History for September 5

History for September 5 - On-This-Day.com
Louis XIV (King of France) 1638, Jesse James 1847, Bob Newhart 1929 - Actor, comedian (The Bob Newhart Show) 


Raquel Welch 1940 - Actress, Freddie Mercury (Queen) 1946, Cathy Lee Guisewaite 1950 - Cartoonist ("Cathy")


1698 - Russia's Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.


1774 - The first session of the U.S. Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. The delegates drafted a declaration of rights and grievances, organized the Continental Association, and elected Peyton Randolph as the first president of the Continental Congress.


1793 - In France, the "Reign of Terror" began. The National Convention enacted measures to repress the French Revolutionary activities.


1836 - Sam Houston was elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.


1881 - The American Red Cross provided relief for disaster for the first time. The disaster was the Great Fire of 1881 in Michigan.


1914 - The Battle of the Marne began. The Germans, British and French fought for six days killing half a million people.


1939 - The U.S. proclaimed its neutrality in World War II.

1960 - Cassius Clay of Louisville, KY, won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Clay later changed his name to Muhammad Ali.