5 August 910
An army of West Saxons and Mercians under King Edward the Elder, the son of Alfred the Great, defeated the Northumbrian Danes at Wednesfield near Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.
5 August 1711
The Duke of Marlborough forced the supposedly impregnable Lines of Ne Plus Ultra, a series of defences built by the French to protect their northern frontier. He then went on to besiege and capture Bouchain.
5 August 1869
Birth in Taunton, Somerset of historian and travel writer Alexander William Kinglake. His best-known work is his massive Invasion of the Crimea, which was published in eight volumes, the first in 1863 and the last nearly 25 years later.
5 August 1888
Bertha Benz makes the world’s first long-distance car journey, to visit her mother. She drives all day, covering 66 miles from Mannheim to Pforzheim.
5 August 1962
Marilyn Monroe was found dead in the bedroom of her los Angeles home with a bottle of sleeping pills by her side.
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