46 people in an attack on a train in southern Russia.
- 2005 - The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- 2005 - The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.
- 2006 - Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji
Births
- 1377 - Jianwen Emperor of China (d. 1402)
- 1443 - Pope Julius II (d. 1513)
- 1495 - Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish grammarian (d. 1542)
- 1537 - Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shogun (d. 1597)
- 1539 - Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian (d. 1604)
- 1547 - Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625)
- 1595 - Henry Lawes, English composer (d. 1662)
- 1661 - Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, English statesman (d. 1724)
- 1687 - Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
- 1782 - Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862)
- 1803 - Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev, Russian poet (d. 1873)
- 1820 - Afanasy Fet, Russian poet (d. 1892)
- 1822 - Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American college president (d. 1907)
- 1829 - Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French Canadian politician (d. 1908)
- 1830 - Christina Rossetti, British poet (d. 1894)
- 1839 - George Armstrong Custer, American general (d. 1876)
- 1841 - Marcus Daly, American mining tycoon (d. 1900)
- 1855 - Clinton Hart Merriam, American ornithologist (d. 1942)
- 1859 - John Jellicoe, British admiral (d. 1935)
- 1863 - Paul Painlevé, French mathematician (d. 1933)
- 1867 - Józef Piłsudski, Polish revolutionary and statesman (d. 1935)
- 1867 - Antti Aarne, Finnish folklorist (d. February 2, 1925)
- 1868 - Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (d. 1951)
- 1869 - Ellis Parker Butler, American author (d. 1937)
- 1870 - Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer (d. 1949)
- 1871 - Bill Pickett, American rodeo performer (d. 1932)
- 1872 - Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (d. 1906)
- 1875 - Sir Arthur Currie, Canadian soldier (d. 1933)
- 1879 - Clyde Cessna, American airplane manufacturer (d. 1954)
- 1879 - Nunnally Johnson, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1977)
- 1886 - Rose Wilder Lane, American writer and reporter, daughter of 'Little House' books writer Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1968)
- 1890 - David Bomberg, British painter (d. 1957)
- 1890 - Fritz Lang, Austrian-born film director (d. 1976)
- 1892 - Ferdinand Schörner, German field marshal (d. 1973)
- 1895 - Elbert Frank Cox, American mathematician (d. 1969)
- 1896 - Carl Ferdinand Cori, Austrian-born biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1898 - Grace Moore, American soprano (d. 1947)
- 1898 - Josh Malihabadi, Urdu poet of India and Pakistan (d. 1982)
- 1901 - Walt Disney, American animated film producer (d. 1966)
- 1901 - Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist (d. 1980)
- 1901 - Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1976)
- 1902 - Strom Thurmond, American politician (d. 2003)
- 1903 - Johannes Heesters, Dutch singer and actor
- 1903 - Cecil Frank Powell, British physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1969)
- 1905 - Gus Mancuso, baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1906 - Otto Preminger, Austrian-born director, producer, and actor (d. 1986)
- 1907 - Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian physicist (d. 1993)
- 1910 - Abraham Polonsky, American screenwriter (d. 1999)
- 1911 - Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist (d. 2000)
- 1914 - Hans Hellmut Kirst, German author (d. 1989)
- 1917 - Ken Downing, British racing driver (d. 2004)
- 1927 - Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand
- 1932 - Sheldon Lee Glashow, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1932 - Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman), American singer and pianist
- 1934 - Joan Didion, American writer
- 1934 - Nikos Kourkoulos, Greek actor, artistic director of the National Theatre of Greece (d. 2007)
- 1935 - Yury Vlasov, Soviet weightlifter
- 1935 - Calvin Trillin, American writer
- 1936 - James Lee Burke, American writer
- 1938 - J. J. Cale, American songwriter
- 1940 - Peter Pohl, Swedish writer
- 1940 - Boris Ignatyev, Russian footballer
- 1943 - Eva Joly, Norwegian-born French magistrate
- 1944 - Jeroen Krabbé, Dutch actor
- 1945 - Serge Chapleau, Quebec caricaturist
- 1946 - José Carreras, Spanish tenor
- 1947 - Jim Messina, American musician (Buffalo Springfield - Loggins and Messina)
- 1947 - Tony Gregory, Irish politician
- 1947 - Jim Plunkett, American football player
- 1947 - Bruce Golding, Jamaican politician
- 1949 - Ray Comfort, New Zealand evangelist
- 1950 - Camarón de la Isla, Spanish flamenco singer (d. 1992)
- 1950 - Osvaldo Golijov, Argentine-born composer
- 1951 - Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian artist
- 1951 - Morgan Brittany, American actress
- 1952 - Andy Kim, Canadian singer, songwriter
- 1953 - Larry Zbyszko, American professional wrestler
- 1956 - Brian Backer, American actor
- 1956 - Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist
- 1957 - Art Monk, American football player
- 1958 - Dean Erickson, American actor
- 1960 - Jack Russell, American singer (Great White)
- 1962 - José Cura, Argentine tenor
- 1963 - Doctor Dre, American radio personality
