History Events on January 05

Alexander Dub?ek comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the "Prague Spring".

#Alexander_Dub?ek

Battle of Colmar: The French army beats Brandenburg.

#Battle_of_Turckheim

The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris.

#Waiting_for_Godot

Eris, the most massive and second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.

#Eris_(dwarf_planet)

In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine.

#United_States_Congress

American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.

#American_Revolutionary_War

The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before.

#Kingsmill_massacre

The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses subject to restrictions and imposed "character standards."

#Ford_Motor_Company

Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991-92 South Ossetia War.

#Georgia_(country)

The 7.1 Mw? Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.

#1970_Tonghai_earthquake

The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland.

#Soviet_Union

First Balkan War: The Battle of Lemnos begins; Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.

#First_Balkan_War

Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; the Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.

#Battle_of_Nancy

The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after violence enveloped Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War.

#Embassy_of_the_United_States,_Mogadishu

The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.

#Tasman_Bridge

Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.

#Nellie_Tayloe_Ross

The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.

#Palais_Garnier

In his "State of the Union" address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.

#Harry_S._Truman

The warmest reliably measured temperature within the Antarctic Circle, of +59 °F (+15 °C), is recorded at Vanda Station.

#Antarctic_Circle

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

#Golden_Gate_Bridge

The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.

#Khmer_Rouge

Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

#Dreyfus_affair

A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine.

The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.

In the Sverdlovsk air disaster, all 19 of those on board are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force - 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.

The Daily Mail becomes the first major London newspaper to be published on both sides of the Atlantic.

The German Workers' Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich.

The 6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the and formed their own, Bolshevik movement.

Kappa Alpha Psi, the world's third oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.

Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.