#TodayInHistory – August 5

August 5 – Some important events on this day.

910 👉🏼 The last major Viking army to raid England is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred

1305 👉🏼 William Wallace, who led Scottish resistance to England, is captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London for trial and execution.
One of the great heroes of Scotland, William Wallace was one of the main leaders of the First War of Scottish Independence. In September 1297 he defeated the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and was appointed the Guardian of Scotland, but was defeated at Falkirk in 1298. He resigned his post in favor of Robert the Bruce.
Wallace managed to avoid being captured until 1305 when he was turned over to Edward I of England and he was put on trial for treason. To this charge he replied “I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.”
On August 23, 1305, he was stripped naked and dragged by a horse through London. He was then hung, drawn and quartered – strangled by hanging, but kept alive, emasculated, disemboweled and had his bowels burned before him, beheaded and then cut into four parts.
William Wallace was portrayed by Mel Gibson in the Academy Award-winning film Braveheart, released in 1995.

1583 👉🏼 Humphrey Gilbert claims Newfoundland for the British crown – first English colony in North America and the beginning of the British Empire

1716 👉🏼 Battle of Petrovaradin/Peterwardein: Habsburgs under Eugene of Savoy defeat the Turks in a decisive victory.
The Ottoman Empire was a powerful force in southern and central Europe in the early 18th century. There had been multiple skirmishes and clashes with the European powers, and previous defeats had left the Ottomans plotting to recapture old territories.
In the war of 1716-1718, the Ottomans planned to capture territories Austria (part of the Holy Roman Empire) had taken at the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. At Petrovardin the Imperial forces destroyed the Ottoman troops, causing them about 30,000 killed in comparison to the roughly 3,000 Imperial troops.
After the decisive battle the Austrians turned their attention to Ottoman territories and captured Belgrade in 1717, after which the Ottomans sued for peace.

1864 👉🏼 US Civil War: Battle of Mobile Bay, won by the Union Army led by Rear Admiral Farragut with the cry “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”
1891 👉🏼 world’s 1st traveler’s cheques issued (American Express)
1914 👉🏼 1st electric traffic light installed in the USA on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio
1926 👉🏼 Houdini stays in a coffin under water for 1½ hrs before escaping

1930 👉🏼 Norwegian Bratvaag expedition found on White Island, on the Svalbard archipelago, the remains of a balloon expedition to the North Pole.
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1962 👉🏼 Marylin Monroe is found dead in her home in Los Angeles.
She was discovered lying nude on her bed, face down, with a telephone in one hand. Empty bottles of pills, prescribed to treat her depression, were littered around the room. After a brief investigation, Los Angeles police concluded that her death was “caused by a self-administered overdose of sedative drugs and that the mode of death is probable suicide.”

1966 👉🏼 Beatles release single “Yellow Submarine” with “Eleanor Rigby” in UK
2015 👉🏼 Torrential rains and flooding leave at least 178 people dead in India, in the wake of Cyclone Komen
2016 👉🏼 XXXI Summer Olympic Games officially open in Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil