August 5

August 5 is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 148 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 642 – Battle of Maserfield – Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria.
• 910 – The last major Danish army to raid England is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward the Elder and Earl Aethelred of Mercia.
• 1100 – Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
• 1305 – William Wallace, who led the Scottish resistance against England, is captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London where he is put on trial and executed.
• 1388 – The Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England, is fought near Otterburn.
• 1583 – Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St John's, Newfoundland.
• 1600 – The Gowrie Conspiracy against King James VI of Scotland (later to become King James I of England) takes place.
• 1620 – The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America.
• 1689 – 1,500 Iroquois attack the village of Lachine in New France.
• 1716 – The Battle of Petrovaradin takes place.
• 1735 – Freedom of the press: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he had published was true.
• 1763 – Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run – British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run.
• 1772 – The First Partition of Poland begins.
• 1781 – The Battle of Dogger Bank takes place.
• 1858 – Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It will operate for less than a month.
• 1860 – Charles XV of Sweden of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway in Trondheim.
• 1861 – American Civil War: in order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
• 1861 – The United States Army abolishes flogging.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge – along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.
• 1864 – American Civil War: the Battle of Mobile Bay begins – at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: the Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
• 1874 – Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled after a similar system in the United Kingdom.
• 1882 – The Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
• 1884 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.
• 1888 – Bertha Benz drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in the first long distance automobile trip, commemorated as the Bertha Benz Memorial Route since 2008.
• 1901 – Peter O'Connor sets the first IAAF recognised long jump world record of 24ft 11¾ins. The record will stand for 20 years.
• 1914 – World War I: the German minelayer Königin Luise lays a minefield about 40 miles of the Thames Estuary (Lowestoft). She is intercepted and sunk by the British light-cruiser HMS Amphion.
• 1914 – In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
• 1925 – Plaid Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language that was at the time in danger of dying out.
• 1940 – World War II: the Soviet Union formally annexes Latvia.
• 1944 – World War II: possibly the biggest prison breakout in history occurs as 545 Japanese POWs attempt to escape outside the town of Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
• 1944 – Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
• 1949 – In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6,000.
• 1949 – The Mann Gulch fire kills 13 firefighters in Montana.
• 1957 – American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.
• 1960 – Burkina Faso, then known as Upper Volta, becomes independent from France.
• 1962 – Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
• 1963 – The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
• 1964 – Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow – American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes against U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• 1969 – Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).
• 1974 – Vietnam War: the U.S. Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on military aid to South Vietnam.
• 1979 – In Afghanistan, Maoists undertake an attempted military uprising.
• 1981 – Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
• 1989 – General elections are held in Nicaragua with the Sandinista Front winning a majority.
• 1995 – The city of Knin, a significant Serb stronghold, is captured by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated in Croatia as Victory Day.
• 2003 – A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.

