December 5 in Pop Culture History

December 5th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

December 5th History Highlights

  • 1766 – In London, auctioneer James Christie held his first sale/auction.
  • 1955 – The Montgomery Bus Boycott began, led by E.D. Nixon and Rosa Parks.
  • 1955 – The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL – CIO.
  • 1865 – The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States.
  • 1969 – ARPANET (the first true internet) grew from ARPA (the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency) when it connected to computer network nodes at four universities: the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park, CA, U.C. Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah.
  • 1948 – Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts premiered, the first major show of its kind.
  • If you were born on December 5th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… March 13th (same year)

21st Amendment to the Constitution

Passed by Congress on February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment

Section 1
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

December 5th is…

Day of the Ninja
International Volunteer Day
Krampusnacht (Krampus Night)
National Blue Jeans Day
National Commute with your Baby Day
World Doil Day

December 5th Birthday Quotes

“If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.”
– Walt Disney

“There can be no understanding between the hand and the brain unless the heart acts as a mediator.”
– Fritz Lang

“The existing scientific concepts cover always only a very limited part of reality, and the other part that has not yet been understood is infinite.”
– Werner Heisenberg

“Some things are so serious that one can only joke about them.”
– Werner Heisenberg.

“Gay people are the sweetest, kindest, most artistic, warmest, and most thoughtful people in the world. And since the beginning of time, all they’ve ever been is kicked.”
– Little Richard

“Acting classes, I guess, are good and I would like to maybe sometime take one. But I would feel like I was learning someone else’s technique. I like mine.”
– Frankie Muniz

I would rather have a good education and no money than to have a fortune and be ignorant.”
– George Armstrong Custer

December 5th Birthdays

1782 – Martin Van Buren, American politician, 8th President of the United States (died in 1862)
1839 – George Armstrong Custer, American general (died in 1876)
1890 – Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died in 1976)
1901 – Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founder of The Walt Disney Company (died in 1966)
1901 – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist (died in 1976)
1902 – Strom Thurmond, American politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (died in 2003)
1905 – Otto Preminger, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (died in 1986)
1922 – Don Robertson, American songwriter and Happy Whistler (died in 2015)
1932 – Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman), American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
1938 – J.J. Cale (John Weldon Cale), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died in 2013)
1946 – Andy Kim, Canadian singer-songwriter
1947 – Jim Messina, American singer-songwriter,
1968 – Lisa Marie (Smith), American model and actress
1968 – Dynamite Kid (Thomas Billington), English wrestler (died in 2018)
1975 – Paula Patton, American actress
1976 – Amy Acker, American actress
1980 – Jessica ParĂ©, Canadian actress
1982 – Keri Hilson, American singer, and actress
1985 – Frankie Muniz, American actor

December 5th History

1455 (Earthquake) Naples, Italy, killing an estimated 40,000 people.

1854 – Aaron H. Allen of Boston received U.S. patent# 12,017 for a folding chair as an “Improvement in Self-Adjusting Opera-Seat” for theatres or other public buildings. You have probably sat on his invention if you have gone to a movie theater.

1873 – The Boston Belfry Murderer killed his first victim, Bridget Landregan.

1876 – A fire at the Brooklyn Theater killed 295 people and injured hundreds more.

1876 – Daniel Chapman Stillson patented the Stillson wrench. The device was the first practical pipe wrench; the design is still in use today. (Patent #184,993)

1933 – Prohibition ended, thanks to the 21st amendment. Utah was the last state needed to ratify it. When the 21st Amendment was passed to end Prohibition, American journalist H. L. Mencken celebrated with a glass of water, calling it “my first in 13 years.”

1941 – Broadway Show – Angel Street (Play) December 5, 1941

1945 – Five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers (Flight 19) went missing in the Bermuda Triangle after leaving Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida.

1964 – #1 Hit December 5, 1964 – December 11, 1964: Lorne GreeneRingo

1984Beverly Hills Cop, starring Eddie Murphy, opened in theaters.

1986 – Heartbreak Ridge debuted in theaters.

1987 – #1 Hit December 5, 1987 – December 11, 1987: Belinda CarlisleHeaven Is a Place on Earth

1997Good Will Hunting was released in theaters.

1998 – #1 Hit December 5, 1998 – January 15, 1999: R. Kelly & Celine DionI’m Your Angel

2005 – In the UK, the Civil Partnership Act granted civil partnerships “which include same-sex partnerships” in the United Kingdom with rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage.

2007Juno debuted in theaters.

2008Frost Nixon debuted in theaters.

2008 – O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted for the well-known double murder in Los Angeles, was sentenced for up to thirty-three years in prison for robbing a pair of memorabilia dealers.

December 5, 2013 – The Sound of Music Live! starring Carrie Underwood aired on NBC.

#1 Hit December 5, 2020 – December 11, 2020: Life Goes OnBTS

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

TV Quotes… “Homey don’t play that!” (Homey the Clown) on In Living Color.

Happiness is a path, not a destination.

My friend keeps saying “cheer up man it could be worse, you could be stuck underground in a hole full of water.” … I know he means well.

Levi Strauss died on September 26, 1902, at the age of 73, and never married. Ironically he didn’t get to pass his genes on to the next generation.

Cicero – Real Name: Marcus Tullius

“There’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch.” – Goldmember #moviequotes

In 1830 students at Yale revolted over the introduction of chalk boards.

Tweety is and has always been a male character, in spite of what many people think.

Frank Lloyd Wright was specifically left off the architecture commission for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair due to his ‘inability to work well with others.’

The Capital of Bolivia is La Paz (administrative); Sucre (judicial)

“Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” – Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) in 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968

Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob, also narrated The Powerpuff Girls.

Never attempt to put out a grease fire with water. Doing so spreads it and makes it worse. If grease catches fire you have to smother it and cut off its supply of oxygen to put it out.

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