What happened on August 5? There are more than 313 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 August 5
August 5 is the 218th day of the year 2024. There are 148 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday. This day falls under the 32nd week of the year 2024.
On this day in Tomball, Texas 77377 sunrise occured at 06:42 AM and sunset occured at 08:12 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Leo. The modern birthstone for this month is Peridot while the mystical birthstone is Diamond.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 177 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Did you know that coffee and word games are an excellent combination to sharpen your vocabulary? Try this! Within 30 seconds, how many words can you think of from these letters MUEOKQEMCUFR? Check your answers here: Word scramble MUEOKQEMCUFR. (Sponsored by WordFinder.Cafe)
Historical Events For August 5
- 642Battle of Maserfield – Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria.
- 910The 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.
- 1071Byzantine–Norman wars: Italo-Normans begin a nearly-three-year siege of Bari.
- 1100Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
- 1305William 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.
- 1388The Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England, is fought near Otterburn.
- 1583Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St John’s, Newfoundland.
- 1600The Gowrie Conspiracy against King James VI of Scotland (later to become King James I of England) takes place.
- 1620The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America.
- 16891,500 Iroquois attack the village of Lachine in New France.
- 1716The Battle of Petrovaradin takes place.
- 1735Freedom 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.
- 1763Pontiac’s War: Battle of Bushy Run – British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac’s Indians at Bushy Run.
- 1772The First Partition of Poland begins.
- 1781The Battle of Dogger Bank takes place.
- 1824Greek War of Independence: Constantine Kanaris leads a Greek fleet to victory against Ottoman and Egyptian ships in the Battle of Samos.
- 1858Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It will operate for less than a month.
- 1860Charles XV of Sweden of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway in Trondheim.
- 1861American 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).
- 1861The United States Army abolishes flogging.
- 1862American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge – along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.
- 1864American 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.
- 1870Franco-Prussian War: the Battle of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
- 1874Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled after a similar system in the United Kingdom.
- 1882The Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
- 1884The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.
- 1888Bertha Benz drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in the first long distance automobile trip, commemorated as the Bertha Benz Memorial Route since 2008.
- 1901Peter O'Connor sets the first IAAF recognised long jump world record of 24 ft The record will stand for 20 years.
- 1906Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, King of Iran, agrees to convert the government to a constitutional monarchy.
- 1914In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
- 1914World War I: the German minelayer Königin Luise lays a minefield about 40 mi of the Thames Estuary (Lowestoft). She is intercepted and sunk by the British light-cruiser HMS Amphion.
- 1916World War I: Battle of Romani – Allied forces, under the command of Archibald Murray, defeat an attacking Ottoman army under the command of Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein, securing the Suez Canal and beginning the Ottoman retreat from the Sinai Peninsula.
- 1925Plaid Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language that is at the time in danger of dying out.
- 1940World War II: the Soviet Union formally annexes Latvia.
- 1944World War II: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
- 1944World War II: The Nazis begin a three-day massacre of anywhere between 40,000 and 100,000 civilians and prisoners of war in Wola, Poland.
- 1944World 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.
- 1949In Ecuador, an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6,000.
- 1949The Mann Gulch fire kills 13 firefighters in Montana.
- 1957American 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.
- 1960Burkina Faso, then known as Upper Volta, becomes independent from France.
- 1962Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
- 1963The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
- 1964Vietnam 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.
- 1965The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 begins as Pakistani soldiers cross the Line of Control dressed as locals.
- 1969Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).
- 1971The first Pacific Islands Forum (then known as the “South Pacific Forum”) is held in Wellington, New Zealand, with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean.
- 1974Vietnam War: the U.S. Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on military aid to South Vietnam.
- 1979In Afghanistan, Maoists undertake an attempted military uprising.
- 1981Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
- 1989General elections are held in Nicaragua with the Sandinista Front winning a majority.
- 1995The city of Knin, a significant Serb stronghold, is captured by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated in Croatia as Victory Day.
- 2003A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.
