World History of January 5

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

Battle of Colmar: The French army defeats forces from Austria and Brandenburg.

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

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

The government of Central America votes for total annexation to the First Mexican Empire.

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

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

Irish nationalist leader John Edward Redmond calls for revolt against British rule.

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

The sixth 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 Bolshevik movement.

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.

The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.

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

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

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

Amy Johnson, a 37-year-old pilot and the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.

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

The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.

The Semiramis Hotel bombing kills at least 23 people.

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

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

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.

Cultural Revolution: The Shanghai People's Commune is established following the seizure of power from local city officials by revolutionaries.

Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the "Prague Spring".

The Venera 5 space probe is launched at 06:28:08 UTC from Baikonur.

Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes in Fernhill, West Sussex, UK, while on approach to Gatwick Airport, killing 50 people.

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.

A Spantax Convair CV-990 Coronado crashes during takeoff from Stockholm Arlanda Airport, killing five people.

US President Richard Nixon announces the Space Shuttle program.

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

The Khmer Rouge announce that the new Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea is ratified.

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.

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

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

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

A suicide bombing at the Tel Aviv central bus station kills 23 people and injures over 100 more.

The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by Palomar Observatory-based astronomers, later motivating the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time.

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

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismisses Prime Minister Asqar Mamin and declares state of emergency over the 2022 Kazakh unrest.

The 2023 Sinaloa unrest begins.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 makes an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a door plug blows off the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operating the flight. There are no fatalities, but the accident prompts the 737 MAX to be grounded and renews scrutiny on Boeing's manufacturing and design issues.

Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English prince, nominal King of Germany (died 1272)

Gaspar de Bono, monk of the Order of the Minims (died 1571)

Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, and theologian (died 1617)

Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (died 1641)

Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor (died 1666)

Miklós Zrínyi, Croatian military commander (died 1664)

Paolo Lorenzani, Italian composer (died 1713)

Claude Martin, French-English general and explorer (died 1800)

Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and academic (died 1832)

Stephen Decatur, American commander (died 1820)

Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (died 1813)

Gaspar Flores de Abrego, three terms mayor of San Antonio, in Spanish Texas (died 1836)

Harvey Putnam, American lawyer and politician (died 1855)

Anton Füster, Austrian priest and activist (died 1881)

William John Wills, English surgeon and explorer (died 1861)

Camille Jordan, French mathematician and academic (died 1922)

Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1926)

Mariam Baouardy, Syrian Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (died 1878)

King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (died 1932)

Bob Caruthers, American baseball player and manager (died 1911)

Fatima Cates, British Muslim convert and activist (died 1900)

Dimitrios Gounaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 94th Prime Minister of Greece (died 1922)

Frederick Converse, American composer and academic (died 1940)

Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1965)

Konrad Adenauer, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany (died 1967)

Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician and academic (died 1946)

Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (died 1951)

Pablo Gargallo, Spanish sculptor and painter (died 1934)

Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist (died 1958)

Edwin Barclay, 18th president of Liberia (died 1955)

Humbert Wolfe, Italian-English poet and civil servant (died 1940)

Markus Reiner, Israeli physicist and engineer (died 1976)

Agnes von Kurowsky, American nurse (died 1984)

Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian-American guru and philosopher (died 1952)

Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher and author (died 1945)

Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (died 1955)

Hubert Beuve-Méry, French journalist (died 1989)

Stella Gibbons, English journalist and author (died 1989)

Harold Gatty, Australian pilot and navigator (died 1957)

Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (died 1997)

Erika Morini, Austrian violinist (died 1995)

Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist and academic (died 1978)

Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (died 1969)

George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (died 1963)

Lucienne Bloch, Swiss-American sculptor, painter, and photographer (died 1995)

Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician and computer scientist (died 1994)

Jack Lovelock, New Zealand runner and journalist (died 1949)

Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor and screenwriter (died 2001)

Doug Deitz, Australian rugby league player (died 1994)

George Reeves, American actor and director (died 1959)

Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian geographer and cartographer (died 2004)

Francis L. Kellogg, American businessman and diplomat (died 2006)

Wieland Wagner, German director and producer (died 1966)

Jane Wyman, American actress (died 2007)

Hector Abhayavardhana, Sri Lankan theorist and politician (died 2012)

Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flute player (died 1992)

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist and educator (died 1995)

Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss author and playwright (died 1990)

Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Luxembourgish soldier and aristocrat (died 2019)

John H. Reed, American politician and diplomat, 67th Governor of Maine (died 2012)

Anthony Synnot, Australian admiral (died 2001)

Virginia Halas McCaskey, American football executive (died 2025)

Sam Phillips, American radio host and producer, founded Sun Records (died 2003)

Lou Carnesecca, American basketball player and coach (died 2024)

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, Singaporean lawyer and politician (died 2008)

Veikko Karvonen, Finnish runner (died 2007)

W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (died 2009)

Hosea Williams, American businessman and activist (died 2000)

Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, American guru and author, founded Iraivan Temple (died 2001)

Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (died 2016)

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th President of Pakistan (died 1979)

Denise Bryer, English actress (died 2021)

Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States (died 2021)

Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (died 2014)

Kevin Considine, Australian rugby league player (died 2023)

Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (died 1989)

Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist, poet, and author (died 2025)

Walt Davis, American athlete (died 2020)

Robert Duvall, American actor and director (died 2026)

Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (died 2016)

Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (died 2014)

Murli Manohar Joshi, Indian politician

Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (died 2013)

Florence King, American journalist and memoirist (died 2016)

Terry Lineen, New Zealand rugby player (died 2020)

Juan Carlos I of Spain

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan author and playwright (died 2025)

M. E. H. Maharoof, Sri Lankan politician (died 1997)

Athol Guy, Australian singer-songwriter and bassist

Pim de la Parra, Surinamese-Dutch film director (died 2024)

Bob Cunis, New Zealand cricketer (died 2008)

Chuck McKinley, American tennis player (died 1986)

Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer and coach (died 2011)

Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist and conductor (died 2024)

Charlie Rose, American journalist and talk show host

Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti royal and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Kuwait (died 2024)

Mary Gaudron, Australian lawyer and judge

Murtaz Khurtsilava, Georgian footballer and manager

Carolyn McCarthy, American nurse and politician (died 2025)

Ed Rendell, American politician, 45th Governor of Pennsylvania

Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman (died 2025)

Mike DeWine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Ohio

Mercury Morris, American football player (died 2024)

Ted Lange, American actor, director, and screenwriter

Ioan P. Culianu, Romanian historian, philosopher, and author (died 1991)

Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales

John Manley, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada

Chris Stein, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer

Uli Hoeneß, German footballer and chairman

Pamela Sue Martin, American actress

Mike Rann, English-Australian journalist and politician, 44th Premier of South Australia

George Tenet, American civil servant and academic, 18th Director of Central Intelligence

Alex English, American basketball player and coach

László Krasznahorkai, Hungarian author and screenwriter

Mamata Banerjee, Indian lawyer and politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German academic and politician, 12th President of Germany

Kevin Hastings, Australian rugby league player

George Moroko, Australian rugby league player

Jiří Hrdina, Czech ice hockey player

Ron Kittle, American baseball player and manager

Clancy Brown, American actor

Nancy Delahunt, Canadian curler

Glenn Strömberg, Swedish footballer and sportscaster

Iris DeMent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Suzy Amis, American actress and model

