On This Day - What happened 5 January

Construction of the tower occurred in three stages over 199 years. On 5 January 1172, Donna Berta di Bernardo, a widow and resident of the house of dell' Opera di Santa Maria, bequeathed sixty soldi to the Opera Campanilis petrarum Sancte Marie. The sum was then used toward the purchase of a few stones which still form the base of the bell tower.

On 5 January 1848, the revolutionary disturbances began with a civil disobedience strike in Lombardy, as citizens stopped smoking cigars and playing the lottery, which denied Austria the associated tax revenue. Shortly after this, revolts began on the island of Sicily and in Naples.

On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill after a blood clot had detached from a vein and traveled to his lungs.

In January, the Spartacus League and others in the streets of Berlin made more armed attempts to establish communism, known as the Spartacist uprising.

In the first five days of January, in San Francisco, 1,800 flu cases and 101 deaths were reported.

Juan Carlos was born to Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in Rome, Italy, where his grandfather King Alfonso XIII of Spain and other members of the Spanish royal family lived in exile following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931.

Truman announced on 5 January 1950 that the United States would not engage in any dispute involving the Taiwan Strait, and that he would not intervene in the event of an attack by the PRC.

Neil made his first flight in a jet, a Grumman F9F Panther, on January 5, 1951.

Nixon entered his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot on January 5, 1972, effectively announcing his candidacy for reelection. Virtually assured the Republican nomination, the President had initially expected his Democratic opponent to be Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy (brother of the late President), but he was largely removed from contention after the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident. Instead, Maine Senator Edmund Muskie became the front runner, with South Dakota Senator George McGovern in a close second place.

Biden was sworn in on January 5, 1973, by the secretary of the Senate Francis R. Valeo at the Delaware Division of the Wilmington Medical Center. Present were his sons Beau (whose leg was still in traction from the automobile accident) and Hunter and other family members. At 30, he was the sixth-youngest senator in U.S. history.

The Princess's later life was marred by illness and disability. She had smoked cigarettes since the age of 15 or earlier and had continued to smoke heavily for many years. On 5 January 1985, Margaret had part of her left lung removed; the operation drew parallels with that of her father over 30 years earlier.

China confirmed that the case reported in December was a case of wild source SARS.

He has got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On January 5, 2007, reacting to suggestions from President Bush's confidantes that he would increase troop levels in Iraq (which he announced in a speech a few days later), Pelosi joined with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to condemn the plan.

The flight was cleared for takeoff to the northeast from LaGuardia's Runway 4 at 3:24:56 pm Eastern Standard Time (20:24:56 UTC). With Skiles in control, the crew made its first report after becoming airborne at 3:25:51 as being at 700 feet (210 m) and climbing. The weather at 2:51 p.m. was 10 miles (16 km) visibility with broken clouds at 3,700 feet (1,100 m), wind 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) from 290°; an hour later it was few clouds at 4,200 feet (1,300 m), wind 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) from 310°. At 3:26:37 Sullenberger remarked to Skiles: "What a view of the Hudson today."

On May 1, 2017, Kroger, along with the University of Kentucky and UK Athletics, sports, and campus marketing partner JMI Sports, announced a 12-year, $1.85 million per year campus marketing agreement.

The queen of Russia, Elizabeth of Russia, passed away at the age of 52.

The leader of the French army, Jacques Cathelineau, was born in Le Pin-en-Mauges, France.

The American brigadier general and explorer, known as "Pike's Peak", was born in Lamington, New Jersey in 1779.

The leader of the Battle of Nancy, Charles Duke of Burgundy, was killed along with 7,000 other people.

The Cardinal of Mechelen, Belgium, Thomas Philip Wallrad de Hénin-Liétard d'Alsace, passed away at the age of 79.

Shah Jahan, the 5th Mughal Emperor of India, built the Taj Mahal for his beloved wife, who was born in Lahore, Mughal Empire.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's wife Constanze was born in Germany in 1762.