October 5

Historic Events

2021

Windows 11 is released to the general public. ›

2011

In the Mekong River massacre, two Chinese cargo boats are hijacked and 13 crew members murdered. ›

2000

Mass demonstrations in Serbia force the resignation of Slobodan Milošević. ›

1999

The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in West London kills 31 people. ›

1994

Swiss police find the bodies of 48 members of the Order of the Solar Temple, who had died in a cult mass murder-suicide. ›

1991

An Indonesian Air Force C-130 crash kills 135 people. ›

1990

After 150 years The Herald newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, is published for the last time as a separate newspaper. ›

1988

A Chilean opposition coalition defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt. ›

1985

Seven Israeli vacationers, including four children, are killed in a mass shooting at Ras Burqa in the Sinai Peninsula by an Egyptian soldier. ›

1984

Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space. ›

1982

Tylenol products are recalled after bottles in Chicago laced with cyanide cause seven deaths. ›

1978

Brother Eddie Villanueva and 15 others from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines begin the Jesus Is Lord Church. ›

1974

Bombs planted by the PIRA in pubs in Guildford kill four British soldiers and one civilian. ›

1970

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded in the United States.[citation needed] ›

1970

The British Trade Commissioner, James Cross, is kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec, triggering the October Crisis in Canada. ›

1968

A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in Derry is violently suppressed by police. ›

1966

A reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station near Detroit suffers a partial meltdown. ›

1963

The United States suspends the Commercial Import Program in response to repression of the Buddhist majority by the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem. ›

1962

The first of the James Bond film series, based on the novels by Ian Fleming, Dr. No, is released in Britain. ›

1962

The first Beatles single "Love Me Do" is released in Britain. ›

1947

President Truman makes the first televised Oval Office address. ›

1945

A six-month strike by Hollywood set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of the Warner Brothers studio. ›

1944

The Provisional Government of the French Republic enfranchises women. ›

1943

World War II: Pacific Theater: Ninety-eight American POWs are executed by Japanese forces on Wake Island. ›

1938

Holocaust: In Nazi Germany, Jews' passports are invalidated. ›

1936

The Jarrow March sets off for London. ›

1931

Clyde Edward Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, Jr. make the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean in the plane Miss Veedol. ›

1930

British airship R101 crashes in France en route to India on its maiden voyage killing 48 people. ›

1921

The World Series is broadcast on radio for the first time. ›

1914

World War I: An aircraft successfully destroys another aircraft with gunfire for the first time. ›

1911

The Kowloon–Canton Railway commences service. ›

1910

In a revolution in Portugal the monarchy is overthrown and a republic is declared. ›

1905

The Wright brothers pilot the Wright Flyer III in a new world record flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes. ›

1900

Peace congress in Paris condemns British policy in South Africa and asserts Boer Republic's right to self-determination. ›

1877

The Nez Perce War in the northwestern United States comes to an end. ›

1869

The Saxby Gale devastates the Bay of Fundy region in Canada. ›

1869

The Eastman tunnel, in Minnesota, United States, collapses during construction, causing a landslide that nearly destroys St. Anthony Falls. ›

1813

War of 1812: The Army of the Northwest defeats a British and Native Canadian force threatening Detroit. ›

1789

French Revolution: The Women's March on Versailles effectively terminates royal authority. ›

1672

Jan Sobieski, Grand Hetman of the Polish Crown, begins his successful military campaign against the Tartars following their rebellion and an invasion by the Ottoman Empire. ›

1607

Assassins attempt to kill Venetian statesman and scientist Paolo Sarpi. ›

1465

King Louis XI of France is forced to sign the treaty of Conflans. ›

1450

Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria expels Jews from his jurisdiction. ›

1143

With the signing of the Treaty of Zamora, King Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognises Portugal as a Kingdom. ›

869

The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to depose patriarch Photios I. ›

816

King Louis the Pious is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope. ›

610

Heraclius arrives at Constantinople, kills Byzantine Emperor Phocas, and becomes emperor. ›