July 5

Historic Events

2024

Keir Starmer is appointed Prime Minister by Charles III, becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010 and the first one to win a general election since Tony Blair at the 2005 general election. ›

2023

The last Ariane 5 rocket is launched, carrying the Heinrich Hertz and Syracuse 4B satellites. ›

2022

British government ministers Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resign from the second Johnson ministry, beginning the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis. ›

2016

The Juno space probe arrives at Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet. ›

2009

A series of violent riots break out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. ›

2009

The Staffordshire Horde, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered in Britain, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. ›

2006

North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan. ›

2004

The first direct Indonesian presidential election is held. ›

2003

The World Health Organization announces that the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak has been contained. ›

1999

U.S. President Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. ›

1997

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP A. Thangathurai is shot dead at Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies College in Trincomalee. ›

1996

Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. ›

1995

Armenia adopts its constitution, four years after its independence from the Soviet Union. ›

1994

Jeff Bezos founds Amazon. ›

1989

Iran–Contra affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. His convictions are later overturned. ›

1987

Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers are born and, in the following years, will continue to kill with the tactic. ›

1984

The United States Supreme Court gives its United States v. Leon decision providing a good-faith exception from the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule against use of evidence obtained through defective warrants in criminal trials. ›

1980

Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins his fifth Wimbledon final and becomes the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in a row (1976–1980). ›

1977

The Pakistan Armed Forces under Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq seize power in Operation Fair Play and begin 11 years of martial law. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown. ›

1975

Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title. ›

1975

Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal. ›

1973

A boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) in Kingman, Arizona, following a fire that broke out as propane was being transferred from a railroad car to a storage tank, kills eleven firefighters. ›

1973

Juvénal Habyarimana seizes power over Rwanda in a coup d'état. ›

1971

The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon. ›

1970

Air Canada Flight 621 crashes in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, killing all 109 people on board. ›

1962

The official independence of Algeria is proclaimed after an eight-year-long war with France. ›

1954

The BBC broadcasts its first daily television news bulletin. ›

1954

Elvis Presley records his first single, "That's All Right", at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. ›

1950

Korean War: Task Force Smith: American and North Korean forces first clash, in the Battle of Osan. ›

1950

The Knesset of Israel passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to the Land of Israel. ›

1948

National Health Service Acts create the national public health system in the United Kingdom. ›

1946

Micheline Bernardini models the first modern bikini at a swimming pool in Paris. ›

1945

The United Kingdom holds its first general election in 10 years, which would be won by Clement Attlee's Labour Party. ›

1943

World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943). ›

1943

World War II: German forces begin a massive offensive against the Soviet Union at the Battle of Kursk, also known as Operation Citadel. ›

1941

World War II: Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach the Dnieper river. ›

1940

World War II: Foreign relations of Vichy France are severed with the United Kingdom. ›

1935

The National Labor Relations Act, which governs labor relations in the United States, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. ›

1934

"Bloody Thursday": The police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco. ›

1915

The Liberty Bell leaves Philadelphia by special train on its way to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. This is the last trip outside Philadelphia that the custodians of the bell intend to permit. ›

1884

Germany takes possession of Cameroon. ›

1865

The United States Secret Service begins operation. ›

1859

The United States discovers and claims Midway Atoll. ›

1852

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivers his "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" speech at a meeting organized by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. ›

1841

Thomas Cook organises the first package excursion, from Leicester to Loughborough. ›

1833

Lê Văn Khôi along with 27 soldiers stage a mutiny taking over the Phiên An citadel, developing into the Lê Văn Khôi revolt against Emperor Minh Mạng. ›

1833

Admiral Charles Napier vanquishes the navy of the Portuguese usurper Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent. ›

1830

After inflicting a series of defeats on Algerian forces, the French army under the Comte de Bourmont captures Algier. ›

1814

War of 1812: Battle of Chippawa: American Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippawa, Ontario. ›

1813

War of 1812: Three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York commence. ›

1811

The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence is adopted by a congress of the provinces. ›

1809

The Battle of Wagram between the French and Austrian Empires begins. ›

1807

In Buenos Aires the local militias repel the British soldiers within the Second English Invasion. ›

1803

The Convention of Artlenburg is signed, leading to the French occupation of the Electorate of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king). ›

1775

The Second Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition. ›

1770

The Battle of Chesma between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins, resulting in one of the worst naval defeats of the Ottomans since Lepanto. ›

1687

Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. ›

1643

The battle of Landsdowne results in severe losses for both the Royalist and Parliamentarian forces. ›

1610

John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland. ›

1594

Portuguese forces under the command of Pedro Lopes de Sousa begin an unsuccessful invasion of the Kingdom of Kandy during the Campaign of Danture in Sri Lanka. ›

1584

The Maronite College is established in Rome. ›

1413

Mehmed Çelebi and his army defeat the army of his brother Musa Çelebi in the battle of Çamurlu. Musa is captured and executed. ›

1316

The Burgundian and Majorcan claimants of the Principality of Achaea meet in the Battle of Manolada. ›

1294

Election of pope Celestine V following the death of pope Nicholas IV two years prior. ›

328

The official opening of Constantine's Bridge built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius. ›