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Explore the historical events that shaped our world on June 5th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Pope Clement V succeeds Pope Benedict XI, becoming the 195th pope on June 5, 1305. His election came following an eleven-month conclave in Perugia after a lengthy delay caused by disputes between French and Italian factions within the cardinals and was heavily influenced by the French King Phillip IV.
His official coronation ceremony took place on November 14, 1305.
Louis X of France dies, while his wife, Queen Clémence, is pregnant at the time of his death. His newborn son, John I, died shortly after birth, and then Louis's brother, Philip, claimed the throne, arguing that a woman could not inherit the crown setting a precedent for the Salic Law, which prevented women from inheriting the French throne for centuries to come.
England, King Charles II's Privy Council began implementing strict measures starting on June 5, 1665, after deaths during the Plague in London started to rise significantly.
The measures were implemented rapidly and included ordering the shutdown of affected houses, shutting down theaters, restricting the movement of people and marking affected houses with a red cross. This was followed with the issuance by the King of the "Plague Orders" in May 1666 with "Rules and orders for preventing the spreading of the Plague"
Denmark transitioned into a constitutional monarchy on June 5, 1849, when King Frederik VII signs the first democratic constitution (Grundloven), which had been approved by the Constitutional Assembly on May 25, 1849.
This event, known as Constitution Day (Grundlovsdag), marked the end of Denmark's absolute monarchy and the establishment of a parliament (Rigsdagen), transitioning the crown into a ceremonial Head of State with limited and defined powers.
The first automobile drives across the new Lake Washington Floating Bridge. (US 10 now Interstate 90). The bridge floated on hollow concrete pontoons, a highly innovative technology at that time and it was the largest floating structure ever built. The official dedication ceremonies were held on July 2, 1940. More
US Secretary of State George C. Marshall, delivers the commencement address at Harvard University in which he proposes the idea of a firm and formal plan for a European self-help program financed by the United States.
Marshall's speech highlighted the critical conditions in Europe after World War II and the need for US assistance to ensure political stability and peace. The Plan, is formally known as the European Recovery Program, and popularly known as the Marshal Plan significantly contributed to the economic recovery of Western Europe. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.
The Six-Day War between Israel and Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, began on June 5, 1967, as Israel launched a series of preemptive surprise airstrikes against Egyptian airfields and other facilities, launching its war effort.
Egyptian forces were caught by surprise, and nearly all of Egypt's military aerial assets were destroyed, giving Israel air supremacy. Simultaneously, the Israeli military launched a ground offensive into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as well as the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip. The war ended with Israel in control of the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. More
Presidential candidate Robert Francis Kennedy was fatally shot on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California shortly after claiming victory in that state's crucial Democratic primary. He was 42 years old. More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in its June 5, 1981, issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the detection of a rare form of pneumonia in five homosexual men in Los Angeles, marking the first official reporting of what will later become known as the AIDS epidemic (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).
A few physicians and public health workers in coastal cities had noticed strange opportunistic infections in otherwise healthy gay men in prior years but the CDC report highlighted brought to light. More
Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee, reveals thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Barton Gellman, and Ewen MacAskill; beginning on June 5, 2013. The stories based on the leaked material appeared in The Guardian, The Washington Post, and other publications.
Snowden, came forward later in June and admitted that he was the source of the recent NSA leaks. On September 2, 2020, a U.S. federal court ruled in United States v. Moalin that the U.S. intelligence's mass surveillance program exposed by Snowden was illegal and possibly unconstitutional. More
Freedom of the Press Foundation, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