- 20102010 Copiapó mining accident occurs, trapping 33 Chilean miners approximately 2,300 ft below the ground.
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the November 24 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Who Were Born On August 5?
- 1301Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician (d. 1330)
- 1397Guillaume Dufay, Franco-Flemish composer and theorist (d. 1474)
- 1461King Alexander Jagiellon of Poland (d. 1506)
- 1540Joseph Justus Scaliger, French philologist and historian (d. 1609)
- 1623Antonio Cesti, Italian composer (d. 1669)
- 1641John Hathorne, American magistrate (d. 1717)
- 1662James Anderson, Scottish historian (d. 1728)
- 1694Leonardo Leo, Italian composer (d. 1744)
- 1749Thomas Lynch, Jr., American congressman (d. 1779)
- 1797Friedrich August Kummer, German composer (d. 1879)
- 1802Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician (d. 1829)
- 1811Ambroise Thomas, French opera composer (d. 1896)
- 1813Ivar Aasen, Norwegian poet and linguist (d. 1896)
- 1815Edward John Eyre, English explorer (d. 1901)
- 1827Deodoro da Fonseca, Brazilian statesman (d. 1892)
- 1828Queen Louise of the Netherlands, Dutch consort of Charles XV of Sweden (d. 1871)
- 1833Queen Carola of Vasa, Austrian consort of Albert of Saxony (d. 1907)
- 1843James Scott Skinner, Scottish composer (d. 1927)
- 1844Ilya Yefimovich Repin, Russian painter and sculptor (d. 1930)
- 1850Guy de Maupassant, French writer (d. 1893)
- 1862Joseph Merrick, English sideshow performer (d. 1890)
- 1866Carl Harries, German chemist (d. 1923)
- 1866Harry Trott, Australian cricketer (d. 1917)
- 1868Oskar Merikanto, Finnish composer (d. 1924)
- 1872Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician (d. 1917)
- 1874Wesley Clair Mitchell, American economist (d. 1948)
- 1876Mary Ritter Beard, American historian (d. 1958)
- 1877Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (d. 1917)
- 1880Gertrude Rush, African-American lawyer (d. 1962)
- 1887Reginald Owen, English actor (d. 1972)
- 1888Victor Francen, Belgian-born French actor (d. 1977)
- 1889Conrad Aiken, American writer (d. 1973)
- 1890Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor (d. 1956)
- 1890Naum Gabo, Russian sculptor (d. 1977)
- 1897Aksel Larsen, Danish politician (d. 1972)
- 1901Claude Autant-Lara, French film director (d. 2000)
- 1904Kenneth Vivian Thimann, English-born American botanist and microbiologist (d. 1997)
- 1906Joan Hickson, English actress (d. 1998)
- 1906John Huston, American director (d. 1987)
- 1906Wassily Leontief, Russian economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1999)
- 1908Harold Holt, 17th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
- 1910Bruno Coquatrix, French songwriter and music impresario (d. 1979)
- 1911Robert Taylor, American actor (d. 1969)
- 1912Abbé Pierre, French Catholic priest (d. 2007)
- 1914David Brian, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1914Parley Baer, American actor d, 2002
- 1914Stjepan Šulek, Croatian composer and conductor(d. 1986)
- 1918Betty Oliphant, Canadian ballerina (d. 2004)
- 1918Tom Drake, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1920Selma Diamond, Canadian-born American actress (d. 1985)
- 1922L. Tom Perry, American religious figure
- 1923Devan Nair, Singaporean statesman (d. 2005)
- 1926Betsy Jolas, French composer
