December 5
1776 - The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1791 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria at age 35.
1792 - George Washington was reelected president; John Adams was reelected vice president.
1848 - President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1948 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.
1872 - Having left New York on Nov. 5, the brigantine Mary Celeste was found adrift off the coast of Portugal with everyone aboard mysteriously missing.
1932 - German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa, making it possible for him to travel to the United States.
1933 - The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment dealing with Prohibition, was ratified.
1952 - The Great Smog of London descended on the British capital; the unusually thick fog, which contained toxic pollutants, lasted five days and was blamed for causing thousands of deaths.
1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.
1994 - Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.
2002 - At Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott praised Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid; Lott subsequently resigned his leadership position.
2004 - Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly elected president.
2009 - A jury in Perugia, Italy convicted American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, of murdering Knox's British roommate, Meredith Kercher, and sentenced them to long prison terms. (After a series of back-and-forth rulings, Knox and Sollecito were definitively acquitted in 2015 by Italy's highest court.)
2013 - Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa's first Black president, died at age 95.
2017 - Democratic congressman John Conyers of Michigan resigned from Congress after a nearly 53-year career, becoming the first Capitol Hill politician to lose his job amid the sexual misconduct allegations sweeping through the nation's workplaces.
2018 - Former President George H.W. Bush was mourned at a memorial service at Washington National Cathedral attended by President Donald Trump and former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter along with their spouses; former president George W. Bush was among the speakers.
2019 - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she had asked the relevant House committee chairs to begin drawing up articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, saying his actions left them "no choice" but to act swiftly; in response. (Trump would be impeached by the House on charges of obstruction and abuse of power, but the Senate voted to acquit in the first of two Trump impeachment trials.)
2020 - At a Georgia rally where he urged supporters to turn out for a pair of Republican Senate candidates in a January runoff election, President Donald Trump spread baseless allegations of misconduct in the November voting in Georgia and beyond.
2021 - Bob Dole, who overcame disabling war wounds to become a Senate leader from Kansas, a Republican presidential candidate and then a symbol of his dwindling generation of World War II veterans, died at age 98.
Birthdays
29 - Alexandra Beaton (actress)
32 - Christian Yelich (baseball player)
35 - Ross Bagley (actor)
38 - Frankie Muniz (actor)
39 - Lauren London (actress)
41 - Gabriel Luna (actor)
41 - Keri Hilson (singer)
42 - Adan Canto (actor)
44 - Nick Stahl (actor)
47 - Amy Acker (actress)
48 - Paula Patton (actress)
52 - Kali Rocha (actress)
54 - Alex Kapp Horner (actor)
54 - Catherine Tate (actress)
55 - Margaret Cho (actress/comedian)
56 - Gary Allan (singer)
60 - Ty England (singer)
66 - Art Monk (football player)
67 - Brian Backer (actor)
72 - Morgan Brittany (actress)
76 - Jim Plunkett (football player)
================================
Today in Sports History - December 5
1908 - At the University of Pittsburgh, numerals were first used on football uniforms worn by college football players.
1970 - The Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy and the Bill Masterson trophy were stolen from the NHL Hall of Fame.
1972 - Nebraska wingback Johnny Rodgers wins the Heisman Trophy.
1973 - Ron Santo became the first major league player to veto his trade.
1974 - The Seattle Seahawks football franchise is formed.
1978 - Pete Rose signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. The contract was for four years and $3.2 million making Rose the highest paid athlete in team sports.
1981 - USC running back Marcus Allen wins the Heisman Trophy.
1983 - Steve Howe (Los Angeles Dodgers) was suspended for 1 year for cocaine use.
1983 - The video arcade game "NFL Football" was unveiled in Chicago. It was the first video arcade game to be licensed by the National Football League.
1987 - Notre Dame wide receiver Tim Brown wins the Heisman Trophy.
1995 - Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins) passed for 300 yards in a game for the 52nd time to set an NFL record.
2000 - Karl Malone (Utah Jazz) moved past Wilt Chamberlain into second place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
2002 - Michal Handzus (Philadelphia Flyers) became only the second NHL player to score an overtime goal on a penalty shot. The Flyers beat the New York Rangers 3-2.
2006 - Pitcher Greg Maddux signs a one-year, $10 million contract with the San Diego Padres.
2008 - Former NFL star O.J. Simpson is sentenced to 33 years in prison for kidnapping and armed robbery.
2009 - Texas defeats Nebraska 13-12 in the Big 12 Championship Game.
1776 - The first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1791 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria at age 35.
1792 - George Washington was reelected president; John Adams was reelected vice president.
1848 - President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of 1948 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.
1872 - Having left New York on Nov. 5, the brigantine Mary Celeste was found adrift off the coast of Portugal with everyone aboard mysteriously missing.
1932 - German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa, making it possible for him to travel to the United States.
1933 - The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment dealing with Prohibition, was ratified.
1952 - The Great Smog of London descended on the British capital; the unusually thick fog, which contained toxic pollutants, lasted five days and was blamed for causing thousands of deaths.
1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.
1994 - Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.
2002 - At Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott praised Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid; Lott subsequently resigned his leadership position.
2004 - Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly elected president.
2009 - A jury in Perugia, Italy convicted American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, of murdering Knox's British roommate, Meredith Kercher, and sentenced them to long prison terms. (After a series of back-and-forth rulings, Knox and Sollecito were definitively acquitted in 2015 by Italy's highest court.)
2013 - Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa's first Black president, died at age 95.
2017 - Democratic congressman John Conyers of Michigan resigned from Congress after a nearly 53-year career, becoming the first Capitol Hill politician to lose his job amid the sexual misconduct allegations sweeping through the nation's workplaces.
2018 - Former President George H.W. Bush was mourned at a memorial service at Washington National Cathedral attended by President Donald Trump and former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter along with their spouses; former president George W. Bush was among the speakers.
2019 - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she had asked the relevant House committee chairs to begin drawing up articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, saying his actions left them "no choice" but to act swiftly; in response. (Trump would be impeached by the House on charges of obstruction and abuse of power, but the Senate voted to acquit in the first of two Trump impeachment trials.)
2020 - At a Georgia rally where he urged supporters to turn out for a pair of Republican Senate candidates in a January runoff election, President Donald Trump spread baseless allegations of misconduct in the November voting in Georgia and beyond.
2021 - Bob Dole, who overcame disabling war wounds to become a Senate leader from Kansas, a Republican presidential candidate and then a symbol of his dwindling generation of World War II veterans, died at age 98.
Birthdays
29 - Alexandra Beaton (actress)
32 - Christian Yelich (baseball player)
35 - Ross Bagley (actor)
38 - Frankie Muniz (actor)
39 - Lauren London (actress)
41 - Gabriel Luna (actor)
41 - Keri Hilson (singer)
42 - Adan Canto (actor)
44 - Nick Stahl (actor)
47 - Amy Acker (actress)
48 - Paula Patton (actress)
52 - Kali Rocha (actress)
54 - Alex Kapp Horner (actor)
54 - Catherine Tate (actress)
55 - Margaret Cho (actress/comedian)
56 - Gary Allan (singer)
60 - Ty England (singer)
66 - Art Monk (football player)
67 - Brian Backer (actor)
72 - Morgan Brittany (actress)
76 - Jim Plunkett (football player)
================================
Today in Sports History - December 5
1908 - At the University of Pittsburgh, numerals were first used on football uniforms worn by college football players.
1970 - The Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy and the Bill Masterson trophy were stolen from the NHL Hall of Fame.
1972 - Nebraska wingback Johnny Rodgers wins the Heisman Trophy.
1973 - Ron Santo became the first major league player to veto his trade.
1974 - The Seattle Seahawks football franchise is formed.
1978 - Pete Rose signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. The contract was for four years and $3.2 million making Rose the highest paid athlete in team sports.
1981 - USC running back Marcus Allen wins the Heisman Trophy.
1983 - Steve Howe (Los Angeles Dodgers) was suspended for 1 year for cocaine use.
1983 - The video arcade game "NFL Football" was unveiled in Chicago. It was the first video arcade game to be licensed by the National Football League.
1987 - Notre Dame wide receiver Tim Brown wins the Heisman Trophy.
1995 - Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins) passed for 300 yards in a game for the 52nd time to set an NFL record.
2000 - Karl Malone (Utah Jazz) moved past Wilt Chamberlain into second place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
2002 - Michal Handzus (Philadelphia Flyers) became only the second NHL player to score an overtime goal on a penalty shot. The Flyers beat the New York Rangers 3-2.
2006 - Pitcher Greg Maddux signs a one-year, $10 million contract with the San Diego Padres.
2008 - Former NFL star O.J. Simpson is sentenced to 33 years in prison for kidnapping and armed robbery.
2009 - Texas defeats Nebraska 13-12 in the Big 12 Championship Game.
