August 5

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August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining.

1 Events
2 Births
- 2.1 1301 to 1899
- 2.2 1900 to 1999
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

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Events

642 - Battle of Maserfeld - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia
1100 - Henry I crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey
1305 - William Wallace, who led Scottish resistance to England, was captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London for trial and execution.
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.
1860 - Carl IV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway, in Trondheim.
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States government issues the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).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.
1874 - Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled after a similar system in England.
1882 - Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
- Martial law is enacted in Japan.
1884 - The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
1912 - Japan's first taxicab service begins in Ginza, Tokyo.
1914 - In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.
1944 - 545 Japanese POW's attempt what many believe to be the biggest prison breakout in history, outside the town of Cowra, NSW, Australia. Most are killed but many escape and later commit suicide. 5 Australian guards also die.
- 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.
1960 - Burkina Faso, then known as "Upper Volta", became independent from France
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, United Kingdom, 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).
1974 - Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on 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.
1995 - The city of Knin, a significant Serb stronghold, is liberated by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated as the day of victory ("Homeland Thanksgiving Day") in Croatia.
1999 - Mark McGwire becomes the 16th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.
2003 - A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.