August 5

August 5 is the 217th day of the year, 148 days remaining

1620 - The Mayflower departs Southampton, England.

1940 - World War II : Latvia is annexed by the Soviet Union.

1981 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.

Birthday

1890 - Erich Kleiber, Austrian-born conductor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Kleiber

1930 - Neil Armstrong, astronaut
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong