January 5 in history — What Happened Today in History

US President Richard Nixon announces the Space Shuttle program.

The 7.1 Mw Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.

A Spantax Convair CV-990 Coronado crashes during takeoff from Stockholm Arlanda Airport, killing five people.

The Venera 5 space probe is launched at 06:28:08 UTC from Baikonur.

Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes in Fernhill, West Sussex, UK, while on approach to Gatwick Airport, killing 50 people.

Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the "Prague Spring".

Cultural Revolution: The Shanghai People's Commune is established following the seizure of power from local city officials by revolutionaries.

In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine.

The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris.

In his State of the Union address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.

The Semiramis Hotel bombing kills at least 23 people.

The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.

The Daily Mail becomes the first major London newspaper to be published on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Amy Johnson, a 37-year-old pilot and the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.

The German Workers' Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich.

The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.

First Balkan War: The Battle of Lemnos begins; Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.

The sixth All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the Bolshevik movement.

Kappa Alpha Psi, the world's third-oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.

Irish nationalist leader John Edward Redmond calls for revolt against British rule.

Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.

The government of Central America votes for total annexation to the First Mexican Empire.

American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by former American general Benedict Arnold.

Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, who becomes the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering (the traditional form of capital punishment used for regicides).

Battle of Colmar: The French army defeats forces from Austria and Brandenburg.

Tyler Ulis, American basketball player and coach

Toafofoa Sipley, New Zealand rugby league player

Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Australian rugby league player

Zemgus Girgensons, Latvian ice hockey player

Matt Grzelcyk, American ice hockey player

Tyrone Phillips, Australian rugby league player

Gustavo Scarpa, Brazilian footballer

Phillip Dorsett, American football player

Franz Drameh, English actor

Stefan Rzadzinski, Canadian race car driver

Mike Faist, American actor, singer, and dancer

Suki Waterhouse, English actress, singer-songwriter, and model

Denis Alibec, Romanian footballer

Karin von Aroldingen, German ballerina (born 1941)

Jill Saward, English rape victim and activist (born 1965)

Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1925)

Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver and motorcycle racer (born 1937)

Bernard Joseph McLaughlin, American bishop (born 1912)

Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer and manager (born 1942)

Carmen Zapata, American actress (born 1927)

Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (born 1938)

Isaac Díaz Pardo, Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1920)

Frederica Sagor Maas, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1900)

Willie Mitchell, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer (born 1928)

Kenneth Noland, American painter (born 1924)

Griffin Bell, American lawyer and politician, 72nd United States Attorney General (born 1918)