Date·Lore

On This Day · The 5th day of the year

January 5

January 5 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1757 and 2005. Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, who becomes the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering (the traditional form of capital punishment used for regicides).

♑ZodiacCapricorn ◈BirthstoneGarnet ❀Birth flowerCarnation

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on January 5?

January 5 is the 5th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1757 and 2005. Famous people born on January 5 include Konrad Adenauer, Clancy Brown and Janica Kostelić.

The shape of the day

50 years on from The Troubles, January 5 is a date with an anniversary worth pausing on. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

Capricorn is the sign for January 5 — read more on the Capricorn page, or see January's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on January 5

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Game Terra Invicta

2025

  • TV Medalist

2023

  • TV ONIMAI: I'm Now Your Sister!

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1757

    Louis XV

    Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, who becomes the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering (the traditional form of capital punishment used for regicides).

  2. 1919

    German Workers' Party

    The German Workers' Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich.

  3. 1925

    Nellie Tayloe Ross

    Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.

  4. 1933

    Golden Gate Bridge

    Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

  5. 1941

    Amy Johnson

    Amy Johnson, a 37-year-old pilot and the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.

  6. 1967

    Cultural Revolution

    Cultural Revolution: The Shanghai People's Commune is established following the seizure of power from local city officials by revolutionaries.

  7. 1970

    1970 Tonghai earthquake

    The 7.1 Mw Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.

  8. 1976

    The Troubles

    The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before.

  9. 1991

    Georgia (country)

    Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.

  10. 2005

    Eris (dwarf planet)

    The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by Palomar Observatory-based astronomers, later motivating the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time.

Famous birthday twins

Born on January 5

Konrad Adenauer

b. 1876

German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany

Clancy Brown

b. 1959

American actor

Janica Kostelić

b. 1982

Croatian skier

Umberto Eco

b. 1932

Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher

Jean-Baptiste Say

b. 1767

French economist and academic

Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

b. 1921

Luxembourgish soldier and aristocrat

Juan Carlos I

b. 1938

of Spain

Friedrich Dürrenmatt

b. 1921

Swiss author and playwright

Deaths

  • 1971Douglas Shearer
  • 1970Max Born
  • 1933Calvin Coolidge
  • 1922Ernest Shackleton
  • 1910Léon Walras
  • 1173Bolesław IV the Curly

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian Feast day: Charles of Mount Argus
  • —Christian Feast day: John Neumann (Catholic Church)
  • —Christian Feast day: Pope Telesphorus
  • —Christian Feast day: Simeon Stylites (Latin Church)
  • —Christian Feast day: January 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (Harbin, China)
  • —Joma Shinji (Japan)
  • —National Bird Day (United States)

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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