Today, January 5

1781 – During the Revolutionary War, Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.

1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an 8 hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.

1919 – The Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers Party) the predecessor to the NAZIs – (National Socialist German Workers Party) is founded in Munich.

1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.

1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

1957 – During a “Special Message to the Congress on the Situation in the Middle East”, President Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine where any Middle Eastern country could request American economic assistance or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression

1991 – Due to the outbreak of the Somali Civil War, the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift.

2005 – The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in California, later motivating the International Astronomical Union  to define the term ‘planet’ for the first time.