December 5 is the 339th day of the year (340th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 26 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events:
63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
633 – Fourth Council of Toledo takes place.
1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated.
1408 – Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow.
1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramerand Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.
1492 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and theDominican Republic).
1496 – King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree of expulsion of "heretics" from the country.
1560 – Charles IX becomes king of France.
1757 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen – Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.
1766 – In London, James Christie holds his first sale.