September 5

September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). There are 117 days remaining.

Events

• 1698 - In an effort to move his people away from Asiatic customs, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a tax on beards; All men except priests and peasants, are required to pay a tax of one hundred rubles a year and the commoners had to pay one kopek each.
• 1774 - First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1793 - In France, the French National Convention votes to implement terror measures to repress French Revolutionary activities. The ensuing "Reign of Terror" will last until the spring of 1794 and kill 35,000-40,000 people.
• 1836 - Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
• 1862 - American Civil War: In the Confederacy's first invasion of the North, General Robert E. Lee leads 55,000 men of the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River at White's Ford near Leesburg, Virginia into Maryland.
• 1877 - Indian Wars: Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse is bayoneted by a United States soldier after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson in Nebraska.
• 1882 - The first United States Labor Day parade is held in New York City.
• 1901 - The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (later renamed Minor League Baseball), is formed in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1905 - Russo-Japanese War: Treaty of Portsmouth signed - In New Hampshire a treaty mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt, is signed by victor Japan and defeated party Russia. In the agreement, Russia cedes the island of Sakhalin and port and rail rights in Manchuria to Japan.
• 1914 - World War I: First Battle of the Marne begins - Northeast of Paris, the French 6th Army under General Michel-Joseph Maunoury attack German forces who are advancing on the capital. Over 2 million troops will fight in the battle and 100,000 will be killed or wounded in this significant Allied victory.
• 1939 - World War II: The United States declares its neutrality in the war.
• 1943 - World War II: The 503rd Parachute Regiment under American General Douglas MacArthur lands and occupies Nazdab, just east of the port city of Lae in northeastern Papua New Guinea.
• 1945 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose," is arrested in Yokohama. She will later serve six years in prison before being pardoned by US President Gerald R. Ford.
• 1948 - Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1949 - A former sharpshooter in World War II, Howard Unruh kills 13 neighbors in Camden, New Jersey with a souvenir Luger to become America's first single-episode mass murderer.
• 1960 - Cassius Clay wins the gold medal in boxing at the Rome Olympic Games.
• 1969 - My Lai Massacre: Lt. William Calley is charged with six specifications of premeditated murder for the death of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai.
• 1970 - Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn begins - The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thua Thien Province (operation ends in October 1971).
• 1972 - Munich Massacre: A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attack Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.
• 1975 - In Sacramento, California, a follower of incarcerated cult leader Charles Manson named Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme attempts to assassinate US President Gerald Ford, but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent.
• 1977 - Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay.
• 1978 - Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace process at Camp David, Maryland.
• 1980 - The St. Gothard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.32 km) stretching from Goschenen to Airolo.
• 1983 - The half-hour Robert MacNeil Report changes its name to the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, becoming the first hour-long network news show.
• 1984 - STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery lands after its maiden voyage.
• 1986 - Pan Am Flight 73 with 358 people on board is hijacked at Karachi International Airport.
• 1988 - With US$2 billion in federal aid, the Robert M. Bass Group agrees to buy the United States's largest bankrupt thrift, American Savings and Loan Association.
• 2000 - Tuvalu joins the United Nations.
• 2001 - Peru's attorney general files homicide charges against ex-President Alberto Fujimori.
• 2002 - A car bomb kills 30 people in Kabul, Afghanistan, in an apparent assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
• 2002 - The Sour Biscuit Fire in Oregon and northern California, which burned 499,570 acres, is finally contained.
• 2003 - Disneyland Roller Coaster accident

Births

• 1187 - Louis VIII of France (d. 1226)
• 1638 - Louis XIV of France (d. 1715)
• 1807 - Richard Chenevix Trench, clergyman, philologist (d. 1886)
• 1827 - Goffredo Mameli, Italian poet and writer
• 1847 - Jesse James, outlaw (d. 1882)
• 1879 - Frank Jewett, inventor, president of Bell Labs
• 1902 - Darryl F. Zanuck, movie producer and executive (d. 1979)
• 1905 - Arthur Koestler, Hungarian writer (d. 1983)
• 1912 - John Cage, American composer (d. 1992)
• 1916 - Frank Yerby, novelist (d. 1991)
• 1921 - Jack Valenti, political advisor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of America
• 1924 - Paul Volcker, head of the Federal Reserve Board
• 1929 - Bob Newhart, actor, comedian
• 1929 - Andrian Nikolayev, cosmonaut
• 1934 - Carol Lawrence, actress, singer
• 1936 - Bill Mazeroski, baseball star
• 1939 - George Lazenby, actor
• 1939 - Princess Irene of the Netherlands
• 1939 - William Devane, actor
• 1939 - Susumu Tonegawa, Nobel Prize winning molecular biologist
• 1940 - Raquel Welch, actress
• 1942 - Werner Herzog, film director
• 1946 - Freddie Mercury, British pop singer (d. 1991)
• 1946 - Loudon Wainwright III, singer, composer
• 1946 - Buddy Miles, musician
• 1948 - Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian diplomat and politician
• 1950 - Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist
• 1965 - Chris Morris, British satirist
• 1976 - Tatyana Gutsu, Ukrainian gymnast
• 1978 - Bernard Duffy, director

Deaths

• 1201 - Constance, Duchess of Brittany
• 1235 - Henry I, Duke of Brabant
• 1803 - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (b. 1741)
• 1877 - Crazy Horse, Sioux military leader
• 1902 - Rudolf Virchow, German doctor, pathologist, biologist, and politician
• 1906 - Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian phsyicist
• 1910 - Julian Edwards, composer
• 1912 - Arthur MacArthur, Jr., soldier
• 1930 - Robert Means Thompson, American naval officer
• 1965 - Thomas Johnston, Scottish-born politician
• 1966 - Dezső Lauber, Hungarian sportsman
• 1970 - Jochen Rindt, Austrian racing driver
• 1988 - Gert Fröbe, actor
• 1992 - Fritz Leiber, science fiction and fantasy author
• 1995 - William Kunstler, lawyer, liberal activist
• 1997 - Georg Solti, conductor
• 1997 - Mother Teresa, Yugoslav development worker
• 1998 - Leo Penn, film director
• 1999 - Allen Funt, radio and television personality
• 2001 - Justin Wilson, celebrity chef
• 2001 - Heywood Hale Broun, sports commentator
• 2001 - Vladimir Zerjavic, Croatian - UN statistician

Holidays

• The feast day of Teresa of Calcutta, currently pending sainthood.

September 4 - September 6 - August 5 - October 5 - more historical anniversaries