Events for December 5
1958 – The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)
1770 – 29th Regiment of Foot privates Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy are found guilty for the manslaughter of Crispus Attucks and Samuel Gray respectively in the Boston Massacre.
1649 – The town of Raahe (Swedish: Brahestad) is founded by Count Per Brahe the Younger.
1983 – Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.
2005 – The 6.8 Mw Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing six people.
1914 – The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition began in an attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.
1964 – Lloyd J. Old discovers the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.
1991 – Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine.
1935 – Mary McLeod Bethune founds the National Council of Negro Women in New York City.
1921 – The Football Association bans women's football in England from league grounds, a ban that stays in place for 50 years.
1971 – Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces stand defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh.
1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated, most likely by his brother, Berenguer Ramon II.
2007 – Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.
1408 – Seeking to resubjugate Muscovy, Emir Edigu of the Golden Horde reaches Moscow, burning areas around the city but failing to take the city itself.
1933 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
1995 – Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, killing 52 people.
1766 – In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.
1936 – The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.
1578 – Sir Francis Drake, after sailing through Strait of Magellan, raids Valparaiso.
1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.
1943 – World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.
1775 – At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Notable Births & Deaths for December 5
2012 – Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch (b. 1920)
2014 – Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (b. 1931)
2013 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (b. 1917)
1995 – Danny Levi, New Zealand rugby league player
2013 – William B. Edmondson, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa (b. 1927)
2015 – Chuck Williams, American businessman and author, founded Williams Sonoma (b. 1915)
2017 – August Ames, Canadian American pornographic actress (b. 1994)
2014 – Talât Sait Halman, Turkish poet, translator, and historian (b. 1931)
1987 – A. J. Pollock, American baseball player
2023 – Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1922)
1992 – Natalie Sourisseau, Canadian field hockey player
1991 – Jacopo Sala, Italian footballer
2020 – Peter Alliss, English professional golfer (b. 1931)
1988 – Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist
1991 – Cam Fowler, Canadian-American ice hockey player
1993 – Ross Barkley, English footballer
1989 – Jurrell Casey, American football player
2022 – Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer (b. 1951)
2015 – Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1929)
1998 – Conan Gray, American singer-songwriter
1988 – Kyle Long, American football player
2012 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (b. 1909)
2014 – Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish hurdler and politician (b. 1931)
1988 – Ross Bagley, American actor
1997 – Quinnen Williams, American football player
2014 – Fabiola, Queen of Belgium (b. 1928)
1991 – Christian Yelich, American baseball player
2012 – Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília (b. 1907)
1995 – Kaetlyn Osmond, Canadian figure skater
1986 – Justin Smoak, American baseball player
2012 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (b. 1920)
2019 – Robert Walker, American actor (b. 1940)
1995 – Levy Rozman, American chess International Master, streamer and YouTuber
2015 – Vic Eliason, American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America (b. 1936)
2016 – Tyruss Himes ("Big Syke"), American rapper (b. 1968)
2011 – Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1942)
1992 – Ilja Antonov, Estonian footballer
2014 – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author (b. 1909)
2013 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
1997 – Maddie Poppe, American singer-songwriter and musician
1994 – Semi Ojeleye, American basketball player
1989 – Kwon Yu-ri, South Korean singer-songwriter and actress
1990 – Montee Ball, American football player
1994 – Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer
1995 – Anthony Martial, French footballer
2017 – Michael I of Romania, fifth and last king of Romania (b. 1921)
1988 – Tina Charles, American basketball player
Quick Start
Our API is incredibly easy to use, check out the code samples below to get started:
Fetch Historical Events
All you need to do is send a request to https://today.zenquotes.io/api/[month]/[day]/[key] in order to generate a JSON array of historical events, including notable births and deaths. API data pulled from WikiPedia.
*[key] not required but recommended.
Sample Requests
https://today.zenquotes.io/api - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for current server time (UTC).
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/1/1 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for January 1.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/5/5 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for May 5.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/12/25 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for December 25.
Response
The result data is formatted as a JSON array, grouped by event type.
{ "info":"OnThisDay API", "date":"April_20", "updated":"1615972324",
"data":{
"Events":[
{
"text":"1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.[1]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1303\" title=\"1303\">1303</a> – The <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapienza_University_of_Rome\" title=\"Sapienza University of Rome\">Sapienza University of Rome</a> is instituted by a <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_bull\" title=\"Papal bull\">bull</a> of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Boniface_VIII\" title=\"Pope Boniface VIII\">Pope Boniface VIII</a>."
},
//.. MORE DATA ..//
],
"Births":[
{
"text":"1494 – Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)[8]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1494\" title=\"1494\">1494</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Agricola\" title=\"Johannes Agricola\">Johannes Agricola</a>, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)"
},
//.. MORE DATA ..//
],
"Deaths":[
{
"text":"689 – Cædwalla, king of Wessex (b. 659)[21]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/689\" title=\"689\">689</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A6dwalla_of_Wessex\" title=\"Cædwalla of Wessex\">Cædwalla</a>, king of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Wessex\" title=\"Wessex\">Wessex</a> (b. 659)" },
//.. MORE DATA ..//
}
]
} }Usage Limits and Attribution
Requests are restricted to 5 per 30 second period, an API key or registered IP is required for unlimited access and to enable Access-Control-Allow-Origin headers. We require that you show attribution with a link back to https://today.zenquotes.io/ when using the free version of this API. Contact support@zenquotes.io to chat with our friendly dev team and get registered.
Historical event data provided by <a href="https://today.zenquotes.io/" target="_blank">ZenQuotes.io</a>