July 5
July 5th is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining.
Events:
- 1054 - The supernova of 1054, the brightest supernova in recorded history (now the Crab Nebula) is first reported.
- 1687 - The Principia of Newton is published.
- 1811 - Venezuela is the first South American country to declare indepence from Spain.
- 1830 - France invades Algeria.
- 1841 - Thomas Cook opens his first travel agency.
- 1865 - William Booth founds the Salvation Army.
- 1865 - The world's first maximum speed law is enacted in Great Britain.
- 1884 - The Germans take possession of Cameroon.
- 1896 - Ballington Booth leaves the Salvation Army and founds The Volunteers of America
- 1922 - First elections in the Netherlands where women have voting rights.
- 1940 - Great Britain and the Vichy government of France break off diplomatic relations.
- 1941 - German troops reach the Dniepr River.
- 1943 - Beginning of the battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history.
- 1943 - An Allied invasion fleet sails to Sicily.
- 1945 - Liberation of the Philippines completed.
- 1946 - The bikini is introduced.
- 1948 - National Health Service Act enacted in Great Britain.
- 1950 - First clash between American and North Korean forces.
- 1950 - All Jews are granted the right to live in Israel.
- 1951 - William Shockley invents the junction transistor.
- 1954 - Elvis Presley has his first commercial recording session. He sang That's All Right (Mama) and Blue Moon of Kentucky.
- 1962 - Algeria becomes independent from France.
- 1971 - Voting age in the United States reduced to 18 (26th amendment).
- 1973 - Isle of Man starts issuing its own postage stamps.
- 1975 - Arthur Ashe is the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.
- 1975 - Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal.
- 1986 - Statue of Liberty reopened.
- 1991 - French nuclear test at Mururoa.
- 1998 - Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
Births:
- 1781 - Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore
- 1810 - Phineas Taylor Barnum, circus owner (+ 1891)
- 1853 - Cecil John Rhodes, South African politician (+ 1902)
- 1865 - Hans Ziemann, physician (+ 1939)
- 1886 - Willem Drees, prime minister of the Netherlands
- 1888 - Herbert Spencer Gasser, phsychologist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in in Physiology or Medicine 1944 (+ 1963)
- 1889 - Jean Cocteau, writer (+ 1963)
- 1902 - Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., U.S. diplomat during the Vietnam War
- 1909 - Andrei Gromyko, president of the Soviet Union
- 1911 - Georges Pompidou, president of France (+ 1974)
- 1941 - Barbara Frischmuth, writer
- 1944 - Robbie Robertson, guitarist
- 1950 - Michael Monarch, guitarist
- 1950 - Huey Lewis, rock and roll musician
- 1958 - Bill Watterson, cartoonist
- 1963 - Edie Falco, actress, The Sopranos
Deaths:
- 1681 - Fjodor Aleksejevitsj, czar of Russia
- 1920 - Max Klinger, artist
- 1975 - Otto Skorzeny, German commando who rescued Benito Mussolini in World War II
- 1983 - Harry James, Big Band musician
- 2001 - Hannelore Kohl, wife of ex-chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl (suicide)
Holidays and Observances:
- Algeria: Independence Day (1962)
- Cape Verde: Independence Day (1975)
- Isle of Man: Tynwald Day (Parliament Day) (1266)
- Venezuela: Independence Day (1811)
- Church of the SubGenius: X-Day (1998)
See Also:
July 4 - July 6 - June 5 - August 5 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December