Danny Jackson, American baseball player and manager

Arie Setiabudi Soesilo, Indonesian sociologist

Jeff Fassero, American baseball player and coach

Vinnie Jones, British footballer and actor

Stuart Raper, Australian rugby league player and coach

Patrik Sjöberg, Swedish high jumper

Joe Flanigan, American actor

Carrie Ann Inaba, American actress, dancer, and choreographer

Joé Juneau, Canadian ice hockey player and engineer

Marilyn Manson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director

Paul McGillion, Scottish actor

Shaun Micheel, American golfer

Shea Whigham, American actor

Nigel Gaffey, Australian rugby league player

Stian Carstensen, Norwegian multi-instrumentalist and composer

Sakis Rouvas, Greek singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

Derek Cecil, American actor

Uday Chopra, Indian actor and filmmaker

Jessica Chaffin, American actress, comedian, and writer

Iwan Thomas, Welsh sprinter and coach

Bradley Cooper, American actor and producer

Warrick Dunn, American football player

Mike Grier, American ice hockey player and scout

Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer

Gavin Lester, Australian rugby league player

January Jones, American actress

Jason Basham, American stock car racing driver

Kyle Calder, Canadian ice hockey player

Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter

Scott Kremerskothen, Australian cricketer

Luke Bailey, Australian rugby league player

Brad Meyers, Australian rugby league player

Deadmau5, Canadian musician

Brooklyn Sudano, American actress

Nori Aoki, Japanese baseball player

Janica Kostelić, Croatian skier

Derrick Atkins, Bahamian sprinter

Matt Ballin, Australian rugby league player

Bronx Goodwin, Australian rugby league player

Filinga Filiga, New Zealand rugby league player

Anthony Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player

Diego Vera, Uruguayan footballer

Deepika Padukone, Indian actress

Dexter Bean, American race car driver

Kristin Cavallari, American television personality

Stuart Flanagan, Australian rugby league player

Brian Mushana Kwesiga, Ugandan-born entrepreneur, engineer, and civic leader

Jason Mitchell, American actor

Alexander Salák, Czech ice hockey player

Azizulhasni Awang, Malaysian track cyclist

Luke Daniels, English footballer

Mandip Gill, English actress

Nikola Kalinić, Croatian footballer

Miroslav Raduljica, Serbian basketball player

Eduardo Escobar, Venezuelan-American baseball player

Krisztián Németh, Hungarian footballer

C. J. Cron, American baseball player

Leroy Fer, Dutch footballer

José Iglesias, Cuban-American baseball player

Mark Nicholls, Australian rugby league player

José Luis Palomino, Argentine footballer

Denis Alibec, Romanian footballer

Eric Fisher, American football player

Mike Faist, American actor, singer, and dancer

Suki Waterhouse, English actress, singer-songwriter, and model

Phillip Dorsett, American football player

Franz Drameh, English actor

Stefan Rzadzinski, Canadian race car driver

Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Australian rugby league player

Zemgus Girgensons, Latvian ice hockey player

Matt Grzelcyk, American ice hockey player

Tyrone Phillips, Australian rugby league player

Gustavo Scarpa, Brazilian footballer

Toafofoa Sipley, New Zealand rugby league player

James Fisher-Harris, New Zealand rugby league player

Nicolás Tripichio, Argentine footballer

Tyler Ulis, American basketball player and coach

Jesús Vallejo, Spanish footballer

Carles Aleñá, Spanish footballer

Corey Horsburgh, Australian rugby league player

Mattias Svanberg, Swedish footballer

Filip Ugrinić, Swiss footballer

Gastón Martirena, Uruguayan footballer

Mykhailo Mudryk, Ukrainian footballer

Ellis Simms, English footballer

Shane Wright, Canadian ice hockey player

Walker Scobell, American actor

Al-Mu'tasim, Abbasid caliph (born 796)

Zhang Yanhan, Chinese chancellor (born 884)

Edward the Confessor, King of England (born 1004)

Bolesław IV the Curly, High Duke of Poland (born 1120)

Philippa Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster (born 1355)

John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English politician (born 1350)

Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (born 1394)

Charles, Duke of Burgundy (born 1433)

Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (born 1450)

Felix Manz, Swiss martyr (born 1498)

Giulio Clovio, Dalmatian painter (born 1498)

Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (born 1542)

Catherine de' Medici, queen of Henry II of France (born 1519)

Jean Chardin, French explorer and author (born 1643)

Antonio Lotti, Italian composer and educator (born 1667)

Empress Elizabeth of Russia (born 1709)

John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1710)

Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (born 1731)

George Johnston, Scottish-Australian colonel and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales (born 1764)

Robert Smirke, English painter and illustrator (born 1753)

Alfred Thomas Agate, American painter and illustrator (born 1812)

Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (born 1766)

John Neumann, Czech-American bishop and saint (born 1811)

