Historical Events on August 5
- 25 AD: After the end of the Xin Dynasty, Guangwu becomes emperor and restores the Han Dynasty.
- 135 AD: Roman armies slaughter thousand in Betar as they try to end the Kokhba Revolt.
- 642: Penda of Mercia defeats Oswald of Northumbria during the Battle of Masefield.
- 1068: A siege of Bari by Italo-Normans occurs during the Byzantine Norman Wars.
- 1100: Henry I becomes King of England.
- 1860: Charles XV is crowned king of Norway in Trondheim.
- 1861: The U.S government levies the first income tax to help pay for the American Civil War.
- 1862: Confederate troops attempt to take Baton Rouge, Louisiana but are driven out by Union gunboats.
- 1864: The Battle of Mobile Bay begins in Mobile, Alabama.
- 1884: The Statue of Liberty’s cornerstone is laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.
- 1914: The German mine-layer the SS Königin Luise is sunk by the British cruise the HMS Amphion.
- 1914: The first electric traffic light is installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
- 1926: Harry Houdini spends 91 minutes in an underwater sealed tank before escaping.
- 1940: The Soviet Union annexes Latvia.
- 1941: The Battle of Smolensk ends with Germany capturing 300,000 Soviet soldiers.
- 1944: Over 1100 Japanese prisoners-of-war in Australia attempt to escape from a camp in Cowra, New South Wales.
- 1944: Over 340 Jewish prisoners are freed when Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, Poland.
- 1981:S President Ronald Reagan fires over 11,000 air traffic controllers who had been on strike for ignoring his orders for them to return back to their jobs.
Famous Birthdays on August 5
- American lawyer and author David Baldacci is born in 1960.
- English actress Janet McTeer is born in 1961.
- Sri-Lankan cricketer and coach Athula Samarasekera is born in 1961.
- American singer-songwriter Tim Wilson is born in 1961.
- American baseball player and coach Eric Hinske is born in 1977.
- English footballer Michael Walsh is born in 1977.
- American baseball player Carl Crawford is born in 1981.