On This Day: October 5

Updated October 4, 2012, 2:28 pm

On October 5, 1947, in the first televised White House address, President Truman asked Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Thursdays to help stockpile grain for starving people in Europe.

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On Oct. 5, 1902, Ray A. Kroc, the American businessman who built the McDonald’s fast food empire, was born. Following his death on Jan. 14, 1984, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1829 Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States, was born in Fairfield, Vt.

1936 Czech playwright, dissident and politician Vaclav Havel was born in Prague.

1937 President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for a “quarantine” of aggressor nations.

1941 Former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the nation’s highest court, died at age 84.

1947 President Harry S. Truman delivered the first televised address from the White House.

1962 The Beatles’ first hit, “Love Me Do,” was released in the United Kingdom.

1969 “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” debuted on BBC Television.

1983 Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

1986 American Eugene Hasenfus was captured by Sandinista soldiers after the Contra supply plane he was riding in was shot down over Nicaragua.

1988 Democrat Lloyd Bentsen lambasted Republican Dan Quayle during their vice-presidential debate, telling Quayle, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

1989 A jury in Charlotte, N.C., convicted former PTL evangelist Jim Bakker of using his TV show to defraud followers.

1990 A jury in Cincinnati acquitted an art gallery and its director of obscenity charges stemming from an exhibit of sexually graphic photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe.

2000 Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, who had refused to accept defeat in the country’s presidential election, was ousted when huge mobs rampaged through Belgrade.

2001 A man died of inhaled anthrax in Boca Raton, Fla.

2005 Defying the White House, the Senate voted 90-9 to approve an amendment that would prohibit the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” against anyone in U.S. government custody.

2005 Sidney Crosby made his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

2007 American track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty to lying when she said that she hadn’t taken steroids.

2010 Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant who’d tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, was sentenced to life in pirson by a federal judge in New York.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actress Kate Winslet turns 37 years old today.

AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

Phoenix Suns forward Grant Hill turns 40 years old today.

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

1943 Benjamin Cardin, U.S. senator, D-Md., turns 69

1943 Steve Miller, Rock musician, turns 69

1947 Brian Johnson, Rock singer (AC/DC), turns 65

1951 Karen Allen, Actress, turns 61

1952 Clive Barker, Writer, director, turns 60

1954 Bob Geldof, Rock singer, activist, turns 58

1960 Daniel Baldwin, Actor, turns 52

1962 Michael Andretti, Auto racer, turns 50

1965 Mario Lemieux, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 47

1965 Patrick Roy, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 47

1967 Guy Pearce, Actor, turns 45

1975 Parminder Nagra, Actress (“ER”), turns 37

1983 Jesse Eisenberg, Actor, turns 29

1983 Nicky Hilton, TV personality, turns 29

Historic Birthdays

Ray A. Kroc 10/5/1902 – 1/14/1984 American fast-food entrepeneur; built McDonalds restaurant chain.Go to obituary »

54 Jonathan Edwards 10/5/1703 – 3/22/1758
American evangelical religious leader

70 Denis Diderot 10/5/1713 – 7/31/1784
French philosopher

67 William Scoresby 10/5/1789 – 3/21/1857
British explorer

57 Chester Alan Arthur 10/5/1829 – 11/18/1886
21st president of the United States

83 Louis Jean Lumiere 10/5/1864 – 6/6/1948
French chemist

62 Robert Hutchings Goddard 10/5/1882 – 8/10/1945
American scientist

65 Walter Bedell Smith 10/5/1895 – 8/9/1961
American Army chief of staff for U.S. forces in Europe during World War II

79 Joshua Logan 10/5/1908 – 7/12/1988
American stage and film director, producer and writer

1829	Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States, was born in Fairfield, Vt.
1936	Czech playwright, dissident and politician Vaclav Havel was born in Prague.
1937	President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for a “quarantine” of aggressor nations.
1941	Former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the nation’s highest court, died at age 84.
1947	President Harry S. Truman delivered the first televised address from the White House.
1962	The Beatles’ first hit, “Love Me Do,” was released in the United Kingdom.
1969	“Monty Python’s Flying Circus” debuted on BBC Television.
1983	Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1986	American Eugene Hasenfus was captured by Sandinista soldiers after the Contra supply plane he was riding in was shot down over Nicaragua.
1988	Democrat Lloyd Bentsen lambasted Republican Dan Quayle during their vice-presidential debate, telling Quayle, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
1989	A jury in Charlotte, N.C., convicted former PTL evangelist Jim Bakker of using his TV show to defraud followers.
1990	A jury in Cincinnati acquitted an art gallery and its director of obscenity charges stemming from an exhibit of sexually graphic photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe.
2000	Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, who had refused to accept defeat in the country’s presidential election, was ousted when huge mobs rampaged through Belgrade.
2001	A man died of inhaled anthrax in Boca Raton, Fla.
2005	Defying the White House, the Senate voted 90-9 to approve an amendment that would prohibit the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” against anyone in U.S. government custody.
2005	Sidney Crosby made his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
2007	American track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty to lying when she said that she hadn’t taken steroids.
2010	Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant who’d tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, was sentenced to life in pirson by a federal judge in New York.

1943	Benjamin Cardin, U.S. senator, D-Md., turns 69
1943	Steve Miller, Rock musician, turns 69
1947	Brian Johnson, Rock singer (AC/DC), turns 65
1951	Karen Allen, Actress, turns 61
1952	Clive Barker, Writer, director, turns 60
1954	Bob Geldof, Rock singer, activist, turns 58
1960	Daniel Baldwin, Actor, turns 52
1962	Michael Andretti, Auto racer, turns 50
1965	Mario Lemieux, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 47
1965	Patrick Roy, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 47
1967	Guy Pearce, Actor, turns 45
1975	Parminder Nagra, Actress (“ER”), turns 37
1983	Jesse Eisenberg, Actor, turns 29
1983	Nicky Hilton, TV personality, turns 29

54	Jonathan Edwards 10/5/1703 – 3/22/1758 American evangelical religious leader
70	Denis Diderot 10/5/1713 – 7/31/1784 French philosopher
67	William Scoresby 10/5/1789 – 3/21/1857 British explorer
57	Chester Alan Arthur 10/5/1829 – 11/18/1886 21st president of the United States
83	Louis Jean Lumiere 10/5/1864 – 6/6/1948 French chemist
62	Robert Hutchings Goddard 10/5/1882 – 8/10/1945 American scientist
65	Walter Bedell Smith 10/5/1895 – 8/9/1961 American Army chief of staff for U.S. forces in Europe during World War II
79	Joshua Logan 10/5/1908 – 7/12/1988 American stage and film director, producer and writer