On this day: October 5

Events on October 5

• 610 Heraclius arrives at Constantinople, kills Byzantine Emperor Phocas, and becomes emperor. Wikipedia
• 816 King Louis the Pious is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope. Wikipedia
• 1465 King Louis XI of France is forced to sign the treaty of Conflans. Wikipedia
• 1672 Jan Sobieski, Grand Hetman of the Polish Crown, begins his successful military campaign against the Tartars following their rebellion and an invasion by the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1789 French Revolution: Upset about the high price and scarcity of bread, thousands of Parisian women and allies marched on the Palace of Versailles. Wikipedia
• 1813 War of 1812: The Army of the Northwest defeats a British and Native Canadian force threatening Detroit. Wikipedia
• 1838 A Cherokee band attacked settlers near Larissa, Texas, killing or abducting 18 people. Wikipedia
• 1869 During construction of the Eastman tunnel in St. Anthony, Minnesota (now Minneapolis), the Mississippi River broke through the tunnel's limestone ceiling, nearly destroying Saint Anthony Falls. Wikipedia
• 1905 The Wright brothers pilot the Wright Flyer III in a new world record flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: An aircraft successfully destroys another aircraft with gunfire for the first time. Wikipedia
• 1936 The Jarrow March sets off for London. Wikipedia
• 1938 Holocaust: In Nazi Germany, Jews' passports are invalidated. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Pacific Theater: Ninety-eight American POWs are executed by Japanese forces on Wake Island. Wikipedia
• 1962 "Love Me Do", the first single by the Beatles, was released in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1962 The first Beatles single "Love Me Do" is released in Britain. Wikipedia
• 1962 The first of the James Bond film series, based on the novels by Ian Fleming, Dr. No, is released in Britain. Wikipedia
• 1962 Dr. No, the first James Bond film, was released. Wikipedia
• 1963 The U.S. suspended the Commercial Import Program, its main economic support for South Vietnam, in response to the oppression of Buddhists by President Ngô Đình Diệm. Wikipedia
• 1970 The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded in the United States.[citation needed] Wikipedia
• 1974 Bombs planted by the PIRA in pubs in Guildford kill four British soldiers and one civilian. Wikipedia
• 1988 A Chilean opposition coalition defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt. Wikipedia
• 1988 During the United States vice-presidential debate, Democratic candidate Lloyd Bentsen told his opponent Dan Quayle, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." Wikipedia
• 1990 After 150 years The Herald newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, is published for the last time as a separate newspaper. Wikipedia
• 2000 Mass demonstrations in Serbia force the resignation of Slobodan Milošević. Wikipedia
• 2011 Two Chinese cargo ships were attacked and their crews murdered on a stretch of the Mekong River in far northern Thailand. Wikipedia
• 2021 Windows 11 is released to the general public. Wikipedia

Born on October 5

• 1338 Alexios III of Trebizond (died 1390)[citation needed] Wikipedia
• 1641 Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan, French mistress of Louis XIV (died 1707) Wikipedia
• 1713 Denis Diderot, French philosopher and critic (died 1784) Wikipedia
• 1781 Bernard Bolzano, Czech mathematician and philosopher (died 1848) Wikipedia
• 1829 Chester A. Arthur, American general, lawyer, and politician, 21st President of the United States (died 1886) Wikipedia
• 1879 Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1970) Wikipedia
• 1882 Robert H. Goddard, American physicist, engineer, and academic (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1887 René Cassin, French judge and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1913 Eugene B. Fluckey, American admiral, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1919 Donald Pleasence, English actor (died 1995) Wikipedia
• 1923 Glynis Johns, British actress and singer (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1930 Reinhard Selten, German economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1936 Václav Havel, Czech poet, playwright, and politician, 1st President of the Czech Republic (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1952 Imran Khan, Pakistani cricketer and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan Wikipedia
• 1957 Bernie Mac, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1958 Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist, cosmologist, and author Wikipedia
• 1960 Careca, Brazilian footballer[citation needed] Wikipedia
• 1967 Guy Pearce, English-Australian actor Wikipedia
• 1975 Kate Winslet, English actress Wikipedia
• 1976 Ramzan Kadyrov, Russian-Chechen general and politician, 3rd President of the Chechen Republic Wikipedia
• 1980 Joakim Brodén, Swedish-Czech musician and lead vocalist of the power metal band Sabaton Wikipedia
• 1983 Jesse Eisenberg, American actor and writer Wikipedia

Died on October 5

• 578 Justin II, Byzantine emperor (born 520) Wikipedia
• 610 Phocas, Byzantine emperor Wikipedia
• 1056 Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1016) Wikipedia
• 1285 Philip III, king of France (born 1245) Wikipedia
• 1880 Jacques Offenbach, German-French cellist and composer (born 1819) Wikipedia
• 1918 Roland Garros, French soldier and pilot (born 1888) Wikipedia
• 1938 Faustina Kowalska, Polish nun and saint (born 1905) Wikipedia
• 1976 Lars Onsager, Norwegian-American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 1981 Gloria Grahame, American actress (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2004 Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand-English physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916) Wikipedia
• 2011 Steve Jobs, American businessman, co-founder of Apple Inc. (born 1955) Wikipedia
• 2014 David Chavchavadze, English-American CIA officer and author (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 2015 Henning Mankell, Swedish author and playwright (born 1948) Wikipedia
• 2026 Jeffrey Archer, English novelist and politician (born 1940) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• World Space Week (October 4–10) Wikipedia
• Armed Forces Day (Indonesia) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Anna Schäffer Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Charitina of Amisus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Faustina Kowalska Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Flora of Beaulieu Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bartolo Longo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hor and Susia (Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Placid and Maurus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Placidus (martyr) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed William Hartley Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: October 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Vanuatu) Wikipedia
• Engineer's Day (Bolivia) Wikipedia
• International Day of No Prostitution Wikipedia
• Republic Day (Portugal) Wikipedia
• Teachers' Day (Pakistan) Wikipedia
• Teachers' Day (Russia) Wikipedia
• World Teachers' Day Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “October 5” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.