What happened on December 5? There are more than 296 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About December 5
December 5 is the 340th day of the year 2024. There are 26 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday. This day falls under the 49th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Hamersville, Ohio 45130 sunrise will occur at 07:38 AM and sunset will occur at 05:15 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Sagittarius. The modern birthstone for this month is Turquoise while the mystical birthstone is Onyx.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 55 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 22 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For December 5
- 63 BCCicero gave the fourth and final Catiline Orations.
- 663Fourth Council of Toledo takes place.
- 771Charlemagne becomes the sole King of the Franks after the death of his brother Carloman.
- 1082Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated.
- 1408Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow.
- 1484Pope 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 most oppressive witch hunts in European history.
- 1492Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola, now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
- 1496King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree of expulsion of “heretics” from the country.
- 1590Niccolò Sfondrati becomes Pope Gregory XIV.
- 1746Revolt in Genoa against Spanish rule.
- 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.
- 1766In London, James Christie holds his first sale.
- 1775At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1776At The College of William and Mary, Phi Beta Kappa is founded and becomes the first American college fraternity.
- 1815Foundation of Maceió in Brazil.
- 1831Former US President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
- 1847Jefferson Davis is elected to the US senate, his first political post.
- 1848California 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.
- 1865Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.
- 1876Brooklyn Theater Fire kills at least 278 people in Brooklyn, NY.
- 1914The Italian Parliament proclaims the neutrality of the country.
- 1920Dimitrios Rallis forms a government in Greece.
- 1932German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
- 1933Prohibition in the United States 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 made the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol illegal in the United States).
- 1934Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.
- 1936The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.
- 1941World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.
- 1941World War II: In the Battle of Moscow Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army, with the biggest offensive launched against Army Group Centre.
- 1943World War II: U.S. Army Air Force begins attacking Germany’s secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.
- 1944World War II: Allied troops occupy Ravenna.
- 1945Flight 19 is lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
- 1952Great 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.
- 1955E.D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- 1955The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL-CIO.
- 1957Sukarno expels all Dutch people from Indonesia.
- 1958Subscriber 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.
- 1958The Preston bypass, the UK’s first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.
- 1964Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
- 1974In American football, the Birmingham Americans would win what would eventually be the only World Bowl in World Football League history.
- 1976The United Nations General Assembly adopts Pakistan’s resolution on security of non-Nuclear States.
- 1977Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.
- 1978The Soviet Union signs a “friendship treaty” with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
- 1979Sonia 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.
- 1983Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.
- 1983ICIMOD is established and inaugurated with its headquarters in Kathmandu, Nepal, and legitimised through an Act of Parliament in Nepal in the same year.
- 1993The mayor of Wien (Vienna), Helmut Zilk, is wounded by a letter bomb.
- 1995The Sri Lankan government announces the conquest of Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.
- 2005The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.
- 2005The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- 2006Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.
- 2007Westroads Mall massacre: A gunman opens fire with a semi-automatic rifle at an Omaha, Nebraska mall, killing eight people before taking his own life.
Who Were Born On December 5?
