What Happened On
Hurricane Katrina - "this is working very well for them"
September 5, 2005
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this, (laughing) this is working very well for them." - Former first lady Barbara Bush commenting on the Katrina evacuees staying in the Houston Astrodome.
Manson Follower Attempts to Assassinate President Ford
September 5, 1975
Charles Manson follower "Squeaky" Fromme attempts to shoot U.S. President Gerald Ford. Fromme was about an arm's length from Ford on the grounds of the California State Capitol building when she tried to shoot him with a pistol. The gun failed to fire and no one was injured. Fromme apparently didn't know how to operate the gun. She was quickly apprehended at the scene. She said she wanted to make a statement to people who refused to halt environmental pollution. During her trial, she threw an apple at the prosecuting attorney knocking off his glasses. Fromme spent 34 years in prison and was released in 2009. Ford gave a videotaped testimony at the trial making him the first U.S. President to testify at a criminal trial.
Two weeks later, Sara Jane Moore would attempt to assassinate Ford.
Massacre of Israeli Olympic Athletes
September 5, 1972
Eleven Israeli athletes are kidnapped and killed by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Two of the Israeli athletes were killed while fighting back during the kidnapping. Their efforts allowed others to escape. After the kidnapping, the terrorists demanded 234 prisoners jailed in Israel and two German-held founders of the Red Army Faction be released. The Israeli authorities refused their demands. During a German rescue attempt the following day, the nine remaining hostages and a German police officer were killed along with five of the kidnappers. The three remaining kidnappers were arrested.
The Israelis retaliated three days later by bombing Lebanon and Syria.
The following October, Lufthansa Flight 615 was hijacked and the surviving terrorists were released in exchange for the plane's hostages.
The documentary One Day in September was based on these events.
Robinson throwing a forward pass
Robinson throwing a forward pass
First Legal Forward Pass in Football
September 5, 1906
St. Louis University's Bradbury Robinson throws one against Carroll College. Robinson's first attempt at a forward pass was incomplete and resulted in a turnover according to 1906 rules. He did complete a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jack Schneider later in the game.
Illegal and experimental forward passes had been attempted as early as 1876, but this was the first legal forward pass in American football, after the change in rules.
The forward pass remained a seldom-used play until the famous first Army-Notre Dame Football Game, where Charley "Gus" Dorais and receiver Knute Rockne were able to use the forward pass to counteract Army's size advantage. Till that time, receivers would come to a stop and wait for the ball, but Dorais passed to Rockne while Rockne was in full stride. American football would never be the same again, as the forward pass went from a seldom-used play to a major strategy of the game.
Soviet Union
September 5, 1991
The Soviet Union is restructured into individual republics having the right to secede and determine their involvement with the central government.
Voyager I
September 5, 1977
Voyager I is launched, flying past Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980.
The Discovery of Radiocarbon Dating
September 5, 1949
The Discovery of Radiocarbon Dating is announced by American chemist Willard Frank Libby.
Peyton Randolph
Peyton Randolph
Birthdays
Photo Credit: Carl Lender
Photo Credit: Carl Lender
Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara)
Born September 5, 1946 d. 1991
British Hall of Fame musician. Lead singer of Queen, known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. He died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.
Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.
Raquel Welch (Jo Raquel Tejada)
Born September 5, 1940 d. 2023
American actress, sex symbol. Film: Fantastic Voyage (1966), One Million Years B.C. (1966) and Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976).
The publicity photo of Welch wearing a deer-skin bikini from One Million Years B.C. became a best-selling poster and made her an international sex symbol.
Playboy magazine named her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s.
Photo Credit: Jim Wallace (Smithsonian Institution)
Photo Credit: Jim Wallace (Smithsonian Institution)
Bob Newhart
Born September 5, 1929 d. 2024
American Emmy and Grammy-winning comedian, actor. Newhart is known for deadpan, stammering delivery. His Grammy-winning comedy album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart (1960) was the first comedy album to make #1 on the Billboard charts. TV: The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78) and Newhart (1982-90).
Darryl F. Zanuck (Darryl Francis Zanuck)
Born September 5, 1902 d. 1979
American Oscar-winning movie producer and executive, co-founder of 20th Century Pictures (1933). In 1946 he predicted the quick demise of television stating, "People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."
Jesse James (Jesse Woodson James)
Born September 5, 1847 d. 1882
American outlaw. He fought with Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. He was shot by a member of his own gang to collect his reward of $10,000.
Jack Daniel (Jasper Newton Daniel)
Born September 5, 1846 d. 1911
American whiskey maker. According to legend, he died of blood poisoning from a wound incurred while kicking a safe because he had forgotten the combination. (Biography: Blood and Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel).
