August 5

Events

• 642 - Battle of Maserfeld - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia
• 1100 - Henry I crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey
• 1583 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes first English colony in North America, at what is now St John's, Newfoundland.
• 1689 - 1,500 Iroquois attack village of Lachine, in New France.
• 1763 - Pontiac's War - Battle of Bushy Run - British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run.
• 1772 - First Partition of Poland begins.
• 1812 - War of 1812: Tecumseh's Indian force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.
• 1858 - Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It operated for less than a month.
• 1861 - American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government issues the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge - Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Mobile Bay begins - At Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama, Admiral David Farragut leads a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and seals one of the last major Southern ports.
• 1882 - Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
• 1884 - The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
• 1914 - In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
• 1944 - Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
• 1949 - In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6000.
• 1962 - Film actress and sex icon, Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her Los Angeles, California home after apparently overdosing on sleeping pills.
• 1963 - United States, Great Britain, and Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
• 1964 - Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow - American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes attacked US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• 1969 - Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).
• Vietnam War: The United States Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on 1974 military aid to South Vietnam.
• 1981 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.

Births

• 1641 - John Hathorn, magistrate (? 1717)
• 1811 - Thomas Ambroise, composer (? 1896)
• 1842 - Ferdinand Keller, painter (? 1922)
• 1850 - Guy de Maupassant, author (+ 1893)
• 1866 - Carl Harries, chemist (? 1923)
• 1877 - Tom Thomson, painter (? 1917)
• 1889 - Conrad Aiken, poet (? 1973)
• 1890 - Erich Kleiber, conductor (? 1956)
• 1906 - John Huston, director (? 1987)
• 1911 - Robert Taylor, actor (? 1969)
• 1930 - Neil Armstrong, astronaut
• 1935 - John Saxon, actor
• 1939 - Princess Irene of the Netherlands
• 1940 - Roman Gabriel, professional football player
• 1946 - Loni Anderson, actress
• 1946 - Jimmy Webb, composer, musician
• 1947 - Rick Derringer, rock and roll musician
• 1951 - Airto, percussionist
• 1956 - Maureen McCormick, actress, The Brady Bunch
• 1959 - Barry Ethridge, inventor
• 1962 - Patrick Ewing, basketball player
• 1981 - Rachel Scott, victim of the Columbine High School massacre (? 1999)

Deaths

• 882 - King Louis III of France
• 1895 - Friedrich Engels, socialist philosopher
• 1955 - Carmen Miranda, actress, singer
• 1960 - Arthur Meighen, ninth Prime Minister of Canada
• 1962 - Marilyn Monroe, actress
• 1984 - Sir Richard Burton, actor
• 2000 - Sir Alec Guinness, 86, British actor
• 2002 - Chick Hearn, pro-basketball announcer

Holidays and observances

• Burkina Faso - Independence Day
• Croatia - Victory day and National Thanksgiving Day

August 4 - August 6 - July 5 - September 5 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By