{"id":4859,"canonical_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1945ce-may-5--4859","name":"1945 CE, May 5","year":1945,"era":"CE","month":5,"day":5,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1945ce-may-5--4859","iso-date":"1945-05-05","precision":"year-month-day","description":"\u003cp\u003eSix people; one adult, Elsie Mitchell, wife of a local minister, and five children, on a picnic on Gearhart Mountain, in Oregon, were killed, on May 5, 1945, after they discovered a Japanese \"Fu-Go\" balloon bomb that exploded. These were the only known fatalities caused by enemy action in the continental U.S. during World War II. The bombs were designed to start forest fires.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","additional_details":"\u003cp\u003eThe Japanese launched roughly 9,000 balloon bombs on the jet stream between late 1944 and April 1945; approximately 300 were found or observed in North America. The U.S. government initially censored news of the bombs to prevent panic, only warning the public after this fatal incident. A monument to the victims was erected and now stands at the site of the tragedy.\u003c/p\u003e","photo":"","created_at":"2026-05-05T12:26:03-07:00","updated_at":"2026-05-05T12:29:06-07:00","breadcrumbs":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"May History","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"May 5","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may-5"}]},"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Thing","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1945ce-may-5--4859#eventK365","name":"1945 CE, May 5","headline":"Six people; one adult, Elsie Mitchell, wife of a local minister, and five children, on a picnic on Gearhart... - 1945 CE","description":"Six people; one adult, Elsie Mitchell, wife of a local minister, and five children, on a picnic on Gearhart Mountain, in Oregon, were killed, on May 5, 1945,...","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1945ce-may-5--4859","additionalType":"HistoricalEvent","inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2026-05-05T12:26:03-07:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T12:29:06-07:00","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#organizationK365"},"temporalCoverage":"1945-05-05","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#websiteK365"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may","name":"What Happened in May History"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may-5#pageK365","name":"What Happened on May 5"}]}}