December 5Birthdays & History

On this day: December 5 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 63 BCCicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.Europe
2. 633Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.Europe
3. 1033The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multiple cities across the Levant, triggers a tsunami and kills many.Middle East
4. 1082Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated, most likely by his brother, Berenguer Ramon II.Europe
5. 1408Seeking to resubjugate Muscovy, Emir Edigu of the Golden Horde reaches Moscow, burning areas around the city but failing to take the city itself.Europe
6. 1456The first of two earthquakes measuring Mw 7.2 strikes Italy, causing extreme destruction and killing upwards of 70,000 people.Europe
7. 1484Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.Europe
8. 1496King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of Jews from the country.Europe
9. 1560Ten-year-old Charles IX becomes king of France, with Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici as regent.Europe
10. 1578Sir Francis Drake, after sailing through Strait of Magellan, raids Valparaíso.Latin America
11. 1649The town of Raahe (Swedish: Brahestad) is founded by Count Per Brahe the Younger.Europe
12. 1757Seven 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.Europe
13. 1766In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.Europe
14. 177029th Regiment of Foot privates Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy are found guilty for the manslaughter of Crispus Attucks and Samuel Gray respectively in the Boston Massacre.North America
15. 1775At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.North America
16. 1776Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the U.S., holds its first meeting at the College of William & Mary.North America
17. 1831Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.North America
18. 1847Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate.North America
19. 1848California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.North America
20. 1865Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.Latin AmericaEurope
21. 1895New Haven Symphony Orchestra of Connecticut performs its first concert.North America
22. 1914The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition begins in an attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.World
23. 1919Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is suppressed and its participants are executed by the Kontrrazvedka.Europe
24. 1921The Football Association bans women's football in England from league grounds, a ban that stays in place for 50 years.Europe
25. 1933The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, repealing Prohibition in the United States.North America
26. 1934Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.AfricaEurope
27. 1935Mary McLeod Bethune founds the National Council of Negro Women in New York City.North America
28. 1936The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.Europe
29. 1941World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.Europe
30. 1941World War II: In the Battle of Moscow, Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army.Europe
31. 1943World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.Europe
32. 1945Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle.North America
33. 1952Beginning of the Great Smog in London. A cold fog combines with air pollution and brings the city to a standstill for four days. Later, a Ministry of Health report estimates 4,000 fatalities as a result of it.Europe
34. 1955The Civil Rights Movement: the Montgomery bus boycott begins, led by E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks.North America
35. 1955The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO.North America
36. 1958The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)Europe
37. 1958Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.Europe
38. 1964Lloyd J. Old discovers the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.North America
39. 1964Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.Asia
40. 1971Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces are defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh.Asia
41. 1977Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen in retaliation to preventing President Anwar el-Sadat from pursuing negotiations with Israel at the Tripoli confer.Middle EastAfrica
42. 1983Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.Latin America
43. 1991Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine.Europe
44. 1994The Budapest Memorandum is signed at the OSCE conference in Budapest, Hungary.Europe
45. 1995Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.Asia
46. 1995Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, killing 52 people.Europe
47. 2001Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-108, carrying the Expedition 4 crew to the International Space Station.World
48. 2005The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.Europe
49. 2005The 6.8 Mw Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing six people.Africa
50. 2006Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.Oceania
51. 2007Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.North America
52. 2013Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sanaa, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.Middle East
53. 2014Exploration Flight Test-1, the first flight test of Orion, is launched.World
54. 2017The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "December 5" / CC BY-SA 4.0