Charles Tompson, Australian poet and public servant (born 1806)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar (born 1812)

Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (born 1803)

Konstanty Schmidt-Ciążyński, Polish collector and art connoisseur who donated a large collection to the National Museum in Kraków (born 1818)

Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (born 1818)

Karl Alfred von Zittel, German paleontologist and geologist (born 1839)

Léon Walras, French-Swiss economist and academic (born 1834)

Isobel Lilian Gloag, English painter (born 1865)

Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish sailor and explorer (born 1874)

Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (born 1872)

Lisandro de la Torre, Argentine politician (born 1868)

Tina Modotti, Italian photographer, model, actress, and activist (born 1896)

George Washington Carver, American botanist, educator, and inventor (born 1864)

Soh Jaipil, South Korean-American journalist and activist (born 1864)

Andrei Platonov, Russian journalist and author (born 1899)

Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish colonel and politician, 46th Governor-General of India (born 1887)

Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian-Italian physician and activist (born 1869)

Rabbit Maranville, American baseball player and manager (born 1891)

Mistinguett, French actress and singer (born 1875)

Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1896)

Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1882)

Roberto Gerhard, Catalan composer and scholar (born 1896)

Douglas Shearer, Canadian-American sound designer and engineer (born 1899)

Lev Oborin, Russian pianist and educator (born 1907)

John A. Costello, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (born 1891)

Wyatt Emory Cooper, American author and screenwriter (born 1927)

Billy Bletcher, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (born 1894)

Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, bandleader (born 1922)

Harold Urey, American chemist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1893)

Lanza del Vasto, Italian poet and philosopher (born 1901)

Hans Conried, American actor (born 1917)

Edmund Herring, Australian general and politician, 7th Chief Justice of Victoria (born 1892)

Eithne Coyle, Irish Republican, President of Cumann na mBan (born 1897)

Robert L. Surtees, American cinematographer (born 1906)

Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (born 1926)

Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (born 1875)

Arthur Kennedy, American actor (born 1914)

Vasko Popa, Serbian poet and academic (born 1922)

Tip O'Neill, American lawyer and politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1912)

Thung Sin Nio, Dutch-Indonesian activist (born 1902)

André Franquin, Belgian author and illustrator (born 1924)

Burton Lane, American composer and songwriter (born 1912)

Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (born 1935)

Kumar Ponnambalam, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (born 1938)

Roy Jenkins, Welsh politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1920)

Félix Loustau, Argentine footballer (born 1922)

Norman Heatley, English biologist and chemist, co-developed penicillin (born 1911)

Merlyn Rees, Welsh educator and politician, Home Secretary (born 1920)

Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman and inventor, founded Nissin Foods (born 1910)

Griffin Bell, American lawyer and politician, 72nd United States Attorney General (born 1918)

Willie Mitchell, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer (born 1928)

Kenneth Noland, American painter (born 1924)

Isaac Díaz Pardo, Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1920)

Frederica Sagor Maas, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1900)

Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (born 1938)

Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer and manager (born 1942)

Carmen Zapata, American actress (born 1927)

Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver and motorcycle racer (born 1937)

Bernard Joseph McLaughlin, American bishop (born 1912)

Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1925)

Jill Saward, English rape victim and activist (born 1965)

Asghar Khan, Pakistani three star general and politician (born 1921)

Thomas Bopp, American astronomer best known as the co-discoverer of comet Hale-Bopp (born 1949)

Karin von Aroldingen, German ballerina (born 1941)

Bernice Sandler, American women's rights activist (born 1928)

Dragoslav Šekularac, Serbian footballer and manager (born 1937)

Tafazzul Haque Habiganji, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and politician (born 1938)

Colin Bell, English footballer (born 1946)

John Georgiadis, English violinist and composer (born 1939)

Kim Mi-soo, South Korean actress and model (born 1992)

Joseph Lelyveld, American journalist and executive editor of The New York Times (born 1937)

Mário Zagallo, Brazilian footballer and manager (born 1931)

Mike Rinder, Australian-American former Scientologist, critic (born 1955)

Costas Simitis, Greek economist, lawyer, and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (born 1936)