Some of the significant events which took place on August 5 taken from the leaf of History:
135– Betar – the last outpost of Bar Kochba falls to Rome.
642- Battle of Maserfield – Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia.
910- The last major Viking army to raid England is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred.
1100- Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
1264- Anti-Jewish riots break out in Arnstadt Germany.
1775: Maharaja Nandkumar was hanged in Calcutta (now Kolkota). This was the last hanging for forgery by the British in India.
1901 – Victoria, Dowager Empress Frederick of Germany has become gravely ill and many royal dignitaries are rushing to her sickbed. An official medical statement read, “The external disease from which her majesty is suffering, and which for years has been slowly increasing, has in the course of the last few weeks extended to the internal regions. Her majesty’s strength is diminishing rapidly ….”
1920 – Senator Harding of Tennessee wired republican leaders to ask for support for the women’s’ suffrage movement in the legislature. The general assembly of Tennessee was on the brink of deciding whether it would support the cause or not. Senator Harding sent telegrams to two leading women in the suffrage movement — Mrs.Carrie Chapman Catt and Mrs.George Milton — telling them it looked hopeful for women getting the vote in Tennessee.
1934 – Oklahoma experienced a ravaging drought with temperatures reaching 117 degrees, killing both animals and humans. Ten thousand people in this state are on federal relief because of the drought. The cotton crop was only in fair condition. Pastures, crops, and orchards were scorched. Two thousand five hundred livestock were being bought a day by the government to prevent them from starving, however 30,000 beasts have already succumbed.
1944 – Polish freedom fighters liberate a German forced labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners, who join in a general uprising against the Germans.
1947 – Impoverished by World War II, Britain was looking to America in 1948 for financial help. Winston Churchill offered the Labor party support in appealing to the U.S. for another loan. He accused the British government of wasting the previous loan of $3,150,000 on non-essentials. Churchill pontificated, “There is no shame in one brave and faithful ally, deeply injured in the common struggle, asking for another to help him recover and stand upon his feet.”
1948 – A deadly 6.7 magnitude earthquake hits Ecuador killing 6,000 people and injuring another 20,000. The quake hit high in the Andes Mountains, about 100 miles south of Quito. The worst-affected cities were Ambato, Guano, Pelileo, Patate and Pillaro, though the tremor caused serious damage over an area of 1,500 square miles. Landslides set off by the quake proved to be the most deadly feature of the disaster. Houses fell down hills and others were buried. Approximately 100,000 people lost their homes. The landslides also caused some flooding by changing water-flow patterns. Some of the victims lost their lives to drowning.
1954 – Terrible New Clothes Fashions: Col. John H. Dilley, a hardened warrior who distinguished himself in Africa during World War II, wasn’t scorned today because of his military advice. He was outspoken about his views on clothing worn by American women. Clothing, which he said looked awful. His forbidden list included halter tops, revealing bathing suits, shorts, strapless dresses, and even blue jeans. In the wake of his remarks some women became furious. One retorted that female freedom was at stake, not just clothing.
1957 – “American Bandstand,” which featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 chart music hosted by Dick Clark, makes its network debut on ABC. The show had been running as a local show since it was introduced on Philadelphia television station WFIL-TV (Channel 6, now WPVI-TV) on October 7th, 1952 and ran until the show ended in 1989.
1960 Burkina Faso gains its Independence: The landlocked West African country, known as Upper Vota until 1984, became a French protectorate in the late 19th century. In 1958, the Republic of Upper Volta was created as a self-governing French colony. After independence, Maurice Yaméogo became the first president of the country, whose name was changed to Burkina Faso in 1984.
1962 Nelson Mandela is arrested: The South African anti-apartheid activist and adherent of nonviolence was arrested by the government at Rivonia, a suburb of Johannesburg. After a year-long trial, Mandela was imprisoned at the infamous Robben Island prison where we spent the next 18 years. He was released from prison in 1990 after spending 28 years as a political prisoner. In the early 1990s, after intense international and domestic pressure, in part from the efforts of Mandela, the South African government started taking steps to end apartheid – a government policy of racial segregation and discrimination. As a result, Mandela was elected the country’s first black president in 1994.