- 1927Gunnar Bucht, Swedish composer and musicologist
- 1929Ottó Boros, Hungarian water polo player (d. 1988)
- 1930Michal Kováč, Slovakian politician
- 1930Neil Armstrong, American astronaut
- 1932Tera de Marez Oyens, Dutch composer (d. 1996)
- 1934Gay Byrne, Irish broadcaster
- 1934Karl Johan Åström, Control engineer and theorist
- 1934Vern Gosdin, American country music singer (d. 2009)
- 1934Wendell Berry, American poet, writer and farmer
- 1935John Saxon, American actor
- 1937Brian G. Marsden, British astronomer (d. 2010)
- 1937Herb Brooks, American ice hockey coach (d. 2003)
- 1939Princess Irene of the Netherlands
- 1940Roman Gabriel, American football player
- 1941Airto Moreira, Brazilian percussionist
- 1941Bob Clark, American film director (d. 2007)
- 1941Leonid Kizim, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2010)
- 1943Nelson Briles, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1943Sammi Smith, American country singer and songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1945Csaba Giczy, Hungarian sprint canoer
- 1946Bruce Coslet, American football player and coach
- 1946Erika Slezak, American actress
- 1946Loni Anderson, American actress
- 1946Rick van der Linden, Dutch composer and keyboardist
- 1946Ron Silliman, American poet
- 1947Angry Anderson, Australian entertainer (Rose Tattoo)
- 1947Bernie Carbo, American baseball player
- 1947Rick Derringer, American guitarist and vocalist
- 1948Carole Laure, French-Canadian actress
- 1948Ray Clemence, English footballer
- 1951John Jarratt, Australian actor
- 1952Louis Walsh, Irish music manager
- 1952Tamás Faragó, Hungarian water polo player
- 1953Rick Mahler, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1953Samantha Sang, Australian singer
- 1955Eddie Ojeda, guitarist for Twisted Sister
- 1956Jerry Ciccoritti, Canadian film director
- 1956Maureen McCormick, American actress
- 1957Clayton Rohner, American actor
- 1957David Gill, chief executive of Manchester United
- 1957Faith Prince, American actress
- 1959Pat Smear, American guitarist (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)
- 1959Pete Burns, English singer (Dead or Alive)
- 1960Seth Swirsky, American songwriter
- 1961Athula Samarasekera, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1961Mark O'Connor, American violinist
- 1961Tawny Kitaen, American actress
- 1962Otis Thorpe, American basketball player
- 1962Patrick Ewing, Jamacian-born American basketball player
- 1962Richard de Groen, New Zealand cricketer
- 1964Adam Yauch, American rapper (Beastie Boys)
- 1965Jeff Coffin, American jazz and alternative rock musician
- 1965Motoi Sakuraba, Japanese composer
- 1965Scott William Winters, American actor
- 1966Jennifer Finch, American photographer and musician
- 1966Jonathan Silverman, American actor
- 1967Matthew Caws, American singer (Nada Surf)
- 1967Thomas Lang, Austrian drummer
- 1968Colin McRae, Scottish rally driver (d. 2007)
- 1968Funkmaster Flex, American hip hop DJ
- 1968John Olerud, American baseball player
- 1968Marine Le Pen, French politician
- 1968Oleg Luzhny, Ukrainian footballer
- 1968Terri Clark, Canadian country singer
- 1968Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1969Paola Volpato, Chilean actress
- 1969Robert Scott, Australian rower
- 1969Vasbert Drakes, Barbadian cricketer
