November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining.
Events
- 1556 - Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mogul Army defeats Hindu forces of General Hemu to ensure Akbar the throne of India.
- 1605 - Gunpowder Plot: A plot by Guy Fawkes to blow up the English Houses of Parliament is foiled when Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, finds Fawkes in a cellar below the Parliament building and orders a search of the area. About 20 barrels of gunpowder were found and Fawkes was arrested for trying to kill Parliament and King James I of England who were scheduled to sit together in Parliament the next day.
- 1688 - Glorious Revolution begins: William of Orange lands at Brixham but James II of England was prevented from meeting him in battle because many of his officers and men were deserting to the other side.
- 1838 - Honduras separates from the Central American Federation, weakening the confederation.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removes George McClellan as commander of the Union Army.
- 1862 - Indian Wars: In Minnesota, more than 300 Santee Sioux are found guilty of rape and murder of white settlers and are sentenced to hang.
- 1872 - Womens suffrage: In defiance of the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time (on November 18 she was served an arrest warrant and in the subsequent trial she was fined $100 - she never paid the fine).
- 1895 - George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile.
- 1911 - After declaring war on the Ottoman Empire on September 29, 1911, Italy annexes Tripoli and Cyrenaica (this act was confirmed by an act of the Italian Parliament on February 25, 1912).
- 1912 - U.S. presidential election, 1912: Democratic challenger Woodrow Wilson wins a landslide victory over Republican incumbent William Howard Taft. Taft's base was undercut by Progressive Party candidate (and former Republican) Theodore Roosevelt, who finished second, ahead of Taft.
- 1913 - The insane king Otto of Bavaria is deposed by his cousin, Prince Regent Ludwig, who assumed the title Ludwig III.
- 1914 - United Kingdom annexes Cyprus, and together with France declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
- 1930 - Sinclair Lewis is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- 1935 - Parker Brothers releases the board game Monopoly.
- 1937 - World War II: In the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler holds a secret meeting and states his plans for acquiring "living space" for the German people.
- 1940 - U.S. presidential election, 1940: Democrat incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Republican challenger Wendell Willkie and becomes the United States' first third-term president.
- 1968 - U.S. presidential election, 1968: In one of the closest elections in US history, Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon defeats Vice President Hubert Humphrey and American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace.
- 1970 - Vietnam War: United States Military Assistance Command in Vietnam reports the lowest weekly American soldier death toll in five years (24 soldiers died that week, which was the fifth consecutive week the death toll was below 50 ; 431 were reported wounded that week, however).
- 1979 - The radio news program Morning Edition premieres on National Public Radio.
- 1987 - Apartheid: In South Africa, Govan Mbeki is released from custody after serving 24 years in the Robben Island prison. He had been sentenced to life for treason against the white minority South Africa government.
- 1990 - Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Kach movement, is shot dead after a speech at a New York City hotel.
- 1992 - In Detroit, Michigan, black motorist Malice Green is beaten to death by policemen Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn during a struggle (the officers were later convicted and sentenced to prison).
- 1994 - A letter by former US President Ronald Reagan is released that announces he has Alzheimer's disease.
- 1994 - Forty-five year old George Foreman becomes boxing's oldest heavyweight champion when he knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round of a Las Vegas, Nevada fight.
- 1996 - U.S. presidential election, 1996: Democrat incumbent Bill Clinton defeats Republican challenger Bob Dole to win his second term.
- 1998 - Lewinsky scandal: As part of the impeachment inquiry, House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde sends a list of 81 questions to US President Bill Clinton.
- 1998 - The journal Nature publishes a genetic study showing compelling evidence that Thomas Jefferson fathered his slave Sally Hemings' son Eston Hemings Jefferson.
- 1999 - Microsoft antitrust case: US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues a preliminary ruling that softwaremaker Microsoft had "monopoly power" (on April 3, 2000 Jackson found that Microsoft violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act).
Births
- 1855 - Eugene V. Debs, American socialist leader
- 1857 - Ida Tarbell, journalist
- 1863 - James Packard, automobile pioneer († 1928)
- 1885 - Will Durant, writer († 1981)
- 1892 - J. B. S. Haldane, geneticist
- 1895 - Charles MacArthur, author († 1956)
- 1905 - Joel McCrea, actor
- 1911 - Roy Rogers, actor († 1998)
- 1913 - Vivien Leigh, actress († 1967)
- 1931 - Ike Turner, musician
- 1941 - Art Garfunkel, musician
- 1943 - Sam Shepard, playwright, actor
- 1946 - Herman Brood, musician, artist
- 1946 - Gram Parsons, musician († 1973)
- 1947 - Peter Noone, musician, actor
- 1952 - Bill Walton, basketball star, commentator
- 1959 - Bryan Adams, musician
- 1963 - Tatum O'Neal, actress
Deaths
- 1803 - Choderlos de Laclos, writer
- 1836 - Karel Hynek Macha, poet
- 1933 - Texas Guinan, actress, musician
- 1937 - Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1942 - George M. Cohan, musician, actor, writer, composer
- 1955 - Maurice Utrillo, a "Montmartre" artist
- 1956 - Art Tatum, musician
- 1960 - Mack Sennett, pioneer producer/director
- 1960 - Ward Bond, actor
- 1977 - Guy Lombardo, conductor
- 1979 - Al Capp, cartoonist
- 1982 - Jacques Tati, actor, director
- 1989 - Vladimir Horowitz, pianist
- 1990 - Meir Kahane, Jewish activist
- 1991 - Fred MacMurray, actor
- 1997 - Isaiah Berlin, historian of ideas
Holidays
Annual Festivals
- United Kingdom and New Zealand - Bonfire night (also Guy Fawkes night; or Fireworks night): Failure of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.
November 4 - November 6 - October 5 - December 5 - more historical anniversaries
See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December