November 5th in History

1138 - Ly Anh Tong is enthroned as Emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, starting a 37-year reign.

1605 - The Gunpowder plot - The arrest of Guy Fawkes, found during a search of the Palace of Westminster, foils Robert Catesby's plot to destroy the House of Lords and kill King James I and his Protestant supporters

1780 - French-American forces under Colonel LaBalme are defeated by Miami Chief Little Turtle.


1838 - The Federal Republic of Central America begins to disintegrate when Nicaragua separates from the Federation.

1854 - Crimean War: The Battle of Inkerman.

1872 -Women's suffrage in the United States: In defiance of the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time, and is later fined $100.

1916 - The Kingdom of Poland is proclaimed by the Act of November 5th of the emperors of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

1917 - October Revolution: In Tallinn, Estonia, Communist leader Jaan Anvelt leads revolutionaries in overthrowing the Provisional Government (As Estonia and Russia are still using the Julian Calendar, subsequent period references show an October 23 date).

1917 - St. Tikhon of Moscow is elected the Patriarch of Moscow and of the Russian Orthodox Church.


1937 - Adolf Hitler holds a secret meeting and states his plans for acquiring "living space" for the German people.

1943 - Bombing of the Vatican by a Fascist Italian aircraft, departing from Viterbo,

1945 - Colombia joins the United Nations.

1990 - Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Kach movement, is shot dead after a speech at a New York City hotel.

2006 - Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi'as in 1982.

Famous Birthdays:

1615 - Ibrahim I, Ottoman Sultan

1715 - John Brown, writer

1905 - Joel McCrea, actor

1921 - Queen (also Princess) Fawzia of Egypt and Iran, the first consort of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia (last monarch of Iran)

1940 - Elke Sommer, actress

1959 - Bryan Adams, musician

1965 - HRH Prince Kubrat of Panagyurishte, Duke of Saxony, the third son of the exiled Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria


1971 - Corin Nemec, actor

1985 - Michel Butter, long-distance runner