- 1969Venkatesh Prasad, Indian cricketer
- 1970James Gunn, American filmmaker
- 1971“Evil” Jared Hasselhoff, American bassist (The Bloodhound Gang)
- 1972Aaqib Javed, Pakistani cricketer
- 1972Christian Olde Wolbers, Belgian guitarist and bassist (Fear Factory)
- 1972Ikuto Hidaka, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1972Theodore Whitmore, Jamaican footballer
- 1973Sanwar Hossain, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1973Sean Sherk, American mixed martial artist
- 1974Alvin Ceccoli, Australian soccer player
- 1974Antoine Sibierski, French footballer
- 1974Olle Kullinger, Swedish footballer
- 1975Ami Foster, American actress
- 1975Antony Cotton, English actor
- 1975Dan Hipgrave, British musician, freelance journalist, and businessman
- 1975Eicca Toppinen, Finnish cellist (Apocalyptica)
- 1975Haim Goldenberg, Israeli/Canadian mentalist (GoldMind)
- 1975Iddo Goldberg, Israeli/British actor
- 1975Kajol Mukherjee, Indian actress
- 1976Jeff Friesen, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976Kwon Sang-woo, South Korean actor
- 1976Marian Pahars, Latvian footballer
- 1977Eric Hinske, American baseball player
- 1977Mark Mulder, American baseball player
- 1977Michael Walsh, English footballer
- 1978Kim Gevaert, Belgian sprinter
- 1978Nektaria Karantzi, Greek singer
- 1978Rita Faltoyano, Hungarian pornographic actress
- 1979David Healy, Northern Irish footballer
- 1980Ali Umar, Maldivian footballer
- 1980Jason Čulina, Australian footballer
- 1980Kaylani Lei, Singaporean/American pornographic actress
- 1980Salvador Cabañas, Paraguayan footballer
- 1980Sophie Winkleman, English actress
- 1980Vatsal Seth, Indian actor
- 1980Wayne Bridge, English footballer
- 1981Alester Maregwede, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1981Carl Crawford, American baseball player
- 1981Cory Williams, American internet celebrity
- 1981David Clarke, British ice hockey player
- 1981Erik Guay, Canadian alpine skier
- 1981Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer
- 1981Rachel Scott, American murder victim (d. 1999)
- 1981Zion, Puerto Rican singer
- 1982Jamie Houston, English/German rugby player
- 1982LoLo Jones, American track and field athlete
- 1982Michele Pazienza, Italian footballer
- 1982Pete Sell, American mixed martial artist
- 1982Ryu Seung Min, Korean table tennis player
- 1982Tobias Regner, German singer
- 1983Dawn Richard, American singer (Danity Kane, Dirty Money)
- 1983Korey Hall, American football player
- 1985Laurent Ciman, Belgian footballer
- 1985Megan Joy Corkrey, American singer
- 1985Salomon Kalou, Ivorian footballer
- 1986Cassie Davis, Australian singer
- 1986Paula Creamer, American golfer
- 1987Genelia D'Souza, Indian actress
- 1987Lexi Belle, American pornographic actress
- 1987Xenia Tchoumitcheva, Swiss model
- 1988Federica Pellegrini, Italian swimmer
- 1988Shazza McKenzie, American wrestler
- 1989Mathieu Manset, French footballer
- 1993Suzuka Ohgo, Japanese actress
- 1997Adam Irigoyen, American actor
- 2000Maya Bond, Japanese/American singer-songwriter and drummer
Are you looking for a day of the week calculator? Try it on any date like anniversaries, birthday of someone you know, or any other date that is special to you. You can even try it on historical dates. For example: November 24
(Sponsored by DayOfTheWeek.org)
Who Died On August 5?
- 882King Louis III of France (b. 863)
- 1063Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd (b. 1007)
- 1364Emperor Kōgon of Japan (b. 1313)
- 1572Isaac Luria, Palestinian Kabbalist (b. 1534)
- 1579Stanislaus Hosius, Polish Catholic cardinal (b. 1504)
- 1610Alonso García de Ramón, Spanish soldier and twice Royal Governor of Chile (b. 1552)
- 1633George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1562)
- 1678Juan García de Zéspedes, Mexican viol player, tenor and composer (b. 1619)
- 1729Thomas Newcomen, English engineer (b. 1664)
- 1743John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, English statesman and writer (b. 1696)
- 1778Charles Clémencet, French historian (b. 1703)
- 1792Frederick North, Lord North, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1732)
- 1799Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, Royal Navy admiral of the fleet (b. 1726)
- 1868Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, French archaeologist (b. 1788)
- 1877Gustavus, Crown Prince of Sweden (b. 1799)
- 1880Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra, Austrian physician (b. 1816)
- 1888Anna Bates, known for giving the heaviest birth ever (b. 1846)
- 1895Friedrich Engels, German philosopher (b. 1820)
- 1901Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain and German Empress (b. 1840)
- 1911Bob Caruthers, American baseball player (b. 1864)
- 1921Dimitrios Rallis, Greek politician, five times Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1844)
- 1923Vatroslav Jagić, Croatian Slavist (b. 1835)
- 1925Jennie Lee, American actress (b. 1848)
- 1929Millicent Fawcett, British suffragist (b. 1847)
- 1935David Townsend, Art Director (b. 1891)
- 1939Béla Jankovich, Hungarian politician (b. 1865)
- 1944Maurice Turnbull, English cricketer (b. 1906)
- 1946Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1863)
- 1952Sameera Moussa, Egyptian nuclear scientist (b. 1917)
- 1955Carmen Miranda, Portuguese actress and singer (b. 1909)
- 1957Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1877)
- 1959Edgar Guest, English poet (b. 1881)
- 1960Arthur Meighen, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1874)
- 1962Marilyn Monroe, American actress (b. 1926)
- 1963Salvador Bacarisse, Spanish composer (b. 1898)
- 1964Art Ross, Canadian hockey player and executive (b. 1886)
- 1967György Bródy, Hungarian water polo player (b. 1908)
- 1968Luther Perkins American guitarist (b. 1928)
- 1972Harry Hylton-Foster, Speaker of the British House of Commons (b. 1905)
- 1978Jesse Haines, American baseball player (b. 1893)
- 1980Harold L. Runnels, American politician (b. 1924)
- 1983Joan Violet Robinson, English economist (b. 1903)
- 1983Judy Canova, American actress (b. 1913)
- 1984Richard Burton, Welsh actor (b. 1925)
- 1987Georg Gaßmann, German politician (b. 1910)
- 1991Paul Brown, American football coach (b. 1908)
- 1991Soichiro Honda, Japanese automotive executive (b. 1906)
- 1992Jeff Porcaro, American drummer (Toto) (b. 1954)
- 1994Alain de Changy, Belgian racing driver (b. 1922)
- 1994Menachem Avidom, Israeli composer (b. 1908)
- 1998Otto Kretschmer, German U-boat commander (b. 1912)
- 1998Todor Zhivkov, Bulgarian dictator (b. 1911)
- 2000Alec Guinness, British actor (b. 1914)
- 2000Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-born Brazilian writer and ecological activist (b. 1920)
- 2000Tullio Crali, Italian artist associated with Futurism (b. 1910)
- 2001Christopher Skase, Australian fugitive businessman (b. 1948)
- 2001Otema Allimadi, Prime Minister of Uganda (b. 1929)
- 2002Chick Hearn, American basketball announcer (b. 1916)
- 2002Franco Lucentini, Italian writer (b. 1920)
- 2002Josh Ryan Evans, American actor (b. 1982)
- 2002Matt Robinson, American actor (b. 1937)
- 2005Jim O'Hora, American football coach (b. 1915)
- 2005Polina Astakhova, Russian gymnast (b. 1936)
- 2005Raul Roco, Philippine senator (b. 1941)
- 2006Susan Butcher, American sled dog champion (b. 1954)
- 2007Florian Pittiş, Romanian actor, singer and producer (b. 1943)
- 2007Jean-Marie Lustiger, French Catholic Cardinal (b. 1926)
- 2008Neil Bartlett, English chemist, produced xenon hexafluoroplatinate (b. 1932)
- 2008Reg Lindsay, Australian country and western singer-songwriter (b. 1929)
- 2009Budd Schulberg, American screenwriter and novelist (b. 1914)
- 2011Andrzej Lepper, former Polish Deputy Prime Minister (b. 1954)
- 2011Aziz Shavershian, Australian body-builder (b. 1989)
What no one tells you about your first name’s personality. Are there magical powers hidden in your given name? Check out Serenity’s personality and get smart about names today. (Sponsored links)