1962 – U.S.A. Marilyn Monroe: Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her bedroom, the death was ruled a suicide, as a bottle of empty sleeping pills was found near Monroe’s body.
1963 – A partial nuclear test ban treaty was signed by the United States, Britain and Russia, the ban ends testing in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater.
1973 – Two Arab gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Black September take 35 hostages and open fire and throw grenades into a crowded passenger lounge at Athens airport killing 3 and injuring over 50 more. The terrorists are captured and later sentenced to death for the murders.
1973 – Justice William O. Douglas issued a ban on the American bombing of Cambodia. However, it was overturned by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall hours later. President Nixon and the White House were indifferent to Douglas’ ban. However, Douglas contested that 7 other Supreme Court officials supported this ban and that proper procedure had not been followed.
1975 – Dutch elm disease has now destroyed more than three million trees in Britain and is continuing to spread according to Forestry Commission officials. The disease is believed to have spread from North America to Britain in infected imported timber. By the end of the decade nearly 1/3 of all Elm trees in Britain were destroyed by the fungal disease which was spread by the elm bark beetle.
1981 – Following the strike by Air traffic controllers for more pay and better working conditions President Ronald Reagan called the strike illegal and threatened to fire any controller who had not returned to work within 48 hours. He also declared a lifetime ban on the rehiring of any sacked strikers by the Federal Aviation Administration.
1991: Justice Leila Seth became the first Indian woman Chief Justice of a state High Court. She was also the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court.
1999 – Mark McGwire hit his 500th home run today at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Check out more in our History of Baseball section.
2001 – President George W. Bush got a deluxe, six-hour physical carried out by 14 doctors his first since taking office. Apart from having a few skin lesions removed, the physicians deemed him to be in excellent health and liable to stay that way for the rest of his presidency. The president sneaks the occasional cigar, but it doesn’t seem to have affected him much.
2006 – Phoenix, Arizona police have arrested two suspects in connection with the Serial Shooter Murders responsible for six murders and at least 29 other shootings in the Phoenix area. The suspects have been identified as Dale S. Hausner and Samuel John Dieteman.
2006 – Turkey began building a dam on the Tigris River on this day. The controversial construction was projected to cost over $1.5 billion and create around 10,000 jobs. Critics believed that the dam would endanger ancient ruins and artifacts while also displacing many villages.
2007 – Jesse Spielman, a United States soldier convicted of playing a role in the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl and her family in Iraq was sentenced to 110 years in prison.
2007 – Holocaust survivors and other protesters demonstrated in front of the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office on this day. The protesters demanded more state sponsored aid from the government for holocaust survivors.
2009 – General Abdel Aziz sworn in as President of Mauritania: General Abdel Aziz, who came to power in a coup in 2008, was sworn in as the President of Mauritania after elections in 2009.
2012 – Shooter Attacks Sikh Temple in Wisconsin: Seven people were killed after a gunman attacked a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Police killed the shooter after being ambushed by him.
2013 – Uruguay Same-Sex Marriage Law Begins: Uruguay’s law that would allow same-sex couple to marry came into effect ninety days after it was passed in May. This makes Uruguay the second South American country to pass a same-sex marriage law.
2013 – United Kingdom Lab-Grown Burger Eaten: The first lab-grown burger was cooked and eaten at a news conference in London, England. The burger was made from taking cow cells and turning them into the strips of a muscle. Those who tasted it said that while it lacked some of the juiciness of a real burger it tasted fairly close to the real thing and had a similar texture.
2013: A gunman opened fire at a municipal meeting in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, killing three people before he was tackled and shot with his own gun; authorities say the shooting stemmed from a dispute over living conditions at his ramshackle, trash-filled property. (Rockne Newell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.) Alex Rodriguez was suspended through 2014 and All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta and Everth Cabrera were banned 50 games apiece as Major League Baseball disciplined 13 players in a drug case.
2017: The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea for its escalating nuclear and missile programs.
2017: Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt finished third in the 100-meter dash at the world track championships in London, which marked his farewell from the sport; the winner was American Justin Gatlin. Usain St Leo Bolt born 21 August 1986 is a Jamaican retired sprinter. He is a world record holder in the 100, 200 meters and 4×100 meters relay. Owing to his achievements and dominance in sprint competition, he is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.
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