Events on October 5 52
Year 456
The Visigoths under king Theodoric II, acting on orders of the Roman emperor Avitus, invade Iberia with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by the kings Chilperic I and Gondioc. They defeat the Suebi under king Rechiar on the river Urbicus near Astorga (Gallaecia).
Year 816
King Louis the Pious is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Stephen IV at Reims.
Year 869
The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about patriarch Photius of Constantinople.
Year 1582
Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
Year 1607
Assassins sent by Pope Paul V attempt to kill Venetian statesman and scientist Paolo Sarpi, who survives fifteen stiletto thrusts.
Year 1789
French Revolution: Women of Paris march to Versailles in the March on Versailles to confront Louis XVI of France about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the King and his court moved to Paris.
Year 1813
Battle of the Thames in Canada; Americans defeat British and kill Shawnee leader Tecumseh.
Year 1864
The Indian city of Calcutta is almost totally destroyed by a cyclone; 60,000 die.
Year 1869
The Saxby Gale devastates the Bay of Fundy region of Maritime Canada. The storm had reportedly been predicted over a year before by a British naval officer.
Year 1869
During construction, the Hennepin Island tunnel has a limestone cap breached and the rushing water breaks large chunks of land away and the St. Anthony Falls are nearly destroyed.
Year 1905
Wilbur Wright pilots Wright Flyer III in a flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes, a world record that stood until 1908.
Year 1910
In a revolution in Portugal the monarchy is overthrown and a republic is declared.
Year 1911
The Kowloon-Canton Railway (split into MTR East Rail Line and Guangshen Railway now) commences service between Kowloon and Canton.
Year 1938
In Nazi Germany, Jews' passports are invalidated; those who needed a passport for emigration purposes are given one marked with the letter "J" (for "Jude", or Jew).
Year 1945
Hollywood Black Friday: A six-month strike by Hollywood set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Brothers' studios.
Year 1947
The first televised White House address is given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
Year 1962
The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do" backed with "P.S. I Love You", is released in the United Kingdom.
Year 1966
Near Detroit, Michigan, there is a partial core meltdown at the Enrico Fermi demonstration nuclear breeder reactor.
Year 1968
Police baton civil rights demonstrators in Derry, Northern Ireland - considered to mark the beginning of The Troubles.
Year 1970
British Trade Commissioner James Cross is kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group, triggering the October Crisis in Canada.
Year 1974
Guildford pub bombings: Bombs planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) kill four British soldiers and one civilian.
Year 1980
Elisabeth blast furnace demolished at Bilston Steelworks marking the end of iron and steel production in the Black Country.[1]
Year 1982
Chicago Tylenol murders: Johnson & Johnson initiates a nationwide product recall in the United States for all products in its Tylenol brand after several bottles in Chicago are found to have been laced with cyanide, resulting in seven deaths.
Year 1984
Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
Year 1986
Israeli secret nuclear weapons are revealed. The British newspaper The Sunday Times runs Mordechai Vanunu's story on its front page under the headline: "Revealed — the secrets of Israel's nuclear arsenal".
Year 1988
The Chilean opposition coalition Concertación (center-left) defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt and a general election is called the following year.
Year 1990
After one hundred and fifty years The Herald broadsheet newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, is published for the last time as a separate newspaper.
Year 1991
An Indonesian military transport crashes after takeoff from Jakarta killing 137.
Year 2000
Mass demonstrations in Belgrade lead to resignation of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milošević. These demonstrations are often called the Bulldozer Revolution.
Year 2001
Barry Bonds surpasses Mark McGwire's single-season home run total with his milestone 71st and 72nd home runs.
Year 2011
In the Mekong River massacre, two Chinese cargo boats are hijacked and 13 crew members murdered in the lawless Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia.