Discover what happened on January 5 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

January 5

Discover what happened on January 5 with HISTORY&#8217;s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

What Happened on January 5 | HISTORY

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As the Great Depression continued worldwide, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Nazis declared a national boycott of Jewish-owned businesses and opened their first concentration camp, Dachau. In the U.S., after President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt narrowly escaped assassination, he inaugurated his New Deal programs, ended Prohibition and began speaking directly to Americans with radio fireside chats. A “monster” appeared in Scotland’s Loch Ness, King Kong loomed large on movie screens and the first drive-in theater opened in New Jersey.

1933

1953

1531

1980

The turbulence of 1968 began on New Year’s Day with the Tet Offensive, shocking Americans with the unwinnable realities of the Vietnam War. The assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy darkened the national mood and deepened domestic unrest. Mass protests erupted around the globe, from Chicago to Prague to France, Mexico and beyond. In space, Apollo 8 orbited the moon, while back on earth, “Laugh-In” topped TV ratings, “Hair” premiered on Broadway and McDonald’s debuted the iconic Big Mac.

1968

1976

1643

1895

1916

The first year of Roaring Twenties in the U.S. brought votes for women and an official start to the nationwide ban on alcohol. The League of Nations met for the first time in Geneva, and the Mexican Revolution ended after 10 years. The Band-Aid debuted, the first commercial radio broadcast hit the airwaves, transmitting the Harding-Cox presidential race results, and Jazz Age author F. Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel, “This Side of Paradise.”

1920

The Cold War heated up in 1949 when the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb and Germany split into two separate nations—one aligned with the West, the other with the Soviets. To counteract the threat, the U.S. and European allies signed the NATO charter. In Asia, Communists declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China. George Orwell predicted scarier times ahead with his novel “1984,” and consumers saw the introduction of 45 r.p.m. records, Kraft singles and Lego plastic bricks.

1949

1972

1870

1998

As the Vietnam War expanded into Cambodia, anti-war rallies flared at home; at Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen killed four unarmed student protesters, shocking the nation. Americans held their breath as NASA scrambled to bring Apollo 13 astronauts home safely after their aborted moon mission. Some 20 million people celebrated the first Earth Day, rock icons Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix both died of drug overdoses at age 27, and the Beatles called it quits.

1970

In 1957, the Soviet Union shot its Sputnik satellite into orbit, launching a space race with the U.S. The Little Rock Nine integrated an Arkansas high school to fierce local opposition, forcing President Eisenhower to send in federal troops to escort them. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first such law since Reconstruction. In Liverpool, England, 16-year-old John Lennon and 15-year-old Paul McCartney met for the first time at a church fair. In the U.S., frisbees flew into popularity.

1957

While a few battles remained to be fought, the American Revolution essentially ended in 1781 when British General Cornwallis surrendered his troops to American and French forces at Yorktown. The Articles of Confederation—America’s first constitution—took effect, after ratification by the original 13 states. In what would become California, 44 settlers established Los Angeles, while in South America, Spanish forces brutally executed Tupac Amaru II, leader of a rebellion by indigenous people there.

1781

America’s Founding Fathers decided that one elected civilian—the U.S. president—would lead the executive branch of the federal government, a governmental structure that has remained in place for more than 200 years.

U.S. Presidents

Colonial America was a vast land settled by Spanish, Dutch, French and English immigrants who established colonies such as St. Augustine, Florida; Jamestown, Virginia; and Roanoke in present-day North Carolina.

Colonial America

World War I pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against Great Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Italy and Japan. New military technology resulted in unprecedented carnage. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers claimed victory, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians alike—were dead.

World War I

Religion and spiritual issues, including Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, the Bible, Wicca, Buddhism and more, are at the core of human values and history.

Religion

The Vietnam War pitted communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the United States. The war ended when U.S. forces withdrew in 1973 and Vietnam unified under Communist control two years later.

Vietnam War

The 1960s was one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades in world history. The era was marked by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and antiwar protests, countercultural movements, political assassinations and the emerging "generation gap."

1960s

Crime has been a dark and powerful undercurrent in human society throughout history. Uncover the facts behind some of the most daring robberies, brazen scams and brutal murders ever committed.

Crime

Sports and recreation are an integral part of human history, from the ancient Olympics to the Kentucky Derby, Jackie Robinson, Negro League Baseball, the Super Bowl and more.

Sports

The Revolutionary War waged by the American colonies against Britain influenced political ideas and revolutions around the globe, as a small fledgling nation won its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.

American Revolution

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History.com Editors

Art history tells the complex story of human civilization through art, literature and design. It ranges from prehistoric art of the Neolithic period through Renaissance masterpieces, Impressionism, Modernism, the Bauhaus and contemporary art.

Art, Literature and Film History

Landmarks and monuments, the physical record of human civilization, include spectacular structures like the Eiffel Tower, Mount Rushmore, the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge and more.

Landmarks

Explore the wars, battles, leaders, civilizations, regimes, prominent figures and major events from the continent that encompasses 2 percent of the Earth’s surface. From Stonehenge to the Great Awakening to the French Revolution to the rise and fall of Communism in Russia, see how Europe’s often tumultuous history unfolded.

This Day In History: January 5

Golden Gate Bridge is born

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Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” premieres in Paris

Pope Clement VII forbids King Henry VIII from remarrying

This Day in History Video: What Happened on January 5

The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” becomes hip‑hop’s first Top 40 hit

Prague Spring begins in Czechoslovakia

Pol Pot renames Cambodia

First divorce in the American colonies

Alleged spy Alfred Dreyfus stripped of his rank

First conscription bill is introduced in British parliament

New York Yankees announce purchase of Babe Ruth

President Truman delivers his Fair Deal speech

President Nixon launches space shuttle program

John Wesley Hardin kills over a card game

Sonny Bono killed in skiing accident

Bodies of family killed by United Mine Workers found

President Eisenhower proposes new Middle East policy

Benedict Arnold captures and destroys Richmond

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