5 July

Events

• 1610 - John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland.
• 1687 - Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica is published.
• 1803 - The convention of Artlenburg leads to the French occupation of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).
• 1811 - Venezuela is the first South American country to declare independence from Spain.
• 1813 - War of 1812: Three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York begin.
• 1814 - War of 1812: Battle Of Chippawa - American Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippewa, Ontario.
• 1830 - France invades Algeria.
• 1865 - William Booth founds the Christian Mission (later renamed to the Salvation Army).
• 1865 - The world's first maximum speed law is enacted in Great Britain.
• 1884 - Germany takes possession of Cameroon.
• 1937 - Highest recorded temperature in Canada, at Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan: 45 °C.
• 1940 - World War II: The United Kingdom and the Vichy France government break off diplomatic relations.
• 1941 - World War II: German troops reach the Dniepr River.
• 1943 - World War II: Battle of Kursk - The largest tank battle in history begins.
• 1943 - World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails to Sicily.
• 1945 - World War II: Liberation of the Philippines declared.
• 1946 - The bikini is introduced.
• 1948 - British National Health Service Act enacted.
• 1950 - Korean War: Task Force Smith - First clash between American and North Korean forces.
• 1950 - Zionism: The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to 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.
• 1958 - First ascent of Gasherbrum I, 11th highest
• 1962 - Algeria becomes independent from France.
• 1970 - An Air Canada DC-8 crashes near Toronto International Airport killing 108
• 1971 - Right to vote: The voting age in the United States is reduced to 18 from 21 (provision of the 26th Amendment formally certified by President Richard Nixon on this day).
• 1975 - Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.
• 1975 - Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal.
• 1986 - The Statue of Liberty is reopened to the public after an extensive refurbishing.
• 1998 - Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
• 2003 - Taiwan is the last territory to be removed from the WHO's list of SARS affected areas.

Births

• 1781 - Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore
• 1794 - Sylvester Graham, inventor of Graham cracker (+ 1851)
• 1810 - Phineas Taylor Barnum, circus owner (+ 1891)
• 1853 - Cecil Rhodes, South African politician (+ 1902)
• 1865 - Hans Ziemann, physician (+ 1939)
• 1880 - Jan Kubelík, violinist (+ 1940)
• 1886 - Willem Drees, prime minister of the Netherlands
• 1888 - Herbert Spencer Gasser, psychologist and recipient of the Nobel Prize 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
• 1996 - Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal

Deaths

• 1681 - Feodor Aleksejevitch, tsar of Russia
• 1920 - Max Klinger, artist
• 1957 - Charles Sherwood Noble, inventor
• 1975 - Otto Skorzeny, German commando who rescued Benito Mussolini in World War II
• 1983 - Harry James, Big Band musician
• 1998 - Sid Luckman, Hall of Fame football player
• 2001 - Hannelore Kohl, wife of ex-chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl (suicide)
• 2002 - Ted Williams, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and player for the Boston Red Sox.

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)

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

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Referenced By