- 1377Jianwen Emperor of China (d. 1402)
- 1443Pope Julius II (d. 1513)
- 1495Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish grammarian (d. 1542)
- 1537Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shogun (d. 1597)
- 1539Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian (d. 1604)
- 1547Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625)
- 1595Henry Lawes, English composer (d. 1662)
- 1661Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, English statesman (d. 1724)
- 1687Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
- 1782Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862)
- 1803Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev, Russian poet (d. 1873)
- 1820Afanasy Fet, Russian poet (d. 1892)
- 1822Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American college president (d. 1907)
- 1829Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French Canadian politician (d. 1908)
- 1830Christina Rossetti, English poet (d. 1894)
- 1839George Armstrong Custer, American general (d. 1876)
- 1841Marcus Daly, American mining tycoon (d. 1900)
- 1855Clinton Hart Merriam, American ornithologist (d. 1942)
- 1859John Jellicoe, British admiral (d. 1935)
- 1863Paul Painlevé, French mathematician and Prime Minister (d. 1933)
- 1867Antti Aarne, Finnish folklorist (d. 1925)
- 1867Józef Piłsudski, Polish revolutionary and statesman (d. 1935)
- 1868Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (d. 1951)
- 1869Ellis Parker Butler, American author (d. 1937)
- 1870Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer (d. 1949)
- 1871Bill Pickett, American rodeo performer (d. 1932)
- 1872Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (d. 1906)
- 1875Sir Arthur Currie, Canadian soldier (d. 1933)
- 1879Clyde Cessna, American airplane manufacturer (d. 1954)
- 1881René Cresté, French actor (d. 1922)
- 1886Pieter Oud, Dutch politician (d. 1968)
- 1886Rose Wilder Lane, American writer and reporter, daughter of ‘Little House’books writer Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1968)
- 1890David Bomberg, English painter (d. 1957)
- 1890Fritz Lang, Austrian-born film director (d. 1976)
- 1892Ferdinand Schörner, German field marshal (d. 1973)
- 1894Charles Robberts Swart, South African politician (d. 1982)
- 1895Elbert Frank Cox, American mathematician (d. 1969)
- 1896Carl Ferdinand Cori, Austrian-born biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1984)
- 1897Gershom Scholem, German-born Israeli Jewish philosopher and historian (d. 1982)
- 1897Nunnally Johnson, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1977)
- 1898Grace Moore, American soprano (d. 1947)
- 1898Josh Malihabadi, Urdu poet of India and Pakistan (d. 1982)
- 1899Aleck “Rice” Miller, American blues musician (d. 1965)
- 1901Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist (d. 1980)
- 1901Walt Disney, American animated film producer (d. 1966)
- 1901Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1976)
- 1902Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer (d. 1988)
- 1902Strom Thurmond, American politician (d. 2003)
- 1903Cecil Frank Powell, English physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1969)
- 1903Johannes Heesters, Dutch singer and actor (d. 2011)
- 1905Gus Mancuso, American baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1906Otto Preminger, Austrian-born film director, producer, and actor (d. 1986)
- 1907Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian physicist (d. 1993)
- 1907Lin Biao, Chinese Communist military leader (d. 1971)
- 1909Musashiyama Takeshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 33rd Yokozuna (d. 1969)
- 1910Abraham Polonsky, American screenwriter (d. 1999)
- 1911Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist (d. 2000)
- 1914Hans Hellmut Kirst, German author (d. 1989)
- 1916Hilary Koprowski, Polish virologist and immunologist
- 1917Ken Downing, English racing driver (d. 2004)
- 1917Wenche Foss, Norwegian actress
- 1921Alvy Moore, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1925Anastasio Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua (d. 1980)
- 1927Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand
- 1931Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer (d. 2011)
- 1932Jim Hurtubise, American racecar driver (d. 1989)
- 1932Little Richard, American singer and pianist
- 1932Sheldon Lee Glashow, American physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1934Joan Didion, American writer
- 1934Nikos Kourkoulos, Greek actor, artistic director of the National Theatre of Greece (d. 2007)
- 1935Calvin Trillin, American writer
- 1935Yury Vlasov, Soviet weightlifter
- 1936James Lee Burke, American writer
- 1938J.D. McDuffie, American racecar driver (d. 1991)
- 1938J. J. Cale, American songwriter
- 1939Minita Chico-Nazario, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