Michael Keaton (Michael Douglas)
Born September 5, 1951
American actor. Film: Night Shift (1982), Beetlejuice (1988), and Batman (1989, title role).
Cathy Lee Guisewite
Born September 5, 1950
American Emmy-winning cartoonist. She created the comic strip Cathy (1976-2010), which dealt with a career woman facing the challenges of eating, work, relationships, and having a mother - "the four basic guilt groups."
William Devane
Born September 5, 1939
American actor. TV: Knots Landing (1983-93, Greg Sumner), 24 (2005-07, James Heller), and The Missiles of October (1974, JFK).
George Lazenby
Born September 5, 1939
Australian actor. Film: On Her Majesty's Secret Service(1969, James Bond).
Werner Erhard (John Paul Rosenberg)
Born September 5, 1935
American educator. Erhard developed the social transformation technique "est" (Erhard Training Seminars, 1971).
John Cage
Born September 5, 1912 d. 1992
American avant-garde composer, noted for his use of unusual items for music. He created what is considered the first electronic music by varying the frequencies of tone generators.
Arthur Charles Nielsen
Born September 5, 1897 d. 1980
American marketing researcher. He founded A.C. Nielsen Co. (1923), which conducts radio and TV audience surveys.
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné)
Born September 5, 1638 d. 1715
King of France (1643-1715), became king at the age of 5. His successor, great-grandson Louis XV, also became king at age 5.
Louis VIII (Louis the Fat)
Born September 5, 1187 d. 1226
King of France (1223-26).
Deaths
Photo Credit: Manfredo Ferrari
Photo Credit: Manfredo Ferrari
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu)
Died September 5, 1997 b. 1910
Yugoslavian-born Nobel Peace Prize-winning missionary. Called "The Living Saint," she dedicated her life to the poor and sick of India.
Bader, 1940
Bader, 1940
Legless Flying Ace
Sir Douglas Bader
Died September 5, 1982 b. 1910
British flying ace. The loss of his legs gave him an advantage in combat over other pilots. In 1931, Bader lost both of his legs in an RAF plane crash while performing aerobatics. After recovering from the accident, he retook flight training and requested reactivation as a pilot, but was retired against his will on medical grounds. When WWII broke out, he reapplied and was eventually accepted. His lack of legs proved a benefit to combat flying. When fighter pilots make hard turns, the high g-forces often cause them to black out as the flow of blood from their brain drains to their legs. Due to his lack of legs, Bader was able withstand higher g-forces than other pilots. In 1941, Bader's plane was downed and he spent the rest of the war in POW camps.
He is credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable, and 11 enemy aircraft damaged.
Sarah L. Winchester
Died September 5, 1922 b. circa 1840
American heiress to the Winchester Arms fortune. She believed that she would live as long as she kept building onto her house. At her death it had 160 rooms, 200 doors, 10,000 windowpanes, 47 fireplaces, and a staircase leading to nowhere. She also believed the mansion was haunted by the ghosts of those killed with Winchester rifles.
Crazy Horse
Died September 5, 1877 b. circa 1840
Leader of the Oglala Lakota people. After his village was destroyed for refusing to return to the reservation, he led an uprising against the U.S., defeating Custer in his last stand (1876).
After surrendering to U.S. troops, he was fatally wounded by a bayonet-wielding military guard for allegedly resisting imprisonment. He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American warriors.
Sérgio Mendes (Sérgio Santos Mendes)
Died September 5, 2024 b. 1941
Brazilian bossa nova musician. Founded the band Brasil '66.
He died of complications of long COVID.
Phyllis Schlafly (Phyllis McAlpin Stewart)
Died September 5, 2016 b. 1924
American conservative activist. She successfully campaigned against ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution. She opposed feminism, gay rights, and abortion.
Writings: A Choice Not an Echo (1964).
Hugh O'Brian (Hugh Krampe)
Died September 5, 2016 b. 1925
American actor. Founded Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (1958). TV: The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955-61, Sheriff Wyatt Earp).
Allen Funt
Died September 5, 1999 b. 1914
American TV personality. Creator and host of Candid Camera.
Gert Fröbe (Karl-Gerhard Frobe)
Died September 5, 1988 b. 1913
German actor. Film: Goldfinger (1964, Auric Goldfinger).
Founder of Cellular Pathology
Rudolf Virchow
Died September 5, 1902 b. 1821
German scientist, political leader. "Founder of Cellular Pathology."
Jonas Hanway
Died September 5, 1786 b. 1712
English traveler. He is credited with popularizing the umbrella in London after bringing one back from Portugal.