Births

• 1301 – Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician (d. 1330)
• 1461 – Alexander Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland (d. 1506)
• 1623 – Antonio Cesti, Italian composer (d. 1669)
• 1641 – John Hathorne, American magistrate (d. 1717)
• 1662 – James Anderson, Scottish historian (d. 1728)
• 1694 – Leonardo Leo, Italian composer (d. 1744)
• 1802 – Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician (d. 1829)
• 1811 – Ambroise Thomas, French opera composer (d. 1896)
• 1813 – Ivar Aasen, Norwegian poet and language reformer (d. 1896)
• 1815 – Edward John Eyre, English explorer (d. 1901)
• 1827 – Deodoro da Fonseca, first President of Brazil (d. 1892)
• 1828 – Louise of the Netherlands, Dutch-born queen consort of Sweden and Norway, wife of Charles XV of Sweden (d. 1871)
• 1833 – Carola of Vasa, Austrian-born Queen consort of Saxony, wife of King Albert of Saxony (d. 1907)
• 1850 – Guy de Maupassant, French writer (d. 1893)
• 1862 – Joseph Merrick, Englishman known as the "Elephant Man" (d. 1890)
• 1866 – Carl Harries, German chemist (d. 1923)
• 1866 – Harry Trott, Australian cricketer (d. 1917)
• 1872 – Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician (d. 1917)
• 1877 – Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (d. 1917)
• 1887 – Reginald Owen, English actor (d. 1972)
• 1888 – Victor Francen, Belgian-born French-American actor (d. 1977)
• 1889 – Conrad Aiken, American writer (d. 1973)
• 1890 – Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor (d. 1956)
• 1890 – Naum Gabo, Russian sculptor (d. 1977)
• 1897 – Aksel Larsen, Danish politician (d. 1972)
• 1901 – Claude Autant-Lara, French film director (d. 2000)
• 1906 – John Huston, American director (d. 1987)
• 1906 – Wassily Leontief, Russian economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1999)
• 1906 – Joan Hickson, English actress (d. 1998)
• 1908 – Harold Holt, 17th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
• 1910 – Bruno Coquatrix, French songwriter and music impresario (d. 1979)
• 1911 – Robert Taylor, American actor (d. 1969)
• 1912 – Abbé Pierre, French Catholic priest (d. 2007)
• 1914 – David Brian, American actor (d. 1993)
• 1918 – Tom Drake, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1918 – Betty Oliphant, Canadian ballerina (d. 2004)
• 1922 – L. Tom Perry, American LDS apostle
• 1923 – Devan Nair, 3rd President of Singapore (d. 2005)
• 1930 – Neil Armstrong, American astronaut, the first man on the Moon
• 1930 – Michal Kováč, 1st President of Slovakia
• 1934 – Wendell Berry, American poet, writer and farmer
• 1934 – Karl Johan Åström, Control engineer and theorist
• 1935 – John Saxon, American actor
• 1937 – Herb Brooks, American ice hockey coach (d. 2003)
• 1939 – Princess Irene of the Netherlands
• 1941 – Bob Clark, American film director (d. 2007)
• 1943 – Nelson Briles, American baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1943 – Sammi Smith, American country singer and songwriter (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Loni Anderson, American actress
• 1946 – Bruce Coslet, American football player and coach
• 1946 – Ron Silliman, American poet
• 1946 – Erika Slezak, American actress
• 1947 – Angry Anderson, Australian entertainer (Rose Tattoo)
• 1947 – Bernie Carbo, American baseball player
• 1947 – Rick Derringer, American guitarist and vocalist
• 1948 – Carole Laure, French-Canadian actress
• 1948 – Ray Clemence, English footballer
• 1951 – John Jarratt, Australian actor
• 1952 – Louis Walsh, Irish nusic manager and talent show judge (X Factor)
• 1953 – Rick Mahler, American baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1953 – Samantha Sang, Australian singer
• 1956 – Jerry Ciccoritti, Canadian film director
• 1956 – Fred Ottman ("Tugboat", "Typhoon"), American wrestler
• 1956 – Maureen McCormick, American actress
• 1957 – Faith Prince, American actress
• 1957 – Clayton Rohner, American actor
• 1959 – Pete Burns, English singer (Dead or Alive)
• 1959 – Pat Smear, American guitarist (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)
• 1960 – Seth Swirsky, American songwriter
• 1961 – Tawny Kitaen, American actress
• 1961 – Mark O'Connor, American violinist
• 1961 – Athula Samarasekera, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1962 – Patrick Ewing, American basketball player
• 1962 – Richard de Groen, New Zealand cricketer
• 1962 – Otis Thorpe, American basketball player
• 1964 – Adam Yauch (MCA), American rapper (Beastie Boys)
• 1965 – Motoi Sakuraba, Japanese composer
• 1965 – Scott William Winters, American actor
• 1966 – Jonathan Silverman, American actor
• 1967 – Matthew Caws, American singer (Nada Surf)
• 1968 – Terri Clark, Canadian country singer
• 1968 – Funkmaster Flex, American hip hop DJ
• 1968 – Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1968 – Oleg Luzhny, Ukrainian footballer
• 1968 – Colin McRae, Scottish rally driver (d. 2007)
• 1968 – John Olerud, American baseball player
• 1969 – Vasbert Drakes, Barbadian cricketer
• 1969 – Venkatesh Prasad, Indian cricketer
• 1969 – Paola Volpato, Chilean actress
• 1970 – James Gunn, American filmmaker
• 1971 – "Evil" Jared Hasselhoff, American bassist (The Bloodhound Gang)
• 1972 – Christian Olde Wolbers, Belgian guitarist and bassist (Fear Factory)
• 1972 – Aaqib Javed, Pakistani cricketer
• 1972 – Ikuto Hidaka, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1972 – Theodore Whitmore, Jamaican footballer
• 1973 – Sean Sherk, American mixed martial artist
• 1973 – Sanwar Hossain, Bangladeshi cricketer
• 1974 – Alvin Ceccoli, Australian soccer player
• 1974 – Manuel Greil, German footballer
• 1974 – Antoine Sibierski, French footballer
• 1975 – Antony Cotton, English actor
• 1975 – Ami Foster, American actress
• 1975 – Kajol Mukherjee, Indian actress
• 1975 – Eicca Toppinen, Finnish cellist (Apocalyptica)
• 1975 – Haim Goldenberg, Israeli-born Canadian mentalist (GoldMind)
• 1975 – Iddo Goldberg, Israeli-born British actor
• 1976 – Jeff Friesen, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1976 – Kwon Sang-woo, South Korean actor
• 1976 – Marian Pahars, Latvian footballer
• 1977 – Eric Hinske, American baseball player
• 1977 – Michael Walsh, English footballer
• 1977 – Mark Mulder, American baseball player
• 1978 – Kim Gevaert, Belgian sprinter
• 1978 – Nektaria Karantzi, Greek singer
• 1979 – David Healy, Northern Irish footballer
• 1980 – Kaylani Lei, Singaporean-born American pornographic actress
• 1980 – Wayne Bridge, English footballer
• 1980 – Jason Čulina, Australian soccer player
• 1980 – Ali Umar, Maldivian footballer
• 1980 – Sophie Winkleman, English actress
• 1980 – Vatsal Seth, Indian actor
• 1981 – Carl Crawford, American baseball player
• 1981 – David Clarke, British ice hockey player
• 1981 – Rachel Scott, American murder victim (d. 1999)
• 1981 – Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer
• 1981 – Erik Guay, Canadian alpine skier
• 1981 – Cory Williams, American internet celebrity
• 1981 – Alester Maregwede, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1981 – Genelia D'Souza, Indian actress
• 1982 – Jamie Houston, English-born German rugby player
• 1982 – LoLo Jones, American track and field athlete
• 1982 – Ryu Seung Min, Korean table tennis player
• 1982 – Tobias Regner, German singer
• 1982 – Pete Sell, American mixed martial artist
• 1983 – Korey Hall, American football player
• 1983 – Dawn Richard, American singer (Danity Kane, Dirty Money)
• 1985 – Laurent Ciman, Belgian footballer
• 1985 – Salomon Kalou, Ivorian footballer
• 1985 – Megan Joy Corkrey, American singer
• 1986 – Paula Creamer, American golfer
• 1987 – Lexi Belle, American pornographic actress
• 1988 – Federica Pellegrini, Italian swimmer
• 1993 – Suzuka Ohgo, Japanese actress
• 2000 – Maya Bond, Japanese-born American singer-songwriter and drummer

