August 5 Historical Events
The following events took place on August 5. The list is arranged in chronological order.
Found 64 events. Showing 1 - 30.
- 25Guangwu claims the throne as emperor, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty.
- 642Battle of Maserfield: Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria.
- 910The last major Danish army to raid England 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.
- 939The 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.
- 1068Byzantine–Norman wars: Italo-Normans begin a nearly-three-year siege of Bari.
- 1100Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
- 1278The Siege of Algeciras ends in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Kingdom of Castile against the Emirate of Granada. The battle resulted in a Granadan victory.
- 1305William Wallace, who led the Scottish resistance against England, is captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London where he is put on trial and executed.
- 1388The Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England, is fought near Otterburn.
- 1583Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
- 1600The Gowrie Conspiracy against King James VI of Scotland (later to become King James I of England) takes place.
- 1620The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America.
- 1689One thousand five hundred Iroquois attack the village of Lachine in New France.
- 1716The Battle of Petrovaradin takes place.
- 1735Freedom 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.
- 1763Pontiac’s War: Battle of Bushy Run: British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac’s Indians at Bushy Run.
- 1772The First Partition of Poland begins.
- 1781The Battle of Dogger Bank takes place.
- 1824Greek War of Independence: Constantine Kanaris leads a Greek fleet to victory against Ottoman and Egyptian ships in the Battle of Samos.
- 1858Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It will operate for less than a month.
- 1860Charles XV of Sweden of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway in Trondheim.
- 1861American 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).
- 1861The United States Army abolishes flogging.
- 1862American 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.
- 1864American 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.
- 1874Japan launches its postal savings system, modeled after a similar system in the United Kingdom.
- 1882The Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
- 1884The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.
- 1888Bertha Benz drives from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in the first long distance automobile trip, commemorated as the Bertha Benz Memorial Route since 2008.
- 1901Peter O'Connor sets the first IAAF recognised long jump world record of 24 ft. The record will stand for 20 years.
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