- 1940Adrian Street, Welsh professional wrestler
- 1940Boris Ignatyev, Russian footballer and manager
- 1940Peter Pohl, Swedish writer
- 1943Eva Joly, Norwegian-born French magistrate
- 1944Jeroen Krabbé, Dutch actor
- 1944Loukas Sideras, Greek drummer (Aphrodite’s Child)
- 1945Moshe Katsav, 8th President of Israel
- 1945Serge Chapleau, French Canadian caricaturist
- 1946José Carreras, Spanish tenor
- 1946Sarel van der Merwe, South African rally driver
- 1947Bruce Golding, Jamaican politician
- 1947Jim Messina, American musician (Buffalo Springfield, Loggins and Messina)
- 1947Jim Plunkett, American football player
- 1947Tony Gregory, Irish politician
- 1949John Altman, British film composer
- 1949Ray Comfort, New Zealand evangelist
- 1950Camarón de la Isla, Spanish flamenco singer (d. 1992)
- 1950James Knaggs, American-born Salvationist
- 1950Osvaldo Golijov, Argentine-born composer
- 1951Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian artist
- 1951Morgan Brittany, American actress
- 1952Andy Kim, Canadian singer, songwriter
- 1953Larry Zbyszko, American professional wrestler
- 1954Gary Roenicke, American baseball player
- 1954Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright
- 1956Brian Backer, American actor
- 1956Klaus Allofs, German footballer
- 1956Krystian Zimerman, Polish pianist
- 1957Art Monk, American football player
- 1957Raquel Argandoña, Chilean television presenter, Miss Chile 1975
- 1958Dean Erickson, American actor
- 1958Dynamite Kid, English professional wrestler
- 1959Lee Chapman, English footballer
- 1960Frans Adelaar, Dutch football player and manager
- 1960Jack Russell, American singer (Great White)
- 1961Ralf Dujmovits, German mountaineer
- 1961Sophia Vossou, Greek singer
- 1962Fred Rutten, Dutch footballer and football-manager
- 1962José Cura, Argentine tenor
- 1962Nivek Ogre, Canadian vocalist, (Skinny Puppy)
- 1962Pablo Morales, American swimmer
- 1963Carrie Hamilton, American actress (d. 2002)
- 1963Doctor Dre, American radio personality
- 1963Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards, English ski jumper
- 1965Johnny Rzeznik, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (Goo Goo Dolls)
- 1965Wayne Smith, Jamaican reggae musician
- 1966Lee Seung-Chul, South Korean singer
- 1966Patricia Kaas, French singer
- 1967Gary Allan, American country musician
- 1967Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin, titular Bulgarian royal family
- 1968Lisa Marie, American model and actress
- 1968Lydia Millet, American writer
- 1968Margaret Cho, American comedian and actress
- 1969Alex Kapp Horner, American actress
- 1969Lewis Gordon Pugh, English swimmer, polar explorer and motivational speaker
- 1969Morgan J. Freeman, American film director
- 1970Kevin Haller, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1971Kali Rocha, American actress
- 1971Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, German politician
- 1971Kavus Torabi, Iranian-born British guitarist (The Monsoon Bassoon, Cardiacs, Guapo, Chrome Hoof)
- 1972Angela Shelton, American actress & writer
- 1972Cliff Floyd, American baseball player
- 1972Mike Mahoney, American baseball player
- 1973Arik Benado, Israeli football player
- 1973Danielle Winits, Brazilian actress
- 1973Luboš Motl, Czech physicist
- 1973Mikelangelo Loconte, Italian singer
- 1973Shalom Harlow, Canadian supermodel and actress
- 1974Charlie Batch, American football player
- 1975Paula Patton, American actress
- 1975Ronnie O'Sullivan, English snooker player
- 1976Amy Acker, American actress
- 1976Rachel Komisarz, American swimmer
- 1976Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby union footballer
- 1977Peter van der Vlag, Dutch football goalkeeper
- 1978Marcelo Zalayeta, Uruguayan footballer
- 1978Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1978Pachrapa Chaichua, Thai actress
- 1979Evonne Hsu, Taiwanese singer
- 1979Gareth McAuley, Northern Irish footballer
- 1979Matteo Ferrari, Italian footballer
- 1979Nick Stahl, American actor
- 1979Niklas Hagman, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1980Ibrahim Maalouf, Lebanese-born French trumpeter
- 1980Shizuka Ito, Japanese voice actress (seiyū)
- 1981Leila Tong, Hong Kong actress
- 1982Eddy Curry, American basketball player
- 1982Keri Hilson, American singer
- 1982Trai Essex, American football player
- 1983Cooper Cronk, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1983Tiffany Weimer, American soccer player
- 1984Chris Solinsky, American distance runner
- 1985Frankie Muniz, American actor
- 1985Josh Smith, American basketball player
- 1985Nico Verdonck, Belgian racing driver
- 1987Tommy Fraser, English footballer
- 1988Miralem Sulejmani, Serbian footballer
- 1989Gregory Tyree Boyce, American actor
- 1989Yuri (Kwon Yu-ri), South Korean singer (Girls’ Generation)
Who Died On December 5?
