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This day in history

This day in history: 5 December

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Events54

Born on this day · Died on this day244 · 106

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Key facts

404 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 5 December.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2017: The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Holidays and observances

Children's Day (Suriname)

Christian feast day: Clement of Alexandria (Episcopal Church)

Christian feast day: Crispina of Numidia

Christian feast day: Dalmatius of Pavia

Christian feast day: December 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: John Almond

Christian feast day: Justinian of Ramsey Island

Christian feast day: Nicetius (Nizier)

Christian feast day: Pelinus of Brindisi

Christian feast day: Sabbas the Sanctified

Day of Military Honour - Battle of Moscow (Russia)

Discovery Day (Haiti and Dominican Republic)

Events

2017The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

2014Exploration Flight Test-1, the first flight test of Orion, is launched.

2013Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sanaa, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.

2007Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.

2006Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.

2005The 6.8 Mw Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing six people.

2005The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.

2001Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-108, carrying the Expedition 4 crew to the International Space Station.

1995Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, killing 52 people.

1995Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.

1994The Budapest Memorandum is signed at the OSCE conference in Budapest, Hungary.

1991Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine.

1983Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.

1977Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen in retaliation to preventing President Anwar el-Sadat from pursuing negotiations with Israel at the Tripoli confer.

1971Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces are defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh.

1964Lloyd J. Old discovers the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.

1964Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.

1958Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.

1958The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)

1955The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO.

1955The Civil Rights Movement: the Montgomery bus boycott begins, led by E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks.

1952Beginning of the Great Smog in London. A cold fog combines with air pollution and brings the city to a standstill for four days. Later, a Ministry of Health report estimates 4,000 fatalities as a result of it.

1945Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle.

1943World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.

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.

1936The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.

1935Mary McLeod Bethune founds the National Council of Negro Women in New York City.

1934Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.

1933The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, repealing Prohibition in the United States.

1921The Football Association bans women's football in England from league grounds, a ban that stays in place for 50 years.

1919Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is suppressed and its participants are executed by the Kontrrazvedka.

1914The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition begins in an attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.

1895New Haven Symphony Orchestra of Connecticut performs its first concert.

1865Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.

1848California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.

1847Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate.

1831Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.

1776Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the U.S., holds its first meeting at the College of William & Mary.

1775At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Born on this day

2009Owen Cooper, English actor

2008Ediz Gürel, Turkish chess grandmaster

2000Soobin, South Korean singer-songwriter

1998Conan Gray, American singer-songwriter

1998Randal Kolo Muani, French footballer

1997Maddie Poppe, American singer-songwriter and musician

1997Quinnen Williams, American football player

1995Alexander Sørloth, Norwegian footballer

1995Anthony Martial, French footballer

1995Danny Levi, New Zealand rugby league player

1995Kaetlyn Osmond, Canadian figure skater

1995Levy Rozman, American chess International Master, streamer and YouTuber

1994Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer

1994Semi Ojeleye, American basketball player

1993Luciano Vietto, Argentine footballer

1993Ross Barkley, English footballer

1992Natalie Sourisseau, Canadian field hockey player

1991Cam Fowler, Canadian-American ice hockey player

1991Christian Yelich, American baseball player

1990Montee Ball, American football player

1989Jurrell Casey, American football player

1989Kwon Yu-ri, South Korean singer-songwriter and actress

1988Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist

1988Kyle Long, American football player

1988Ross Bagley, American actor

1988Tina Charles, American basketball player

1987A. J. Pollock, American baseball player

1986James Hinchcliffe, Canadian Indycar racing driver

1986Justin Smoak, American baseball player

1986LeGarrette Blount, American football player

1985André-Pierre Gignac, French footballer

1985Danny Wicks, Australian rugby league player

1985Frankie Muniz, American actor, drummer, and race car driver

1985Josh Smith, American basketball player

1985Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, Emirati princess

1985Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer

1984Lauren London, American actress

1983Joakim Lindström, Swedish ice hockey player

1982Eddy Curry, American basketball player

1982Gabriel Luna, American actor

Died on this day

2025Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect and designer

2025Michael Annett, American Former NASCAR Driver

2024Jacques Roubaud, French poet, writer, and mathematician (born 1932)

2023Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer (born 1922)

2022Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer (born 1951)

2021Bob Dole, American politician (born 1923)

2020Peter Alliss, English professional golfer (born 1931)

2019Robert Walker, American actor (born 1940)

2017August Ames, Canadian American pornographic actress (born 1994)

2017Michael I of Romania, fifth and last king of Romania (born 1921)

2016J. Jayalalithaa, Indian actress and Former Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (born 1948)

2016Tyruss Himes ("Big Syke"), American rapper (born 1968)

2015Chuck Williams, American businessman and author, founded Williams Sonoma (born 1915)

2015Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1929)

2015Vic Eliason, American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America (born 1936)

2014Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (born 1931)

2014Fabiola, Queen of Belgium (born 1928)

2014Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish hurdler and politician (born 1931)

2014Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author (born 1909)

2014Talât Sait Halman, Turkish poet, translator, and historian (born 1931)

2013Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (born 1917)

2013Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

2013William B. Edmondson, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa (born 1927)

2012Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (born 1920)

2012Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (born 1909)

2012Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch (born 1920)

2012Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília (born 1907)

2011Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer and manager (born 1942)

2011Peter Gethin, English racing driver (born 1940)

2010Alan Armer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)

Quote of the day

“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?”

Lao Tzu

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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