Deaths

• 882 – King Louis III of France (b. 863)
• 1063 – Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd (b. 1007)
• 1364 – Emperor Kogon of Japan (b. 1313)
• 1572 – Isaac Luria, Palestinian Kabbalist (b. 1534)
• 1579 – Stanislaus Hosius, Polish Catholic cardinal (b. 1504)
• 1610 – Alonso García de Ramón, Spanish soldier and twice Royal Governor of Chile (b. 1552)
• 1633 – Archbishop George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1562)
• 1678 – Juan García de Zéspedes, Mexican viol player, tenor and composer (b. 1619)
• 1743 – John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, English statesman and writer (b. 1696)
• 1778 – Charles Clémencet, French historian (b. 1703)
• 1792 – Frederick North, Lord North, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1732)
• 1799 – Richard Howe, British admiral (b. 1726)
• 1868 – Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, French archaeologist (b. 1788)
• 1877 – Gustavus, Crown Prince of Sweden (b. 1799)
• 1880 – Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra, Austrian physician (b. 1816)
• 1895 – Friedrich Engels, German philosopher (b. 1820)
• 1901 – Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain and German Empress (b. 1840)
• 1911 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player (b. 1864)
• 1923 – Vatroslav Jagić, Croatian Slavist (b. 1835)
• 1925 – Jennie Lee, American actress (b. 1848)
• 1929 – Millicent Fawcett, British suffragist (b. 1847)
• 1944 – Maurice Turnbull, English cricketer (b. 1906)
• 1946 – Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1863)
• 1952 – Sameera Moussa, Egyptian nuclear scientist (b. 1917)
• 1955 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese actress and singer (b. 1909)
• 1957 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1877)
• 1959 – Edgar Guest, English poet (b. 1881)
• 1960 – Arthur Meighen, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1874)
• 1962 – Marilyn Monroe, American actress (b. 1926)
• 1963 – Salvador Bacarisse, Spanish composer (b. 1898)
• 1964 – Art Ross, Canadian hockey player and executive (b. 1886)
• 1968 – Luther Perkins American guitarist (b. 1928)
• 1972 – Harry Hylton-Foster, Speaker of the British House of Commons (b. 1905)
• 1978 – Jesse Haines, American baseball player (b. 1893)
• 1980 – Harold L. Runnels, American politician (b. 1924)
• 1983 – Judy Canova, American actress (b. 1913)
• 1984 – Richard Burton, Welsh actor (b. 1925)
• 1987 – Georg Gaßmann, German politician (b. 1910)
• 1991 – Paul Brown, American football coach (b. 1908)
• 1991 – Soichiro Honda, Japanese automotive executive (b. 1906)
• 1992 – Jeff Porcaro, American drummer (Toto) (b. 1954)
• 1994 – Menachem Avidom, Israeli composer (b. 1908)
• 1994 – Alain de Changy, Belgian racing driver (b. 1922)
• 1998 – Otto Kretschmer, German U-boat commander (b. 1912)
• 1998 – Todor Zhivkov, Bulgarian dictator (b. 1911)
• 2000 – Sir Alec Guinness, British actor (b. 1914)
• 2000 – Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-born Brazilian writer and ecological activist (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Tullio Crali, Italian artist associated with Futurism (b. 1910)
• 2001 – Otema Allimadi, Prime Minister of Uganda (b. 1929)
• 2002 – Josh Ryan Evans, American actor (b. 1982)
• 2002 – Chick Hearn, American basketball announcer (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Franco Lucentini, Italian writer (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Matt Robinson, American actor (b. 1937)
• 2005 – Polina Astakhova, Russian gymnast (b. 1936)
• 2005 – Jim O'Hora, American football coach (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Raul Roco, Philippine senator (b. 1941)
• 2006 – Susan Butcher, American sled dog champion (b. 1954)
• 2007 – Florian Pittiș, Romanian actor, singer and producer (b. 1943)
• 2007 – Jean-Marie Lustiger, French Catholic Cardinal (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Reg Lindsay, Australian country and western singer-songwriter (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Neil Bartlett, English chemist, produced xenon hexafluoroplatinate (b. Sept. 15, 1932)
• 2009 – Budd Schulberg, American screenwriter and novelist (b. 1914)

Holidays and observances

• Barsi Bhagat Puran Singh (Sikhism)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abel of Reims
  • Addai
  • Afra
  • Cassian of Autun
  • Dedication of Saint Mary Major (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Emygdius
  • Memnius
  • Oswald of Northumbria
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Burkina Faso from France in 1960.
• The beginning of Bogotá's Carnival (Bogotá)
• Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian defenders (Croatia)
• International Beer Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada