52ºc, New York
History Events on August 05
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
The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.
#Statue_of_Liberty
Apartheid: Nelson Mandela is jailed. He would not be released until 1990.
#Apartheid
Burkina Faso, then known as Upper Volta, becomes independent from France.
#Burkina_Faso
The Battle of Castiglione in Napoleon's first Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars.
#Battle_of_Castiglione
Byzantine-Norman wars: Italo-Normans begin a nearly-three-year siege of Bari.
#Byzantine-Norman_wars
In Ecuador, an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6,000.
#Ecuador
The British Admiralty dismisses Francis Ronalds's new invention of the first working electric telegraph as "wholly unnecessary", preferring to continue using the semaphore.
#Admiralty
William 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.
#William_Wallace
Pontiac's War: Battle of Bushy Run: British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Chief Pontiac's Indians at Bushy Run.
#Pontiac's_War
World War II: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp (G?siówka) in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
#Labor_camp
The Battle of Otterburn, a border skirmish between the Scottish and the English in Northern England, is fought near Otterburn.
#Battle_of_Otterburn
Yugoslav Wars: The city of Knin, Croatia, a significant Serb stronghold, is captured by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated in Croatia as Victory Day.
#Yugoslav_Wars
Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, King of Iran, agrees to convert the government to a constitutional monarchy.
#Persian_Constitutional_Revolution
World War II: The Soviet Union formally annexes Latvia.
#World_War_II
Mars 6 is launched from the USSR.
#Mars_6
Greek War of Independence: Constantine Kanaris leads a Greek fleet to victory against Ottoman and Egyptian naval forces in the Battle of Samos.
#Greek_War_of_Independence
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Crimean Khanate in the Battle of Kletsk.
#Grand_Duchy_of_Lithuania
Cold War: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
#Cold_War
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
Beaver Wars: Fifteen hundred Iroquois attack Lachine in New France.
#Beaver_Wars
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
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
Harry Houdini performs his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.
#Harry_Houdini
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
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)
Roman armies enter Betar, slaughtering thousands and ending the bar Kokhba revolt.
#Betar_(fortress)
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
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
General elections are held in Nicaragua with the Sandinista National Liberation Front winning a majority.
#Nicaragua
Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It will operate for less than a month.
#Cyrus_West_Field
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
Guangwu claims the throne as Chinese emperor, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty.
#Emperor_Guangwu_of_Han
American actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead at her home from a drug overdose.
#Marilyn_Monroe
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
President Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
#Ronald_Reagan
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
Battle of Maserfield: Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Northumbria.
#Battle_of_Maserfield
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
Henry I is crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
#Henry_I_of_England
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)
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
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
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 begins as Pakistani soldiers cross the Line of Control dressed as locals.
#Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965
The United States Army abolishes flogging.
#United_States_Army
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
Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes the first English colony in North America, at what is now St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
#Humphrey_Gilbert
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)
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
The Battle of Dogger Bank takes place.
#Battle_of_Dogger_Bank_(1781)
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
Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress places a $1 billion limit on military aid to South Vietnam.
#Vietnam_War
