Important Events From This day in History December 5

  

1945 Bermuda - - Aircraft Lost In Bermuda Triangle

1945 : Five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three hour training mission. Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 120-mile leg that would return them to the naval base. They never returned. This area is known as the Bermuda Triangle and is renowned for causing instrument malfunctions including Compass and Radio Malfunctions. The Bermuda Triangle is said to stretch from the southern U.S. coast across to Bermuda and down to the Atlantic coast of Cuba and Santo Domingo.

1952 UK -- London Killer Fog

A terrible deathly fog ( "The Great Smog" or "The Big Smoke" ) causes the death of thousands of Londoners it starts on 5th and ends on 9th. The smog had been created by a combination of the cold fog combining with sulfur pollutants caused through an increase of coal smoke due to increased burning of coal fires.

Due to the knowledge gained from this deadly occurrence there was a rethink of causes of air pollution and new regulations were put in place including the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and of 1968, and the City of London (Various Powers) Act of 1954.

1977 Bermuda - - Race Riots

1977 : In Hamilton, Bermuda British soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were called in to control race riots in the city. The riots went on for three days and caused $5 million in damages. Civilians and 5,000 tourists stayed hidden indoors. There had been two nights of fire bombing by youth, but severe rains quelled the violence.

1905 UK - - Cabinet Resigns

A crisis in British politics was brewing. The premier of England, Arthur J. Balfour and his cabinet resigned and King Edward asked Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman to put together a new government. The old parliament was not to dissolve until the New Year. One of the major issues in British politics at this time was the question of home rule for Ireland.

1927 Canada -- Roller Canary Championship

For the first time in history, a Roller Canary Championship, open to the entire world took place in the west. Defeating all other warbling birds owner William Latimer, President of the Western Canada Roller Canary Club, had the canary who was the undefeated champion. The Manitoba Free Press explained, "Each bird was given five minutes in which to sing, after which the cage was closed and the next bird given his chance.

1932 Soviet Union -- Ration cards

The Soviet Union decided to shift the distribution of food, clothing, and other supplies to the factories, out of the hands of the government. Ration cards were to be given to the public and it was up to the factories to procure the goods.

1933 U.S.A. -- 18th Amendment Ends

Prohibition comes to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment Available as a downloadable image on our Public Domain Images Page

18th Amendment / Prohibition Timeline

1948 Singapore -- Airstrip

The small crown colony of Singapore, Cocos Island in the Indian Ocean, was being considered as an airstrip that would link Australia to Britain. After a contentious debate in the Singapore government it was decided to spend $2,500 to repair the airstrip for air traffic.

1950 Korea -- Chinese Enter Pyongyang

Following the United nations retreat from North Korea, Chinese troops have entered the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

1959 Turkey -- President Eisenhower Visit

President Eisenhower was to visit Ankara, Turkey for seventeen hours and all over the country the Turkish citizens were wildly enthusiastic. Posters of "Turks like Ike too" were placed everywhere around the city. Turkey was a strong supporter of the Atlantic Pact.

1966 South Vietnam -- U.S. Planes Attack Hanoi

U.S. war planes were retaliating for the largest loss of their planes since the beginning of the Vietnam War. They hit targets near Hanoi and shot down an enemy plane. Near Saigon thirty Viet Cong were killed as well as three Americans.

1977 Egypt -- Breaks of Relations With Other Arab Countries

Following the hard line countries opposition to Egypt and signing the Declaration of Tripoli which includes sanctions against Egypt because President Anwar al-Sadat became the first Arab leader to recognize the state of Israel. President Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt has broken all relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria and South Yemen.

1987 Haiti -- US Diplomats Withdrawn

One hundred and fifty American embassy workers and diplomats were withdrawn from Haiti due to the unstable political situation. They were expected to be home by Christmas. Eighty embassy employees were left behind to take care of essential services. Sixty-four million dollars in aid was withdrawn by President Reagan and Haiti's national elections were not held because voters were endangered.

1991 UK -- Maxwell Empire Faces Bankruptcy

Following the death of Robert Maxwell administrators have been called in to try to salvage the Maxwell business empire, which includes the Mirror Group Newspapers and is at least £1bn in debt

1995 Sri Lanka -- Tamil Tiger

Sri Lankan forces have taken back the city of Jaffna from Tamil Tiger guerrilla forces after a 7 week operation. The Tamil Tigers had been in control of the city for some time and had their own police force, law courts and were collecting taxes from the city population. The Tamil Tigers are a guerrilla force who are seeking to create a Tamil sovereign socialist state in the north and east of the country of Sri Lanka ( formerly Ceylon ).

1996 U.S.A. -- Alan Greenspan

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan questions whether the stock market is overvalued, saying in a speech in Washington, ''How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly inflated asset values? that is thought to have led Japanese stocks to fall 3.2%

1999 Northern Ireland -- IRA

In Belfast the Protestant-Catholic government was new and fragile. The main issue left to establish peace in Ireland was the disarming of the IRA, however some IRA militants said they had enough weapons to keep on fighting for another generation. General John de Chastelain, a Canadian disarmament leader, was planning a meeting with a chief IRA leader – possibly Brian Keenan -- to discuss where the IRA has its cache of weapons stashed.