Historical Events on January 5
- 1781: Benedict Arnold leads British Naval forces to capture and burn Richmond, Virginia during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1846: The U.S House of Representatives decides to stop allowing the United Kingdom to use parts of the Oregon Territory.
- 1875: The opera house Palais Garnier is inaugurated on this day in Paris, France.
- 1882: Charles J. Guiteau is sentenced to death by hanging after he was convicted of assassinating United States President James A. Garfield.
- 1895: Alfred Dreyfus is sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
- 1914: Henry Ford introduces a $5 dollar a day minimum wage to his employees – which was over double what their original wage was. He also lowered the work day from 9-hours to 8-hours a day.
- 1919: The German Worker’s Party is founded. This party would eventually become the Nazi Party.
- 1933: Construction for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California begins on this day.
- 1949: The Fair Deal Program is introduced to the American public by U.S President Harry S. Truman.
- 1957: What would come to be known as the Eisenhower Doctrine is announced in a speech given by U.S President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the U.S Congress.
- 1972:S President Richard Nixon gives final approval to the Space Shuttle program.
Famous Birthdays on January 5
- German author, philosopher and Nobel Prize laureate, Rudolf Christoph Eucken is born in 1846.
- American businessman and founder of the Gillette Company, King Camp Gillette is born in 1855.
- American physiologist and Nobel Prize laureate, Joseph Erlanger is born in 1874.
- American nurse Agnes von Kurowsky is born in 1892.
- American actor George Reeves is born in 1914.
- American actress Jane Wyman is born in 1917.
- American businessman Herb Peterson is born in 1919.
- American poet W.D. Snodgrass is born in 1926.
- American actor and director Robert Duvall is born in 1931.
- American singer-songwriter Marilyn Manson is born in 1969.