It happened today – this day in history – September 5

1548: Death of Catherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII.

1638: Birth of Louis XIV in Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France.

1666: The Great Fire of London ends, leaving 13,200 houses destroyed but only six dead.

1698: Russian tsar Peter the Great imposes a tax on beards.

1774: Twelve of the 13 American colonies adopt a trade embargo against Britain.

1800: Malta surrenders to the British after they blockade French troops.

1836: Sam Houston is elected President of the Republic of Texas.

1839: The First Opium War begins in China.

1847: Birth of outlaw Jesse James in Missouri.

1877: Crazy Horse (Tashunka Witko) the last great Sioux war chief dies aged 37.

1887: A gas lamp catches fire at the Theatre Royal, Exeter, killing about 200.

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1900: France proclaims a protectorate over Chad.

1905: The Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt is signed, concluding the Russo-Japanese War.

1907: Edward VII meets Russia’s Foreign Minister Alexander Izvolski in an attempt to strengthen Russia’s relationship with Britain.

1914: US President Woodrow Wilson orders the US Navy to make its wireless stations accessible for any transatlantic communications – even to German diplomats sending coded messages – which leads to the interception of the Zimmermann telegram, helping bring the US into the war.

1915: Tsar Nicholas II assumes personal command of his nation’s military forces.

1929: French premier Aristide Briand requests a United States of Europe.

1939: US President Franklin D Roosevelt declares US neutrality at start of the Second World War in Europe as the country did in 1914. On the same day, J B M Hertzog resigns as South African Prime Minister after losing a vote in parliament on neutrality in WWII.

1942: Britain and the US bomb Le Havre and Bremen.

1944: The Allies liberate Brussels.

1946: SS Officer Amon Goth former head of Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, is found guilty of imprisonment, torture, and extermination of individuals and groups of people, the first murder conviction at a war crimes court.

1951: Maureen Connolly wins her first Grand Slam title, beating fellow American Shirley Fry 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to win the US National Championship.

1956: Elvis Presley surprises his mother with a pink Cadillac.

1957: Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista bombs an uprising in Cienfuegos. On the same day, Jack Kerouac’s ‘On The Road’ is published.

1958: The novel ‘Doctor Zhivago’ by Boris Pasternak is published.

1959: The first trunk dialling system from a public call-box is launched with a call from Bristol to London.

1960: Cassius Clay wins the light heavyweight boxing gold medal at the Rome Olympics.

1962: Athletico Madrid win the European Cup Winner’s Cup against ACF Fiorentina 3-0 in a replay in Stuttgart.

1965: The Rolling Stones record ‘Get Off Of My Cloud’ at RCA studios in Hollywood.

1966: John Lennon started filming his role as Private Gripweed in the film ‘How I Won The War’.

1967: At EMI Studios in Abbey Road, London, The Beatles began recording a new John Lennon song: ‘I Am The Walrus’.

1970: Formula 1 racing driver Jochen Rindt dies aged 28 in a practice accident. He wins the World Drivers Championship posthumously.

1972: Eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and massacred by the Palestinian Black September group at the Munich Olympics.

1975: Two people are killed and 63 injured as an IRA bomb explodes in the lobby of the Hilton hotel in central London. On the same day, former disciple of Charles Manson, Lynette “Squeaky” Froome attempts to assassinate US President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California.

1976: Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington is seriously injured in a car crash in Florida.

Singles chart:

1. Dancing Queen – ABBA
2. Let ‘Em In – Wings
3. You Don’t Have To Go – The Chi-Lites
4. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John and Kiki Dee
5. You Should Be Dancing – The Bee Gees
6. The Killing Of Georgie – Rod Stewart
7. 16 Bars – The Stylistics
8. Light Of Experience – Georghe Zamfir
9. What I’ve Got In Mind – Billie Jo Spears
10. You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine – Lou Rawls

Album chart:

1. 20 Golden Greats – The Beach Boys
2. Greatest Hits 2 – Diana Ross
3. Laughter And Tears – Neil Sedaka
4. A Night On The Town – Rod Stewart
5. Forever And Ever – Demis Roussos
6. Greatest Hits – ABBA
7. Wings At The Speed Of Sound – Wings
8. A Little Bit More – Dr Hook
9. Passport – Nana Mouskouri
10. Beautiful Noise – Neil Diamond

1977: The Red Army Faction kidnaps West German business executive Hanns Martin Schleyer.

1978: Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter begin the Egypt-Israel peace conference at the US presidential retreat at Camp David.

1980: The St Gotthard Tunnel, the World’s longest road tunnel, opens in the Swiss Alps.

1986: A 16-hour siege on a Pan Am jet in Pakistan comes to a bloody end, with 17 passengers and three terrorists dead.

1987: Ian Astbury of The Cult s arrested after a show in Vancouver ends in a riot.

1988: Actor Gert Frobe (Goldfinger) dies of a heart attack aged 75.

1990: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urges Arabs to rise against the West. On the same day, Ian Dury And The Blockheads drummer Charley Charles dies of cancer.

1991: Nelson Mandela is chosen as president of the African National Congress. On the same day, John Travolta marries actress Kelly Preston.

1992: On TV tonight (Friday)

1997: Mother Teresa dies aged 87.

2007: Three terrorists suspected of being members of Al-Qaeda are arrested in Germany after allegedly planning attacks on Frankfurt International airport and US military installations.

2016: An asteroid was named after Freddie Mercury to mark what would have been the singer’s 70th birthday.

2017: Hurricane Irma becomes the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin region with winds of 185mph. On the same day, Baroness Hale of Richmond, becomes the first woman President of the UK Supreme Court. Also Holger Czukay, bassist with German band Can, dies aged 79.

2018: An anonymous senior White house official opinion piece “I am part of the resistance inside the Trump administration” is published by the New York Times. On the same day, Prime Minister Theresa May confirms in parliament two Russian military intelligence officers carried out the novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury.

2019: Erramatti Mangamma becomes the world’s oldest living mother at 74, giving birth to twins in Hyderabad, India.

BIRTHDAYS: Bob Newhart, comedian, 91; William Devane , actor, 81; Raquel Welch (Jo Tejada), actress, 80; Werner Herzog, director, 78; Al Stewart, singer-songwriter, 75; Loudon Wainwright III, singer-songwriter, 74; Mel Collins, saxophonist/flautist (King Crimson) 73; Michael Keaton, actor, 69; Paul Breitner, German footballer, 69; Roine Stolt, guitarist, 64; Brad Wilk, drummer, (Rage Against The Machine) 52; Dweezil Zappa, guitarist, 51; Mark Ramprakash, cricketer, 51; Liam Lynch, musician/director, 50; Rose McGowan, actress, 47; Paddy Considine, actor/musician/writer, 47; John Carew, Norwegian footballer, 41Kevin Simm, singer, 40.