On This Day — 5 August

2024

Following the non-cooperation movement against the government of Bangladesh, Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigns and flees the country, ending her rule of 15 consecutive years and a total of almost two decades. The date is also known as 36 July.

Non-cooperation movement (2024)

2021

Australia's second most populous state Victoria enters its sixth COVID-19 lockdown, enacting stage four restrictions statewide in reaction to six new COVID-19 cases recorded that morning.

Australia

2019

The revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (state) occurred and the state was bifurcated into two union territories (Jammu and Kashmir (union territory) and Ladakh).

Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir

2015

The Environmental Protection Agency at Gold King Mine waste water spill releases three million gallons of heavy metal toxin tailings and waste water into the Animas River in Colorado.

2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill

2012

The Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting took place in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six victims; the perpetrator committed suicide after being wounded by police.

Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting

2010

The Copiapó mining accident occurs, trapping 33 Chilean miners approximately 2,300 ft (700 m) below the ground for 69 days.

2010 Copiapó mining accident

2010

Ten members of International Assistance Mission Nuristan Eye Camp team are killed by persons unknown in Kuran wa Munjan District of Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan.

International Assistance Mission

2008

The New England Revolution win the 2008 North American SuperLiga final against the Houston Dynamo.

New England Revolution

2003

A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.

2003 Marriott Hotel bombing

1995

Yugoslav Wars: The city of Knin, Croatia, a significant Serb stronghold, is taken by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated in Croatia as Victory Day.

Yugoslav Wars

1984

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship crashes on approach to Zia International Airport, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing all 49 people on board.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines

1981

President Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.

Ronald Reagan

1979

In Afghanistan, Maoists undertake the Bala Hissar uprising against the Leninist government.

Bala Hissar uprising

1973

Mars 6 is launched from the USSR.

Mars 6

1971

The first Pacific Islands Forum (then known as the "South Pacific Forum") is held in Wellington, New Zealand, with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean.

Pacific Islands Forum

1969

The Lonesome Cowboys police raid occurs in Atlanta, Georgia, leading to the creation of the Georgia Gay Liberation Front.

Lonesome Cowboys police raid

1966

A group of red guards at Experimental High in Beijing, including Deng Rong and Liu Pingping, daughters of Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi respectively, beat the deputy vice principal, Bian Zhongyun, to death with sticks after accusing her of counter-revolutionary revisionism, producing one of the first fatalities of the Cultural Revolution.

Red Guards

1965

The Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 begins as Pakistani soldiers cross the Line of Control dressed as locals.

India–Pakistan war of 1965

1964

Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow: American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes against U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Vietnam War

1963

Cold War: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Cold War

1962

Apartheid: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.

Apartheid

1962

American actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead at her home from a drug overdose.

Marilyn Monroe

1960

Burkina Faso, then known as Upper Volta, becomes independent from France.

Burkina Faso

1957

American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.

American Bandstand

1949

In Ecuador, an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6,000.

Ecuador

1949

In Montana, 12 smokejumper firefighters and 1 US Forest Service fire guard are killed in the Mann Gulch Fire.

Montana

1944

World War II: At least 1,104 Japanese POWs in Australia attempt to escape from a camp at Cowra, New South Wales; 545 temporarily succeed but are later either killed, commit suicide, or are recaptured.

Japanese people

1944

World War II: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp (Gęsiówka) in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.

Labor camp

1944

World War II: The Nazis begin a week-long massacre of between 40,000 and 50,000 civilians and prisoners of war in Wola, Poland.

Wola massacre

1940

World War II: The Soviet Union formally annexes Latvia.

World War II

1939

The Thirteen Roses: Thirteen female members of the Unified Socialist Youth are executed by Francoist forces in Madrid, Spain.

Las Trece Rosas

1931

Judge and Nazi Party member Werner Best drews the Boxheim Documents, which described a violent takeover of the government by the NSDAP.

Nazi Party

1926

Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.

Harry Houdini

1925

Plaid Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language that is at the time in danger of dying out.

Plaid Cymru

1916

World War I: Battle of Romani: Allied forces, under the command of Archibald Murray, defeat an attacking Ottoman army under the command of Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein, securing the Suez Canal and beginning the Ottoman retreat from the Sinai Peninsula.

Battle of Romani

1914

World War I: The German minelayer SS Königin Luise lays a minefield about 40 miles (64 km) off the Thames Estuary (Lowestoft). She is intercepted and sunk by the British light-cruiser HMS Amphion.

