What happened today
1917
Famous birthdays
1987
Get history's greatest tales
Subscribe to our HistoryNet Now! newsletter for a blast from the past each week in your inbox.
more events on November 5
-
2009
The deadliest mass shooting at a US military installation occurs at Fort Hood, Texas, when US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan kills 13 and wounds 29.
-
2007
Chang’e 1, China’s first lunar satellite, begins its orbit of the moon.
-
2006
Former president of Iraq Saddam Hussein, along with Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, is sentenced to death for the massacre of 148 Shi’a Muslims in 1982.
-
2003
Gary Ridgway, known as the Green River Killer, pleads guilty to 48 counts of murder.
-
1995
Andre Dallaire’s attempt to assassinate Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is foiled when the minister’s wife locks the door.
-
1987
Kevin Jonas II, musician, actor; oldest member of the pop rock group Jonas Brothers.
-
1973
Peter Emmerich, illustrator; in 2001 created the iconic “Mickey Salutes America” image featuring Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse.
-
1968
Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn, New York, becomes the first elected African American woman to serve in the House of Representatives.
-
Richard Nixon is elected 37th president of the United States.
-
1963
Tatum O’Neal, actress; youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy award, for her performance at age 10 in Paper Moon (1973).
-
1948
William Daniel Phillips, shared 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to laser cooling, including his invention of the Zeeman slower technique for slowing the movement of gaseous atoms.
-
1947
Peter Noone, singer, songwriter, musician, best known as Herman of Herman’s Hermits.
-
1946
Gram Parsons, influential singer, songwriter, guitarist; member of The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers and International Submarine Band.
-
1945
Peter Pace, first USMC general appointed to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
-
1943
Sam Shepard, American playwright and actor.