On This Day — 5 July
2000s
2024
Keir Starmer is appointed Prime Minister by Charles III, becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010 and the first one to win a general election since Tony Blair at the 2005 general election
Keir Starmer
2023
The last Ariane 5 rocket is launched, carrying the Heinrich Hertz and Syracuse 4B satellites.
Ariane 5
2022
British government ministers Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resign from the second Johnson ministry, beginning the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis.
Sajid Javid
2016
The Juno space probe arrives at Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet.
Juno (spacecraft)
2012
The Shard in London is inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft).
The Shard
2009
A series of violent riots break out in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.
July 2009 Ürümqi riots
2009
The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered in Britain, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire.
Anglo-Saxons
2006
North Korea tests four short-range missiles, one medium-range missile and a long-range Taepodong-2. The long-range Taepodong-2 reportedly fails in mid-air over the Sea of Japan.
North Korea
2004
The first direct Indonesian presidential election is held.
Direct election
2003
The World Health Organization announces that the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak has been contained.
World Health Organization
1900s
1999
U.S. President Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Bill Clinton
1997
Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil MP A. Thangathurai is shot dead at Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies College in Trincomalee.
Sri Lankan civil war
1996
Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
Dolly (sheep)
1995
Armenia adopts its constitution, four years after its independence from the Soviet Union.
Armenia
1994
Jeff Bezos founds Amazon.
Jeff Bezos
1989
Iran–Contra affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. His convictions are later overturned.
Iran–Contra affair
1987
Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE uses suicide attacks on the Sri Lankan Army for the first time. The Black Tigers are born and, in the following years, will continue to kill with the tactic.
Sri Lankan civil war
1984
The United States Supreme Court gives its United States v. Leon decision providing a good-faith exception from the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule against use of evidence obtained through defective warrants in criminal trials.
Supreme Court of the United States
1980
Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins his fifth Wimbledon final and becomes the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in a row (1976–1980).
Björn Borg
1977
The Pakistan Armed Forces under Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq seize power in Operation Fair Play and begin 11 years of martial law. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown.
Pakistan Armed Forces
1975
Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.
Arthur Ashe
1975
Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal.
Cape Verde
1973
A boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) in Kingman, Arizona, following a fire that broke out as propane was being transferred from a railroad car to a storage tank, kills eleven firefighters.
Boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion
1973
Juvénal Habyarimana seizes power over Rwanda in a coup d'état.
Juvénal Habyarimana
1971
The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon.
Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
1970
Air Canada Flight 621 crashes in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, killing all 109 people on board.
Air Canada Flight 621
1962
The official independence of Algeria is proclaimed after an eight-year-long war with France.
Independence Day (Algeria)
1954
The BBC broadcasts its first daily television news bulletin.
BBC
1954
Elvis Presley records his first single, "That's All Right", at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
Elvis Presley
1950
Korean War: Task Force Smith: American and North Korean forces first clash, in the Battle of Osan.
Korean War
1950
The Knesset of Israel passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to the Land of Israel.
Knesset
1948
National Health Service Acts create the national public health system in the United Kingdom.
National Health Service
1946
Micheline Bernardini models the first modern bikini at a swimming pool in Paris.
Micheline Bernardini
1945
The United Kingdom holds its first general election in 10 years, which would be won by Clement Attlee's Labour Party.
United Kingdom
1943
World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943).
Allies of World War II
1943
World War II: German forces begin a massive offensive against the Soviet Union at the Battle of Kursk, also known as Operation Citadel.
Soviet Union
1941
World War II: Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach the Dnieper river.
Operation Barbarossa
1940
World War II: Foreign relations of Vichy France are severed with the United Kingdom.
World War II
1935
The National Labor Relations Act, which governs labor relations in the United States, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
National Labor Relations Act of 1935
1934
"Bloody Thursday": The police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco.
1934 West Coast waterfront strike
1915
The Liberty Bell leaves Philadelphia by special train on its way to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. This is the last trip outside Philadelphia that the custodians of the bell intend to permit.
Liberty Bell
1800s
1884
Germany takes possession of Cameroon.
German Empire
1865
The United States Secret Service begins operation.
United States Secret Service
1859
The United States discovers and claims Midway Atoll.
Midway Atoll
1852
Frederick Douglass delivers his "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" speech in Rochester, New York.
Frederick Douglass
1841
Thomas Cook organises the first package excursion, from Leicester to Loughborough.
Thomas Cook
1833
Lê Văn Khôi along with 27 soldiers stage a mutiny taking over the Phiên An citadel, developing into the Lê Văn Khôi revolt against Emperor Minh Mạng.
Lê Văn Khôi
1833
Admiral Charles Napier vanquishes the navy of the Portuguese usurper Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
Admiral
1814
War of 1812: Battle of Chippawa: American Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippawa, Ontario.
Battle of Chippawa
1813
War of 1812: Three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York commence.
War of 1812
1811
The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence is adopted by a congress of the provinces.
Venezuelan Declaration of Independence
1809
The Battle of Wagram between the French and Austrian Empires begins.
Battle of Wagram
1807
In Buenos Aires the local militias repel the British soldiers within the Second English Invasion.
Buenos Aires
1803
The Convention of Artlenburg is signed, leading to the French occupation of the Electorate of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).
Convention of Artlenburg
Before 1800
1775
The Second Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition.
Second Continental Congress
1770
The Battle of Chesma between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins.
Battle of Chesma
1687
Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Isaac Newton
1610
John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland.
John Guy (colonial administrator)
1594
Portuguese forces under the command of Pedro Lopes de Sousa begin an unsuccessful invasion of the Kingdom of Kandy during the Campaign of Danture in Sri Lanka.
Portuguese Empire
1584
The Maronite College is established in Rome.
Pontifical Maronite College
1316
The Burgundian and Majorcan claimants of the Principality of Achaea meet in the Battle of Manolada.
Duchy of Burgundy
328
The official opening of Constantine's Bridge built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius.
Constantine's Bridge (Danube)