August 5
Confederates defeated at Battle of Mobile Bay
1864: By 1864 Mobile Bay in Alabama was the most important Confederate port left on the Gulf of Mexico during the American Civil War. The bay was protected by Fort Morgan, the ironclad Tennessee, and a string of mines (called torpedoes) in the narrow entrance passage to the bay. Leading the Union fleet, Admiral David Farragut sailed into Mobile Bay on this morning. His leading monitor, Tecumseh, hit a mine and sank, causing the leading wooden ship, Brooklyn, to drift in confusion. Farragut then climbed into the rigging of his flagship, Hartford, and cried out, “Damn the torpedoes: Full speed ahead!” to the hesitating Brooklyn. After several hours of fighting, the Confederates aboard the Tennessee surrendered, and Mobile Bay fell into Union hands.
1964: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson put the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution before Congress.
1963: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom signed the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in Moscow.
1962: Marilyn Monroe died from an overdose of sleeping pills.
1960: The Republic of Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso, gained independence from France.
1772: Russia, Prussia, and Austria signed a treaty for the First Partition of Poland, depriving that country of approximately half of its population and almost one-third of its land.
1100: Henry I was crowned king of England. |