- 63 BCPublius Cornelius Lentulus (Sura), Roman statesman
- 1082Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona
- 1355John III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1300)
- 1560King Francis II of France (b. 1544)
- 1570Johan Friis, Danish statesman (b. 1494)
- 1624Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist (b. 1560)
- 1654Jean François Sarrazin, French writer
- 1663Severo Bonini, Italian composer (b. 1582)
- 1749Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye, French explorer and trader (b. 1685)
- 1758Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (b. 1688)
- 1770James Stirling, Scottish mathematician (b. 1692)
- 1784Phillis Wheatley, American poet (b. 1753)
- 1791Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer (b. 1756)
- 1819Count Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, German poet (b. 1750)
- 1870Alexandre Dumas, père, French writer (b. 1802)
- 1887Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (b. 1804)
- 1891Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (b. 1825)
- 1895Chief Gall, Sioux chief (b. 1840)
- 1918Schalk Willem Burger, South African politician (b. 1852)
- 1925Władysław Reymont, Polish writer and Nobel laureate (b. 1867)
- 1926Claude Monet, French impressionist painter (b. 1840)
- 1931Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
- 1940Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist (b. 1880)
- 1942Jock Delves Broughton, British noble (b. 1883)
- 1946Louis Dewis, Belgian post-impressionist painter (b. 1872)
- 1950Sri Aurobindo, Indian spiritual figure (b. 1872)
- 1951Abanindranath Tagore, Indian writer (b. 1871)
- 1951Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player (b. 1889)
- 1953Jorge Negrete, Mexican singer and actor (b. 1911)
- 1955Glenn Luther Martin, American aviation executive (b. 1886)
- 1961Emil Fuchs, German-born American attorney and baseball team owner (b. 1878)
- 1963Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Pakistani statesman (b. 1892)
- 1963Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (b. 1905)
- 1965Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1874)
- 1966Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1909)
- 1968Fred Clark, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1969Claudius Dornier, German aircraft designer (b. 1884)
- 1969Princess Alice of Battenberg (b. 1885)
- 1973Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer and inventor (b. 1892)
- 1977Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Soviet military commander (b. 1895)
- 1979Jesse Pearson, American actor (b. 1930)
- 1983Robert Aldrich, American film director (b. 1918)
- 1986Sir Edward Youde, Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1924)
- 1989Sir John Pritchard, English conductor (b. 1921)
- 1991Richard Speck, American mass murderer (b. 1941)
- 1991Robert Karvelas, American actor (b. 1921)
- 1993Doug Hopkins, American guitarist and songwriter (Gin Blossoms) (b. 1961)
- 1994Harry Horner, American art director (b. 1910)
- 1995Charles Evans, British mountaineer and surgeon (b. 1918)
- 1995Gwen Harwood, Australian poet (b. 1920)
- 1995Lisa McPherson, American Scientology victim (b. 1959)
- 1998Al Gore, Sr., American politician (b. 1907)
- 2001Franco Rasetti, Italian physicist (b. 1901)
- 2002Ne Win, Burmese leader (b. 1911)
- 2002Roone Arledge, American sports broadcaster (b. 1931)
- 2005Ed Masry, American lawyer (b. 1932)
- 2005Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (b. 1905)
- 2005Kevin McQuay, Australian businessman (b. 1949)
- 2006David Bronstein, Ukrainian-born chess grandmaster (b. 1924)
- 2007Andrew Imbrie, American composer (b. 1921)
- 2007George Paraskevaides, Greek-Cypriot businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
- 2007Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer (b. 1928)
- 2008Anca Parghel, Romanian jazz singer and composer (b. 1957)
- 2008Constantin Ticu Dumitrescu, Romanian politician (b. 1928)
- 2008Nina Foch, Dutch-born American actress (b. 1924)
- 2008Patriarch Alexy II of Russia, Russian religious figure (b. 1929)
- 2009Princess Vimolchatra of Thailand (b. 1921)
- 2010Alan Armer, American television producer and director (b. 1922)
- 2010Don Meredith, American football player and broadcaster (b. 1938)
- 2010John Leslie, American pornographic actor and filmmaker (b. 1945)
- 2011Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer (b. 1942)
- 2011Peter Gethin, British racing driver (b. 1940)
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