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        | 5th 
            August, on this day  642 Battle 
            of Maserfeld - 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 crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
 1264 Anti-Jewish riots break out in Arnstadt, Germany
 1305 Scottish leader 
            William Wallace is defeated and captured by the English at the 
            Battle of Stirling Bridge and later executed
 1388 Battle 
            of Otterburn, border skirmish between the Scottish and the English 
            in Northern England.
 1583 English explorer Sir 
            Humphrey Gilbert founds the first English colony in North America 
            at St John's in Newfoundland
 1620 The Mayflower 
            departs Southampton, England on first attempt to reach North America.
 1689 1,500 Iroquois attack village of Lachine, 
            in New France.
 1716 Prince 
            Eugene of Savoy, with a force of 40,000 Austrians, defeats the 
            150,000 strong force of Turkish leader Darnad Ali Pasha at the Battle 
            of Peterwardein
 1735 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 published was true.
 1763 Pontiac's 
            War: Battle 
            of Bushy Run - British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief 
            Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run.
 1772 1st partition of Poland, between Austria, Prussia and Russia
 1775 1st Spanish ship, San Carlos, enters SF Bay
 1812 War 
            of 1812: Tecumseh's 
            Indian force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone 
            Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.
 1837 1st ascent of Mt 
            Marcy (5,344') highest in Adirondack, NY
 1846 Oregon country divided between US and Britain at 49th parallel
 1858 The first transatlantic cable is officially opened with Queen 
            Victoria sending a telegraphic message to US President James 
            Buchanan
 1861 US Army abolishes flogging
 1861 US levies its 1st Income Tax (3% of incomes over $800) in order 
            to help pay for the war effort
 1862 Battle 
            of Baton Rouge - Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, 
            Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.
 1864 Spectrum of a comet observed for 1st time, by Giovanni 
            Donati
 1864 Battle 
            of Mobile Bay, Ala; Adm David Farragut orders "Damn the torpedoes, 
            full speed ahead!"
 1870 Franco-Prussian 
            War: The Battle 
            of Spicheren is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.
 1874 Japan launches its postal 
            savings system, modeled after a similar system in England.
 1882 Standard 
            Oil of New Jersey is established.
 1882 Martial law is enacted in Japan.
 1884 The cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's 
            Island in New York Harbour
 1888 Bertha 
            Benz drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim in the first long distance 
            automobile trip.
 1901 Britain's first cinema opens in Islington, London
 1914 1st traffic light installed (Euclid Ave. and E. 105th St, Cleveland)
 1914 US, Nicaragua sign treaty granting canal rights to US
 1923 1st American to swim 
            the English Channel (Henry Sullivan)
 1924 Comic strip "Little 
            Orphan Annie," by Harold Gray, debuts
 1925 Plaid 
            Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the 
            Welsh language, which is in danger of dying out.
 1926 Escapologist Harry 
            Houdini survives for several hours in a bronze coffin beneath 
            the surface of a hotel swimming pool in Los Angeles
 1936 At Berlin 
            Olympics, Jesse Owens wins his 3rd Olympic medal
 1940 Latvia is annexed by the Soviet Union.
 1943 During the Battle 
            of Troina, at around 11 A.M, Mount Etna erupted sending much ash 
            and lava miles into the sky.
 1944 Possibly the biggest prison breakout in history occurs as 545 
            Japanese POWs attempt to escape outside the town of Cowra, NSW, 
            Australia.
 1944 Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in 
            Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
 1945 Atom Bomb dropped on Hiroshima (Aug 6th in Japan)
 1949 In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 
            6000.
 1953 Operation 
            "Big Switch" Korean War prisoner exchanged at Panmunjom
 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.
