5 October
October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). There are 87 days remaining. It is also the most populous birthday of the year in the US statistically.
Events
- 1582 - Pope Gregory XIII announced the Gregorian calendar.
- 1793 - French revolution disestablished Christianity in France
- 1864 - Calcutta, India almost totally destroyed by a cyclone - 60,000 die
- 1877 - Chief Joseph surrenders his Nez Perce band to General Nelson A. Miles
- 1908 - Bulgaria declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire - Ferdinand I of Bulgaria becomes Tsar
- 1910 - Portugal overthrows the monarchy
- 1921 - The World Series was broadcast on the radio for the first time.
- 1930 - British Airship R101c crashed in France en-route to India on its maiden voyage.
- 1936 - The Jarrow March sets off for London.
- 1944 - Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German Jet fighter over France
- 1947 - In the first televised White House address, President Harry S. Truman urged Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Sundays to help starving people in other countries.
- 1953 - First documented recovery meeting of Narcotics Anonymous
- 1953 - Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.
- 1962 - The Beatles released their first hit, "Love Me Do," in Britain.
- 1966 - Near Detroit, Michigan a sodium cooling system malfunction caused a partial core meltdown at the Enrico Fermi demonstration nuclear breeder reactor, killing three workers. The radiation was contained.
- 1969 - The first broadcast of Monty Python's Flying Circus
- 1970 - PBS became a television network
- 1970 - Montreal, Quebec: British Trade Commissioner James Cross is kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
- 1973 - Signature of the European Patent Convention
- 1981 - Raoul Wallenberg becomes an honorary American citizen
- 1984 - Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger (41-6).
- 1990 - After one hundred and fifty years The Herald broadsheet newspaper in Melbourne, Australia is published for the last time as a separate newspaper.
- 1991 - An Indonesian military transport crashes after takeoff from Jakarta killing 137. Linux version 0.01 is released.
- 1999 - The Ladbroke Grove rail crash
- 2000 - Mass demonstrations in Belgrade leading to resignation of Slobodan Milosevic
- 2003 - Akhmad Kadyrov elected President of Chechnya
Births
- 1703 - Jonathan Edwards, evangelical Christian leader
- 1713 - Denis Diderot, philosopher
- 1824 - Henry Chadwick, baseball writer and statistician
- 1878 - Louise Dresser, actress (d. 1965)
- 1830 - Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (d.1886)
- 1882 - Robert Goddard, rocket scientist
- 1894 - Bevil Rudd, South African athlete
- 1902 - Larry Fine, vaudeville, actor (Three Stooges) (d. 1975)
- 1902 - Ray Kroc, entrepreneur (see McDonald's Corporation) (d. 1984)
- 1903 - M. King Hubbert, geophysicist (d. 1989)
- 1907 - Mrs. Miller, singer (d. 1997)
- 1908 - Joshua Logan, film director, writer (d. 1988)
- 1911 - Flann O'Brien, humorist (d. 1966)
- 1917 - Allen Ludden, television game show host (d. 1981)
- 1919 - Donald Pleasence, actor (d. 1995)
- 1922 - Jose-Froilan Gonzalez, Formula One driver
- 1923 - Glynis Johns, actress
- 1924 - Bill Dana, actor, comedian
- 1930 - Pavel Popovich, cosmonaut
- 1933 - Diane Cilento, actress
- 1935 - Diahann Carroll, actress
- 1936 - Václav Havel, playwright, president of the Czech Republic
- 1937 - Barry Switzer, American football coach
- 1941 - Eduardo Duhalde, argentinian former president
- 1943 - Steve Miller, musician
- 1948 - Tawl Ross, musician (P Funk)
- 1951 - Karen Allen, actress
- 1952 - Clive Barker, writer
- 1954 - Bob Geldof, musician
- 1958 - Bernie Mac, actor, comedian
- 1960 - Daniel Baldwin, actor (Homicide: Life on the Street)
- 1962 - Michael Andretti, auto racer
- 1963 - Caron Keating, former Blue Peter presenter (d. 2004)
- 1965 - Mario Lemieux, hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins
- 1965 - Patrick Roy, hockey player
- 1967 - Guy Pearce, actor
- 1972 - Grant Hill, Orlando Magic basketball player
- 1975 - Kate Winslet, actress
Deaths
- 578 - Justin II, Byantine Emperor
- 877 - Charles the Bald
- 1056 - Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1791 - Grigori Potemkin, Russian statesman
- 1813 - Tecumseh, Native American leader
- 1837 - Hortense de Beauharnais Queen of Holland and mother of the Emperor Napoleon III of France
- 1913 - Hans von Bartels, German painter
- 1941 - Louis Dembitz Brandeis, justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- 1943 - Leon Roppolo, jazz musician (b. 1902)
- 1969 - Walter Hagen, champion golfer
- 1976 - Lars Onsager, physical chemist
- 1983 - Earl Tupper, inventor of Tupperware
- 1986 - Hal B. Wallis, film producer
- 1986 - James H. Wilkinson, mathematician (b. 1919)
- 1992 - Eddie Kendricks, singer
- 1995 - Linda Gary, voice actor (b. 1944)
- 1996 - Seymour Cray, American computer pioneer
Holidays
October 4 - October 6 - September 5 - November 5 - more historical anniversaries
