January 5

January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 360 days (361 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

*1463 - Poet François Villon is banned from Paris.
*1477 - Battle of Nancy, Charles the Bold killed, Burgundy becomes part of France.
*1500 - Duke Ludovico Sforza conquers Milan.
*1527 - Felix Manz, a leader of the Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, was executed by drowning.
*1554 - Great fire in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
*1675 - Battle of Colmar, French army beats Brandenburg.
*1757 - Louis XV of France survives the assassination attempt by Robert�"François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France with the traditional and gruesome form of death penalty used for regicides.
*1759 - George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis.
*1781 - American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
*1846 - The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.
*1854 - The San Francisco steamer sinks, 300 dead.
*1895 - Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
*1896 - An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Roentgen discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays.
*1900 - Irish leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.
*1909 - Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
*1912 - Prague Party Conference.
*1914 - Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.
*1919 - Free Committee for a German Workers Peace founded, which would become the Nazi party.
*1925 - Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first female governor in the United States.
*1933 - Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
*1940 - FM radio is demonstrated to the FCC for the first time.
*1944 - The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
*1945 - The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland.
*1948 - Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl).
*1957 - Major league baseball player Jackie Robinson retires.
*1964 - Pope Paul VI meets the Greek patriarch Athenagoras I in Jerusalem, the first meeting of Catholic and Orthodox Christianity leaders since 1439.
*1968 - Alexander Dubček comes to power, "Prague Spring" begins in Czechoslovakia.
*1970 - Soap opera: All My Children premieres.
*1972 - President of the United States Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.
*1974 - An earthquake in Lima, Peru kills six, and damages 100s of houses.
*1975 - The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
*1976 - Cambodia is renamed Democratic Campuchea.
*1984 - Richard Stallman starts developing GNU.
*1993 - The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands spilling 84,700 tons of oil.
* 1993 - Washington state executes Westley Allan Dodd by hanging (the first legal hanging in America since 1965).
*1996 - Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.
*1997 - Withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya.
*2000 - The 1st day of the 2000 Al Qaeda Summit.
*2006 - Independence Air ceases operations

Births

*1209 - Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1272)
*1548 - Francisco Suarez, Spanish theologian (d. 1617)
*1587 - Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer (d. 1641)
*1592 - Shah Jahan, Mughal Emperor of India (d. 1666)
*1614 - Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, (d. 1662)
*1717 - William Wildman Shute Barrington, British statesman (d. 1793)
*1779 - Stephen Decatur, American naval officer (d. 1820)
* 1779 - Zebulon Pike, American explorer (d. 1813)
*1846 - Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1926)
*1855 - King Camp Gillette, American inventor (d. 1932)
*1864 - Bob Caruthers, baseball player (d. 1911)
*1865 - Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (d. 1920)
*1874 - Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)
*1876 - Konrad Adenauer, German statesman (d. 1967)
*1879 - Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician (d. 1946)
*1880 - Nikolay Medtner, Russian composer (d. 1951)
*1893 - Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian guru (d. 1952)
*1895 - Elizabeth Cotten, American musician (d. 1987)
*1900 - Yves Tanguy, French painter (d. 1955)
*1902 - Stella Gibbons, English novelist (d. 1989)
*1904 - Jeane Dixon, American astrologer (d. 1997)
*1909 - Stephen Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)
*1910 - Hugh Brannum, American actor (d. 1987)
* 1910 - Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (d. 1949)
*1913 - Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor (d. 2001)
*1914 - George Reeves, American actor (d. 1959)
* 1914 - Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter (d. 1955)
*1915 - Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian-born cartographer (d. 2004)
*1920 - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995)
*1921 - Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (d. 1990)
* 1921 - Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
*1923 - Sam Phillips, American music producer (d. 2003)
*1926 - Hosea Williams, American activist (d. 2000)
*1928 - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani statesman (d. 1979)
* 1928 - Walter Mondale, American politican
*1931 - Alvin Ailey, American choreographer (d. 1989)
* 1931 - Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist
* 1931 - Robert Duvall, American actor
*1932 - Umberto Eco, Italian writer
* 1932 - Chuck Noll, American football coach
*1936 - Florence King, American humorist
*1938 - King Juan Carlos I of Spain
* 1938 - Jim Otto, American football player
* 1938 - Ngugi wa Thiongo, Kenyan writer
*1940 - Michael O'Donoghue, American writer (d. 1994)
*1941 - Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese film maker
*1941 - Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer
*1942 - Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist
* 1942 - Charlie Rose, American talk show host
*1946 - Diane Keaton, American actress
*1948 - Ted Lange, American actor
*1949 - George Brown, American drummer (Kool & The Gang)
*1950 - Chris Stein, American guitarist (Blondie)
* 1950 - John Manley, Canadian politician
* 1950 - Ioan Petru Culianu, Romanian-born professor (d. 1991)
* 1950 - Charlie Richmond, Canadian entrepreneur
*1951 - Steve Arnold, English footballer
*1953 - Pamela Sue Martin, American actress
*1954 - Alex English, American basketball player
*1956 - Chen Kenichi, Japanese-born chef
*1960 - Phil Thornalley, English bass guitarist (The Cure)
*1962 - Suzy Amis, American actress
* 1962 - Joe Monzo, American composer
* 1962 - Danny Jackson, baseball player
*1963 - Jeff Fassero, baseball player
*1964 - Grant Young, American drummer (Soul Asylum)
*1965 - Vinnie Jones, British actor
*1966 - Kate Schellenbach, American drummer (Luscious Jackson)
*1967 - Joe Flanigan, American actor
*1968 - Andrew Golota, Polish boxer
*1968 - Ricky Paull Goldin, American actor
*1969 - Marilyn Manson, American singer
* 1969 - Paul McGillion, Scottish actor
*1971 - Mayuko Takata, Japanese actress
*1972 - Sakis Rouvas, Greek singer
*1975 - Mike Grier, American football player
* 1975 - Bradley Cooper, American actor
* 1975 - Kylie Bax, New Zealand model
*1976 - Matt Wachter, American bassist (30 Seconds to Mars)
*1979 - Kyle Calder, American hockey player
*1981 - Corey Flynn, New Zealand rugby player
*1982 - Janica Kostelić, Croatian skier
*1985 - Richard Butler, English footballer
*1985 - Michael Cuccione, Canadian actor (d. 2001)

Deaths

* 842 - Al-Mu'tasim, Abbasid caliph (b. 794)
*1400 - John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English politician (executed) (bc. 1350)
*1465 - Charles, Duke of Orléans, French poet (b. 1394)
*1477 - Charles, Duke of Burgundy (killed in battle) (b. 1433)
*1524 - Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (b. 1450)
*1527 - Felix Manz, Swiss leader (executed) (b. 1498)
*1588 - Qi Jiguang, Chinese general (b. 1528)
*1589 - Catherine de Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)
*1655 - Pope Innocent X (b. 1574)
*1740 - Antonio Lotti, Italian composer (b. 1667)
*1762 - Empress Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)
*1771 - John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, British statesman (b. 1710)
*1846 - Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist (b. 1812)
*1858 - Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (b. 1766)
*1891 - Emma Abbott, American soprano (b. 1849)
*1904 - Karl Alfred von Zittel, German palaeontologist (b. 1839)
*1910 - Léon Walras, French economist (b. 1834)
*1922 - Ernest Shackleton, Irish explorer (b. 1874)
*1933 - John Calvin Coolidge, Jr., 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)
*1937 - Marie Booth, child of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1864)
*1941 - Amy Johnson, English aviator (b. 1903)
*1943 - George Washington Carver, American educator (b. 1860)
*1951 - Andrei Platonov, Russian writer (b. 1899)
*1954 - Rabbit Maranville, baseball player (b. 1891)
*1956 - Mistinguett, French singer (b. 1875)
*1963 - Rogers Hornsby, baseball player (b. 1896)
*1970 - Max Born, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
* 1970 - Roberto Gerhard, Catalan composer (b. 1896)
*1971 - Douglas Shearer, Canadian film engineer (b. 1899)
*1979 - Charles Mingus, American musician (b. 1922)
*1981 - Harold C. Urey, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1893)
* 1981 - Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher (b. 1901)
*1982 - Hans Conried, American actor (b. 1917)
*1988 - Pete Maravich, American basketball player (b. 1947)
*1990 - Arthur Kennedy, American actor (b. 1914)
*1991 - Vasko Popa, Yugoslav poet (b. 1922)
*1994 - Thomas P. 'Tip' O'Neill, American politician (b. 1912)
*1996 - Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian terrorist (b. 1966)
*1998 - Sonny Bono, American entertainer (b. 1935)
*2001 - Nancy Parsons, American actress (b. 1942)
*2003 - Roy Jenkins, British politician (b. 1920)
* 2003 - Jean Kerr, American author (b. 1923)
*2004 - Tug McGraw, baseball player (b. 1944)
*2005 - Danny Sugerman, American music manager (The Doors) (b. 1954)

Holidays and observances

* The eleventh day of Christmas in Western Christianity, and the Twelfth Night of Christmas in Western Christianity.
* Catholicism - Feast day of St. John Neumann.
* Mungday (Discordianism)

External links

* BBC: On This Day
* NY Times: On this day
* On This Day in Canada

January 4 - January 6 - December 5 - February 5 �" listing of all days

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