One way to research genealogy is to learn more about history and the events that affected our ancestors. So here is a short list of events in history on September 5, to get your imagination going.
- 1666 – Great Fire of London ends: 10,000 buildings including St. Paul’s Cathedral are destroyed, but only 16 people are known to have died.
- 1774 – First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1781 – Battle of the Chesapeake in the American Revolutionary War.
- 1793 – French Revolution the French National Convention initiates the Reign of Terror.
- 1836 – Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
- 1839 – The First Opium War begins in China.
- 1877 – Indian Wars: Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse is bayoneted by a United States soldier after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson in Nebraska.
- 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: In New Hampshire, USA, the Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt, ends the war.
- 1914 – World War I: First Battle of the Marne begins. Northeast of Paris, the French attack and defeat German forces who are advancing on the capital.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese high command orders withdrawal at Milne Bay, first Japanese defeat in the Pacific War.
- 1944 – Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg constitute Benelux.
- 1972 – Munich Massacre: A Palestinian terrorist group called “Black September” attack Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.
- 1977 – Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay.
- 1984 – STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery lands after its maiden voyage.
- 1984 – Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment.