September 5

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

Events

1666 - Great Fire of London ended: A large fire in London burns out after three days. 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral were destroyed, but only 16 people are known to have died.

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 enforce the principles of the French Revolution, initiating the Reign of Terror.

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.

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.

1914 - World War I: First Battle of the Marne begins - Northeast of Paris, the French attack and defeat German forces who are advancing on the capital.

1937 - Spanish Civil War: The fall of Llanes.

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 in Papua New Guinea.

1945 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist Tokyo Rose, is arrested in Yokohama.

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.

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 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. Gotthard 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.

1983 - Peter Jennings becomes lead anchor for ABC World News Tonight

1983 - Tom Brokaw becomes lead anchor for NBC Nightly News

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.

1997 - At least 87 people killed in the Beni-Messous massacre

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 (2,020 km²), is finally contained.

2004 - Future Hurricane Ivan becomes a Hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean.