History Events on December 05

Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.

#Cicero

Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.

#Vietnam_War

Mary McLeod Bethune founds the National Council of Negro Women in New York City.

#Mary_McLeod_Bethune

Helen Clark is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand, the second woman to hold the post and the first to be elected to the role.

#Helen_Clark

Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.

#Sri_Lankan_Civil_War

Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.

#Chincha_Islands_War

The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL-CIO.

#American_Federation_of_Labor

The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.

#Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.

#Civil_Partnership_Act_2004

Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow.

#Edigu

Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.

#National_Reorganization_Process

World War II: In the Battle of Moscow, Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army.

#World_War_II

Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.

#John_Quincy_Adams

The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

#International_Olympic_Committee

Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate.

#Jefferson_Davis

Charles IX becomes king of France.

#Charles_IX_of_France

World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.

#Romania

Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated.

#Ramon_Berenguer_II,_Count_of_Barcelona

At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

#Fort_Ticonderoga

Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine.

#Leonid_Kravchuk

The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.

#Soviet_Union

World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.

#Operation_Crossbow

Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.

#Pope_Innocent_VIII

King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of "heretics" from the country.

#Manuel_I_of_Portugal

California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.

#California_Gold_Rush

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow was destroyed on orders from Joseph Stalin.

#Cathedral_of_Christ_the_Saviour

Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen: Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.

#Seven_Years'_War

Lloyd J. Old discovered the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.

#Lloyd_J._Old

Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic).

#Christopher_Columbus

The 6.8 Mw? Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing six people.

#2005_Lake_Tanganyika_earthquake

Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.

#Egypt

Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.

#Frank_Bainimarama

In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.

#James_Christie_(auctioneer)

Exploration Flight Test 1, the first flight test of Orion is launched.

Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.

Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces stand defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh.

The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)

#Preston_By-pass

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.

E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Great Smog: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.

World War II: Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle, in one of the most famous aviation mysteries in history.

#Flight_19

Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.

Fourth Council of Toledo takes place.