- 1963 - Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards, British skier
- 1963 - Carrie Hamilton, American actress (d. 2002)
- 1965 - Johnny Rzeznik, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (Goo Goo Dolls)
- 1965 - Wayne Smith, Jamaican reggae musician
- 1966 - Patricia Kaas, French singer
- 1967 - Gary Allan, American singer
- 1967 - Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin, titular Bulgarian royal family
- 1968 - Margaret Cho, American comedian and actress
- 1968 - Lisa Marie, American model and actress
- 1969 - Lewis Gordon Pugh, British swimmer, polar explorer and motivational speaker
- 1969 - Morgan J. Freeman, American film director
- 1970 - Kevin Haller, Canadian hockey player
- 1971 - Kali Rocha, American actress
- 1972 - Angela Shelton, American actress & writer
- 1972 - Mike Mahoney, baseball player
- 1972 - Cliff Floyd, American baseball player
- 1973 - Shalom Harlow, model
- 1973 - Luboš Motl, Czech physicist
- 1975 - Ronnie O'Sullivan, British snooker player
- 1976 - Amy Acker, American actress
- 1976 - Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby player
- 1978 - Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1979 - Matteo Ferrari, Italian footballer
- 1979 - Niklas Hagman, Finnish hockey player
- 1979 - Nick Stahl, American actor
- 1979 - Gareth McAuley, Northern Irish footballer
- 1979 - Evonne Hsu, Taiwanese singer
- 1980 - Shizuka Ito, Japanese voice actress (seiyū)
- 1981 - Leila Tong, Hong Kong actress
- 1982 - Eddy Curry, American basketball player
- 1982 - Trai Essex, American football player
- 1984 - Chris Solinsky, American distance runner
- 1985 - Josh Smith, American basketball player
- 1985 - Frankie Muniz, American actor
- 1985 - Nico Verdonck, Belgian racing driver
- 1988 - Ross Bagley, American actor
- 1992 - Giorgio Cantarini, Italian actor
Deaths
- 749 - Saint John of Damascus, theologian
- 1082 - Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona
- 1355 - John III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1300)
- 1560 - King Francis II of France (b. 1544)
- 1570 - Johan Friis, Danish statesman (b. 1494)
- 1624 - Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist (b. 1560)
- 1654 - Jean François Sarrazin, French writer
- 1663 - Severo Bonini, Italian composer (b. 1582)
- 1749 - Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye, New French explorer and trader (b. 1685)
- 1758 - Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (b. 1688)
- 1770 - James Stirling, Scottish mathematician (b. 1692)
- 1784 - Phillis Wheatley, African-American poet (b. 1753)
- 1791 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer (b. 1756)
- 1819 - Friedrich Leopold Graf zu Stolberg, German poet (b. 1750)
- 1870 - Alexandre Dumas, père, French writer (b. 1802)
- 1887 - Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (b. 1804)
- 1891 - Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (b. 1825)
- 1895 - Chief Gall, Sioux chief (b. 1840)
- 1925 - Władysław Reymont, Polish writer and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
- 1926 - Claude Monet, French impressionist painter (b. 1840)
- 1931 - Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
- 1940 - Mordechai Frizis, Jewish Greek military officer (b. 1893)
- 1940 - Jan Kubelík, Austro-Hungarian-born Czechoslovak violinist (b. 1880)
- 1950 - Shri Aurobindo, Indian guru (b. 1872)
- 1951 - Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player (b. 1889)
- 1951 - Abanindranath Tagore, Indian writer (b. 1871)
- 1953 - Jorge Negrete, Mexican actor and songwriter.
- 1963 - Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Prime Minister Pakistan (b. 1892)
- 1963 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (b. 1905)
- 1963 - Sri Deep Narayan Mahaprabhuji, Indian Hindu mystic
- 1965 - Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
- 1966 - Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1909)
- 1968 - Fred Clark, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1977 - Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Soviet military commander (b. 1895)
- 1984 - Adam Malik, Third Vice President of Indonesia (b. 1917)
- 1986 - Sir Edward Youde, Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1924)
- 1989 - Sir John Pritchard, British conductor (b. 1921)
- 1991 - Richard Speck, American mass murderer (b. 1941)
- 1993 - Doug Hopkins, American guitarist and songwriter (Gin Blossoms) (b. 1961)
- 1994 - Harry Horner, American art director (b. 1910)
- 2001 - Franco Rasetti, Italian physicist (b. 1901)
- 2002 - Roone Arledge, American sports broadcasting pioneer (b. 1931)
- 2002 - Ne Win, Burmese leader (b. 1911)
- 2005 - Frits Philips, Dutch industrialist and businessman from multinational Philips Electronics (b. 1905)
- 2005 - Kevin "Big Kev" McQuay, Australian businessman (b. 1949)
- 2006 - David Bronstein, Ukrainian-born chess grandmaster (b. 1924)
Holidays and observances
- Roman festivals - Faunalia celebrated in honor of Faunus (according to Horace, Odes 3.18)
- Austria - Krampus
- Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands and the UK - Saint Nicholas Eve (whom Dutch speakers call Sinterklaas, which became in other languages Santa Claus)
- Thailand - The King's Birthday, National Day, Father's Day
- Saint Abercius
- R.C. Saints - formerly: Saint Sabas
- Day of the Ninja
- December 5th is the first full day of Hanukkah in 2007
- Repeal Day celebrating the American 21st amendment which ended prohibition