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December 5 December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 26 days remaining. Events 1484 - Pope Innocent VIII writes a Papal Bull that sets the inquisition into full swing and kills hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of innocent people accused of being witches 1492 - Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). 1560 - Francis II of France dies and is succeeded by Charles IX of France. 1766 - In London, James Christie holds his first sale (he later founded Christie's, the world's oldest auction house). 1776 - At the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Phi Beta Kappa is founded as the first scholastic fraternity in the United States. 1791 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dies impoverished in Vienna, Austria at age 35. 1831 - Former US President John Quincy Adams takes a seat in the United States House of Representatives. 1848 - California gold rush: In a message before the United States Congress, US President James Knox Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California. 1873 - In Boston, Massachusetts, Warren Avenue Baptist Church sexton Thomas Piper strangles and beats to death his first victim, Bridget Landregan (the press later dubbed the then unknown serial killer "The Boston Belfry Murderer"). 1926 - Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin," debuts 1932 - German physicist Albert Einstein granted a visa 1933 - Prohibition ends: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 3/4th of states needed to enact the amendment (this overturned the 18th Amendment which had outlawed alcohol in the United States). 1934 - Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Ethiopia (it took four days to capture the city). 1936 - The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution. 1941 - The nonfiction book Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck is published (Steinbeck used knowledge gained writing this book to develop the marine biologist character Doc in Cannery Row). 1945 - Flight 19, a United States Navy training flight was lost in the Bermuda Triangle. 1952 - The Abbott and Costello Show starring comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, debuts. 1955 - The trade unions American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations decided to merge and form the AFL-CIO. 1964 - Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war. 1974 - The last new episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus is broadcast on the BBC. 1978 - The Soviet Union signs a 'friendship treaty' with the communist government of Afghanistan. 1979 - Sonia Johnson is formally excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her outspoken criticism of the church concerning the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. 1992 - Kent Conrad of North Dakota resigns his seat in the United States Senate and is sworn into the other seat from North Dakota, becoming the only US Senator ever to have held two seats on the same day. 2003 - Johannes Heesters, the world's oldest living actor, turns 100. Births 1443 - Pope Julius II 1537 - Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Ashikaga shogun (d. 1597) 1782 - Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States and first US President born in the United States (d. 1862) 1822 - Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, American educator, first president of Radcliffe College (d. 1907) 1830 - Christina Rossetti, poet (d. 1894) 1839 - George Armstrong Custer, American general (d. 1876) 1841 - Marcus Daly, American mining tycoon (d. 1900) 1870 - Vitezslav Novák, composer (d. 1949) 1871 - Bill Pickett, rodeo star (d. 1932) 1875 - Arthur Currie, soldier (d. 1933) 1879 - Clyde Cessna, founder Cessna Aircraft Company (d. 1954) 1886 - Rose Wilder Lane, writer, reporter (d. 1968) 1890 - David Bomberg, painter (d. 1957) 1890 - Fritz Lang, film director (d. 1976) 1901 - Werner Heisenberg, physicist (d. 1976) 1901 - Walt Disney, film producer (d. 1966) 1902 - Strom Thurmond, American politician (d. 2003) 1903 - Johannes Heesters, singer and actor 1906 - Otto Preminger, director, producer (d. 1986) 1914 - Hans Hellmut Kirst, author (d. 1989) 1927 - Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand (r. 1946-) 1932 - Little Richard, singer 1932 - Sheldon Lee Glashow, physicist 1934 - Joan Didion, writer 1935 - Calvin Trillin, writer 1940 - Peter Pohl, Swedish writer 1944 - Jeroen Krabbé, actor 1946 - José Carreras, singer 1947 - Jim Messina, musician 1947 - Jim Plunkett, American football star 1950 - Camarón de la Isla, flamenco cantaore 1956 - Krystian Zimerman, pianist 1962 - José Cura, Argentine tenor 1968 - Margaret Cho, comedian, actress 1973 - Lubos Motl, physicist 1975 - Ronnie O'Sullivan, English snooker player 1985 - Frankie Muniz, actor Deaths 1624 - Gaspard Bauhin, botanist 1663 - Severo Bonini, composer 1758 - Johann Friedrich Fasch, composer 1784 - Phillis Wheatley, poet 1791 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer 1819 - Friedrich Leopold Graf zu Stolberg, German poet (b. 1750) 1870 - Alexandre Dumas père, writer 1926 - Claude Monet, impressionist painter 1931 - Vachel Lindsay, poet 1940 - Jan Kubelík, violinist 1950 - Shri Aurobindo, guru 1951 - Shoeless Joe Jackson, of baseball's "Black Sox" scandal 1963 - Sri Deep Narayan Mahaprabhuji, Hindu saint 1963 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann, composer 1989 - John Pritchard, English conductor (b. 1921) 1991 - Richard Speck, murderer 2001 - Sir Peter Blake, New Zealand sailor and environmentalist, (shot by pirates on the Amazon River) 2001 - Franco Rasetti, physicist 2002 - Roone Arledge, sports broadcasting pioneer 2002 - Einar Skinnarland, SOE agent 2002 - Ne Win, Burmese dictator Holidays and observances International Volunteer Day The Netherlands and the UK- Saint Nicholas Eve (who they call Sinterklaas, which became in other languages Santa Claus) Austria - Krampus Roman Empire - Faunalia celebrated in honor of Faunus December 4 - December 6 - November 5 - January 5 -- listing of all days Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. 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