January 5Birthdays & History

On this day: January 5 in history

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

1. 1477Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.Europe
2. 1675Battle of Colmar: The French army defeats forces from Austria and Brandenburg.Europe
3. 1757Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, who becomes the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering (the traditional form of capital punishment used for regicides).Europe
4. 1781American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by former American general Benedict Arnold.North AmericaEurope
5. 1822The government of Central America votes for total annexation to the First Mexican Empire.Latin AmericaNorth America
6. 1875The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.Europe
7. 1895Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.Europe
8. 1900Irish nationalist leader John Edward Redmond calls for revolt against British rule.Europe
9. 1911Kappa Alpha Psi, the world's third-oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.North America
10. 1912The sixth All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the Bolshevik movement.Europe
11. 1913First Balkan War: The Battle of Lemnos begins; Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.EuropeMiddle East
12. 1914The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.North America
13. 1919The German Workers' Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich.Europe
14. 1925Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.North America
15. 1933Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.North America
16. 1941Amy Johnson, a 37-year-old pilot and the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.EuropeOceania
17. 1944The Daily Mail becomes the first major London newspaper to be published on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.Europe
18. 1945The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.Europe
19. 1948The Semiramis Hotel bombing kills at least 23 people.Middle East
20. 1949In his State of the Union address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.North America
21. 1953The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris.Europe
22. 1957In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine.North America
23. 1967Cultural Revolution: The Shanghai People's Commune is established following the seizure of power from local city officials by revolutionaries.Asia
24. 1968Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the "Prague Spring".Europe
25. 1969Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes in Fernhill, West Sussex, UK, while on approach to Gatwick Airport, killing 50 people.AsiaEurope
26. 1969The Venera 5 space probe is launched at 06:28:08 UTC from Baikonur.Asia
27. 1970The 7.1 Mw Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.Asia
28. 1970A Spantax Convair CV-990 Coronado crashes during takeoff from Stockholm Arlanda Airport, killing five people.Europe
29. 1972US President Richard Nixon announces the Space Shuttle program.North America
30. 1975The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.Oceania
31. 1976The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Irish Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before.Europe
32. 1976The Khmer Rouge announce that the new Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea is ratified.Asia
33. 1991Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.Europe
34. 1991Somali Civil War: The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu.AfricaNorth America
35. 1993The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.Europe
36. 2003A suicide bombing at the Tel Aviv central bus station kills 23 people and injures over 100 more.Middle East
37. 2005The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by Palomar Observatory-based astronomers, later motivating the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time.North America
38. 2014A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine.Asia
39. 2022Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismisses Prime Minister Asqar Mamin and declares state of emergency over the 2022 Kazakh unrest.Asia
40. 2023The 2023 Sinaloa unrest begins.Latin America
41. 2024Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 makes an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a door plug blows off the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operating the flight. There are no fatalities, but the accident prompts the 737 MAX to be grounded and renews scrutiny on Boeing's manufacturing and design issues.North America

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