 1958 USS 
            Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, comes to the surface 
            after passing under the North Pole
 1960 Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) gains independence from France
 1962 American actress Marilyn 
            Monroe dies in her bedroom from acute barbiturate poisoning aged 
            36
 1962 1st quasar 
            located by radio
 1962 In South Africa, ANC leader Nelson Mandela is arrested and later 
            jailed for attempting to overthrow the South African Government
 1963 Britain, United States and the USSR sign 
            a nuclear test ban treaty - agreeing that any further tests should 
            be carried out underground
 1963 Craig 
            Breedlove sets world auto speed record at 407.45 MPH
 1964 Actress Anne 
            Bancroft and comedian Mel 
            Brooks wed
 1964 Beatles record "Leave My Kitten Alone"
 1964 Operation 
            Pierce Arrow - American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga 
            and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes 
            attacked U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
 1966 Martin Luther King Jr stoned during Chicago march
 1966 Beatles release "Revolver" 
            album in US
 1966 The Beatles release "Yellow 
            Submarine" and "Eleanor 
            Rigby" in UK
 1967 Bobby 
            Gentry releases her only hit "Ode to Billy Joe"
 1969 Mariner 
            7 flies past Mars
 1973 USSR launches Mars 
            6
 1974 US President Richard Nixon admits his complicity in the Watergate 
            Affair by withholding important information. He resigns the Presidency 
            three days later
 1974 The U.S. Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on military 
            aid to South Vietnam.
 1976 In London, the clock overlooking the Houses of Parliament - Big 
            Ben - stops for the first time in 117 years
 1979 In Afghanistan, Maoists 
            undertake an attempted military uprising.
 1981 President Regan fires 11,359 air traffic controllers who struck 
            2 days ago
 1984 Joan 
            Benoit (US) wins 1st Olympic marathon for women (2h24m52s)
 1985 Flexible-wing glider altitude record (214,250') set by Larry 
            Tudor
 1986 It's revealed Andrew 
            Wyeth had, secretly created 240 drawings and paintings of his 
            neighbour Helga Testorf, in Chadds Ford, Pa
 1988 Mario 
            Biaggi (Rep-D-NY) convicted of racketeering resigns seat
 1989 General elections are held in Nicaragua, Sandinista 
            Front wins the majority.
 1995 The United States of America and Vietnam formerly re-establish 
            diplomatic ties and pledge a new era of cooperation almost 20 years 
            after the end of the Vietnam War
 1995 The city of Knin, a significant Serb stronghold, is captured 
            by Croatian forces during Operation 
            Storm. The date is celebrated as the day of victory (Victory and 
            Homeland Thanksgiving Day) in Croatia.
 2003 A car bomb explodes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta outside 
            the Marriott Hotel killing 12 and injuring 150.
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        | 5th 
            August 2006 Israeli 
            commandos stage Tyre raid  Congo 
            poll count raises concerns  Two 
            held over US serial killings 5th August 
            2007 US 
            'kills' key Iraq shrine bomber  South 
            Asia flood toll passes 200  Israel 
            faces Holocaust protests 5th August 
            2008 France 
            accused in Rwanda genocide  Iranians 
            suspend death by stoning  US 
            cracks 'biggest ID fraud case'  5th August 
            2009 Freed 
            US reporters welcomed home  Defiant 
            Iran president takes oath 'Drone 
            attack' kills Taliban wife  5th August 
            2010 More 
