September 5

Historic Events

2022

Liz Truss is declared the winner of the UK Conservative Party leadership election, beating Rishi Sunak. ›

2022

At least 93 people die and 25 are missing after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes Sichuan, China. ›

2021

The President of Guinea, Alpha Condé is captured by armed forces during a coup d'état. ›

2012

An accidental explosion at a Turkish Army ammunition store in Afyon, western Turkey kills 25 soldiers and wounds four others. ›

2006

The Waziristan Accord is signed between the Government of Pakistan and local Taliban militants in North Waziristan, obliging the Taliban to expel foreign jihadists and the government to compensate the tribes for loss of life and property and launch reconstruction projects. ›

2005

Mandala Airlines Flight 091 crashes after takeoff from Polonia International Airport in Medan, Indonesia, killing 149. ›

1996

Hurricane Fran makes landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina as a Category 3 storm with 115 mph sustained winds. Fran caused over $3 billion in damage and killed 27 people. ›

1991

The current international treaty defending indigenous peoples, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, comes into force. ›

1990

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers slaughter 158 civilians. ›

1986

Pan Am Flight 73 from Mumbai, India with 358 people on board is hijacked at Karachi International Airport. ›

1984

STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery lands after its maiden voyage. ›

1984

Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment. ›

1981

The first women arrive at what becomes Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in the UK. ›

1980

The Gotthard Road Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi) stretching from Göschenen to Airolo. ›

1978

Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace discussions at Camp David, Maryland. ›

1977

Voyager Program: NASA launches the Voyager 1 spacecraft. ›

1975

Sacramento, California: Lynette Fromme attempts to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford. ›

1972

Munich massacre: A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attacks and takes hostage 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. Two die in the attack and nine are murdered the following day. ›

1970

Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn begins: The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thừa Thiên–Huế Province. ›

1969

Mỹ Lai Massacre: U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley is charged with six specifications of premeditated murder for the death of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai. ›

1968

End of the Congress of Carrara, one of the major 20th century anarchist congresses. ›

1960

Poet Léopold Sédar Senghor is the first elected President of Senegal. ›

1960

Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) wins the gold medal in the light heavyweight boxing competition at the Olympic Games in Rome. ›

1957

Cuban Revolution: Fulgencio Batista bombs the revolt in Cienfuegos. ›

1954

KLM Flight 633 crashes into the River Shannon in Shannon, County Clare, Ireland, killing 28. ›

1948

In France, Robert Schuman becomes President of the Council while being Foreign minister; as such, he is the French negotiator of the major treaties of the end of World War II. ›

1945

Cold War: Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet Union embassy clerk, defects to Canada, exposing Soviet espionage in North America, signalling the beginning of the Cold War. ›

1945

Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese American who broadcast under the name Orphan Annie during World War II, is arrested in Yokohama by U.S. military authorities amid widespread speculation of her being wartime radio propagandist Tokyo Rose. ›

1944

Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg constitute Benelux. ›

1943

World War II: In the Pacific Theater, the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment lands and occupies Lae Nadzab Airport, near Lae during the Salamaua–Lae campaign. ›

1942

World War II: Japanese high command orders withdrawal at Milne Bay, the first major Japanese defeat in land warfare during the Pacific War. ›

1941

Whole territory of Estonia is occupied by Nazi Germany. ›

1938

Chile: A group of youths affiliated with the fascist National Socialist Movement of Chile are executed after surrendering during a failed coup. ›

1937

Spanish Civil War: Llanes falls to the Nationalists following a one-day siege. ›

1932

The French Upper Volta is broken apart between Ivory Coast, French Sudan, and Niger. ›

1915

The pacifist Zimmerwald Conference begins. ›

1914

World War I: First Battle of the Marne begins. Northeast of Paris, the French attack and defeat German forces who are advancing on the capital. ›

1905

Russo-Japanese War: In New Hampshire, United States, the Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, ends the war. ›

1887

A fire at the Theatre Royal, Exeter kills 186, making it the UK's deadliest ever building fire. ›

1882

The first United States Labor Day parade is held in New York City. ›

1877

American Indian Wars: Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse is bayoneted by a United States soldier after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson in Nebraska. ›

1862

American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia crosses the Potomac River at White's Ford in the Maryland Campaign. ›

1839

The United Kingdom declares war on the Qing dynasty of China. ›

1836

Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas. ›

1816

Louis XVIII of France has to dissolve the Chambre introuvable ("Unobtainable Chamber"). ›

1812

War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Wayne begins when Chief Winamac's forces attack two soldiers returning from the fort's outhouses. ›

1798

Conscription is made mandatory in France by the Jourdan law. ›

1793

French Revolution: The French National Convention initiates the Reign of Terror. ›

1791

Olympe de Gouges writes the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen. ›

1781

Battle of the Chesapeake in the American Revolutionary War: The British Navy is repelled by the French Navy, contributing to the British surrender at Yorktown. ›

1774

First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia. ›

1725

Wedding of Louis XV and Maria Leszczyńska. ›

1698

In an effort to Westernize his nobility, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a tax on beards for all men except the clergy and peasantry. ›

1697

War of the Grand Alliance: A French warship commanded by Captain Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville defeats an English squadron at the Battle of Hudson's Bay. ›

1661

Fall of Nicolas Fouquet: Louis XIV's Superintendent of Finances is arrested in Nantes by D'Artagnan, captain of the king's musketeers. ›

1590

An army led by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma forces Henry IV of France to lift the siege of Paris. ›

1367

Swa Saw Ke becomes king of Ava ›

1234

The Decretals of Gregory IX, a new canonical collection assembled by Raymond of Peñafort, are promulgated. ›

917

Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu. ›

394

On the first day of the battle of Frigidus, the Western Roman troops of Arbogast manage to defend their positions against the Eastern Roman troops of emperor Theodosius I. ›