It happened today – this day in history – October 5
1789: The French Revolution. Women march to Versailles to confront Louis XVI.
1274: Kubla Khan’s Mongol army launches its first attack on Japan.
1864: Most of Calcutta is destroyed by a cyclone. 60,000 people are killed.
1880: Death of composer Jacques Offenbach.
1910: Portugal overthrows its monarchy and is declared a republic.
1915: Bulgaria enters the First World War.
1916: Adolph Hitler is wounded in the thigh by an exploding shell during the Battle of The Somme.
1936: The Jarrow march sets of for London.
1958: Cliff Richard and The Shadows played their first gig together at the Victoria Hall, Hanley.
1962: The Beatles release their first single, Love Me Do. On the same day the first James Bond film starring Sean Connery, Dr No, premiers in London.
1969: Monty Python’s Flying Circus begins on BBC TV.
1973: Elton John’s double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is released.
1974: An IRA bomb explodes in a Guildford pub, killing 5 and injuring another 65 people.
1975: Nikki Lauda wins his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.
1983: Poland’s Lech Walesa wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1992: Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations dies of lung cancer.
2000: Mass demonstrations in Belgrade lead to the resignation of Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević.
2011: Death of folk guitarist Bert Jansch. On the same day Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died age 56.
BIRTHDAYS: Steve Miller, guitarist, 76; Brian Johnson, singer (AC/DC), 72; Russ Mael, singer (Sparks) 71; Bob Geldof, singer and Band Aid founder, 68; Imran Khan, former cricketer/prome minister of Pakistan, 67; Lee Thompson, saxophonist (Madness) 62; Daniel Baldwin, actor, 59; Guy Pearce, actor, 52; Kate Winslet, actress, 44; Jesse Eisenberg, actor/playwrite 36; Nicola Roberts, singer (Girls Aloud) 34.
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