            die in Karachi violence Afghans 
            'killed in air strike'  6 
            police die in Afghan suicide attack |  
        | Birthdates which 
            occurred on 5th August : 1540 Joseph Justice 
            Scaliger proposed Julian dating 1604 John Eliot "Apostle to Indians," Bible translator
 1624 William Jamestown Va, 1st black child born in English America
 1749 Thomas Lynch signed Declaration of Independence
 1811 Ambroise Thomas Metz France, composer (Mignon)
 1850 Guy de Maupassant France, author (Boule de Suif)
 1860 Joseph Carey Merrick "Elephant Man"
 1876 Mary R Beard Indianapolis, historian (Woman as a Force in History)
 1890 Erich Kleiber Vienna Austria, conductor (NBC Symphony 1945-46)
 1899 Conrad Aiken US, poet/short story writer/critic (Selected Poems)
 19-- Don Matheson Dearborn Mich, actor (Mark-Land of the Giants)
 19-- Jimi Kennedy Staten Island NY, rocker (Tyketto-Wings)
 1906 John Huston Nevada Mo, director/writer (African Queen, Chinatown)
 1908 Harold Holt PM of Australia (1966-67); supported US in Vietnam
 1911 Robert Taylor Filley Neb, actor (Death Valley Days)
 1914 Anita Colby Wash DC, model/actress (Pepsi Cola Playhouse)
 1914 David Brian NYC, actor (Accussed of Murder, Dawn at Sorocco)
 1920 Selma Diamond London Ontario, comedienne (Selma-Night Court)
 1923 Richard Kleindienst attorney general (1972)
 1930 Neil Armstrong Ohio, X-15 pilot, 1st Moonwalker (Gemini 8, Apollo 
            11)
 1933 Joan Weldon SF, actress (So This is Love, Them)
 1935 John Saxon Bkln, actor (Bees, Nightmare on Elm St, Electric Horseman)
 1936 John Dancy Jackson Tx, newscaster (Prime Time Sunday)
 1938 Ja'net Dubois Phila, actress (Willona-Good Times)
 194- Jo Collins Ore, Playboy playmate (Dec, 1964)
 1941 Leonid D Kizim cosmonaut (Soyuz T-3, T-10, T-15)
 1942 Rick Huxley guitarist (Dave Clark 5-Glad All Over)
 1943 Rodney Pattisson England, yachtsman (Olympic-gold-1968)
 1943 Sammi Smith singer
 1944 Loni Anderson St Paul Minn, actress (Jennifer-WKRP in Cincinnati)
 1946 Erika Slezak Hollywood, Calif, actress (Viki-One Life to Live)
 1947 Rick Derringer rocker (I am the Real American (Hulk Hogan's theme)
 1950 Holly Palance LA Calif, actress (Thorn Birds, Ripley's Believe 
            It)
 1950 Rose Mittermaier German FR, slalom/downhill (Olympic-gold-1976)
 1953 Samantha Sang singer (Emotion)
 1954 Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda Bx, (Twisted Sister-We're Not 
            Gonna Take It)
 1959 Pete Burns rocker (Dead or Alive-Spin Me Round)
 1960 Mike Nocito rocker (Johnny Hates Jazz-Turn Back the Clock)
 1961 Tawny Kitaen (Coverdale) actress (Bachelor Party, Witchboard)
 1962 Patrick EwingKingston Jamacia, NBA center (NY Knicks), 1992 Summer 
            Olympics
 1966 Jonathan Silverman LA Calif, actor (Brighton Beach Memoirs)
 1968 John Garrett Olerud Seattle WA, Baseball player, Blue Jays, Mets. 
            American League Batting Crown 1993
 1975 Ami Foster actress (Margaux-Punky Brewster)
 2184 Christine Lauren Chapel Davenport Heights, Vermont (Star Trek)
 2186 Kevin Thomas Riley Tasvennir, Tarsus IV (Star Trek)
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deaths which occurred 
            on August 5th:
 1900 James Augustine Healy black Roman Catholic bishop, dies at 80
 1959 Edgar Guest newspaperman, dies at 77
 1961 Sir Sidney Holland PM of New Zealand (1949-57), dies at 67
 1962 Marilyn Monroe found dead of apparent self-inflicted drug overdose
 1972 Frederic Tozere actor (Mr Phillips-Stanley), dies at 71
 1978 Queenie Smith actress/dancer (Funny Side), dies at 79
 1983 Judy Canova singer/comedienne/actress, dies at 66 of cancer
 1984 Howard Culver actor (Howie-Gunsmoke), dies at 66
 1984 Richard Burton actor (Cleopatra), dies at 58 of cerebral hemorrhage
 1991 Paul Brown NFL founder (Cleveland Browns, Cin Bengals), dies 
            at 82
 1991 Soichiro Hondo CEO & founder (Honda), dies of liver cancer 
            at 84
 
 
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