World War I

1914

World War I: The guns of Point Nepean fort at Port Phillip Heads in Victoria (Australia) fire across the bows of the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer SS Pfalz which is attempting to leave the Port of Melbourne in ignorance of the declaration of war and she is detained; this is said to be the first Allied shot of the War.

SS Pfalz (1913)

1914

In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.

Cleveland

1906

Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, King of Iran, agrees to convert the government to a constitutional monarchy.

Persian Constitutional Revolution

1901

Peter O'Connor sets the first World Athletics recognised long jump world record of 24 ft 11.75 in (7.6137 m), a record that would stand for 20 years.

Peter O'Connor (athlete)

1888

Bertha Benz drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in the first long distance automobile trip, commemorated as the Bertha Benz Memorial Route since 2008.

Bertha Benz

1884

The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.

Statue of Liberty

1882

Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, today known as ExxonMobil, is established officially. The company would later grow to become the holder of all Standard Oil companies and the entity at the center of the breakup of Standard Oil.

Standard Oil

1874

Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled after a similar system in the United Kingdom.

Postal savings system

1864

American Civil War: The 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.

Battle of Mobile Bay

1862

American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge: Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops attempt to take the city, but are driven back by fire from Union gunboats.

Battle of Baton Rouge (1862)

1861

American Civil War: In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US$800; rescinded in 1872).

American Civil War

1861

The United States Army abolishes flogging.

United States Army

1860

Charles XV of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Norway in Trondheim.

Charles XV

1858

Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It will operate for less than a month.

Cyrus W. Field

1824

Greek War of Independence: Konstantinos Kanaris leads a Greek fleet to victory against Ottoman and Egyptian naval forces in the Battle of Samos.

Greek War of Independence

1816

The British Admiralty dismisses Francis Ronalds's new invention of the first working electric telegraph as "wholly unnecessary", preferring to continue using the semaphore.

Francis Ronalds

1796

The Battle of Castiglione in Napoleon's first Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars results in a French victory.

Battle of Castiglione

1781

The Battle of Dogger Bank takes place.

Battle of Dogger Bank (1781)

1772

First Partition of Poland: The representatives of Austria, Prussia, and Russia sign three bilateral conventions condemning the "anarchy" of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and imputing to the three powers "ancient and legitimate rights" to the territories of the Commonwealth. The conventions allow each of the three great powers to annex a part of the Commonwealth, which they proceed to do over the course of the following two months.

First Partition of Poland

1763

Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run: British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run.

Pontiac's War

1735

Freedom of the press: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he had published was true.

Freedom of the press

1716

Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718): One-fifth of a Turkish army and the Grand Vizier are killed in the Battle of Petrovaradin.

Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718)

1689

Beaver Wars: Fifteen hundred Iroquois attack Lachine in New France.

Beaver Wars

1620

The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England, carrying would-be settlers, on its first attempt to reach North America; it is forced to dock in Dartmouth when its companion ship, the Speedwell, springs a leak.

Mayflower

1600

The Gowrie Conspiracy against King James VI of Scotland (later to become King James I of England) takes place at Gowrie House (Perth, Scotland).

John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie

1583

Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Humphrey Gilbert

1506

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Crimean Khanate in the Battle of Kletsk.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

1460

The Kingdom of Scotland captures Roxburgh, one of the last English strongholds in Scotland, following a siege.

Capture of Roxburgh (1460)

1388

The Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England, is fought near Otterburn.

Battle of Otterburn

1305

First Scottish War of Independence: Sir John Stewart of Menteith, the pro-English Sheriff of Dumbarton, successfully manages to capture Sir William Wallace of Scotland, leading to Wallace's subsequent execution by hanging, evisceration, drawing and quartering, and beheading 18 days later.

First War of Scottish Independence

1278

Spanish Reconquista: the forces of the Kingdom of Castile initiate the ultimately futile Siege of Algeciras against the Emirate of Granada.

Reconquista

1192

Richard I of England defeats Saladin in the battle of Jaffa, which enables him to conclude a favourable treaty for the crusaders.

Richard I of England

1100

Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.

Henry I of England

1068

Byzantine–Norman wars: Italo-Normans begin a nearly-three-year siege of Bari.

Byzantine–Norman wars

939

The Battle of Alhandic is fought between Ramiro II of León and Abd-ar-Rahman III at Zamora in the context of the Spanish Reconquista. The battle resulted in a victory for the Emirate of Córdoba.

Battle of Alhandic

910

The last major Danish army to raid England for nearly a century is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward the Elder and Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians.

Kingdom of England

642

Battle of Maserfield: Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria.

Battle of Maserfield

70

Fires resulting from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem are extinguished.

AD 70

25

Guangwu claims the throne as Emperor of China, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty.

AD 25