Once Upon A Time – December 5 – 1848 – US President James K. Polk Triggers Gold Rush Of 1849 By Confirming A Gold Discovery In California

771 – Charlemagne becomes the sole King of the Franks after the death of his brother Carloman

1349 – 500 Jews of Nuremberg massacred during Black Death riots

1456 – Earthquake strikes Naples; about 35,000 die

1848 – US President James K. Polk triggers gold rush of 1849 by confirming a gold discovery in California

1933 – Prohibition ends in the US when 21st Amendment to the US Constitution ratified, 18th Amendment repealed (5:32 PM EST)

1969 – Four-node ARPANET network is established

More Historical Events

December 5 in Film & TV

2001 – “Ocean’s Eleven” directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts premieres in Westwood, California

December 5 in Music

1973 – Paul McCartney & Wings release album “Band on the Run” in the US

December 5 in Sport

2017 – Russia is banned from the next Winter Olympics in South Korea over state-sponsored doping

More Facts

1717 – English pirate Blackbeard ransacks the merchant sloop “Margaret” and keeps her captain, Henry Bostock prisoner for 8 hours before releasing him. Bostock later provides 1st record of Blackbeard’s appearance, and the source for his name

1945 – Flight 19 the “Lost Squadron” of 5 torpedo bombers and 14 airmen is lost east of Florida in the supposed Bermuda Triangle

Famous Weddings

1926 – Gangster Carlo Gambino (24) weds his first cousin Catherine Castellano

1932 – “East of Eden” director Elia Kazan (23) weds playwright Molly Day Thatcher (25)

1943 – Singer and actress Dinah Shore (27) weds actor George Montgomery (27)