On This Day: January 5th

The sixth All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the Bolshevik movement.

Kappa Alpha Psi, the world's third-oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.

Irish nationalist leader John Edward Redmond calls for revolt against British rule.

Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.

The government of Central America votes for total annexation to the First Mexican Empire.

American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by former American general Benedict Arnold.

Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, who becomes the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering (the traditional form of capital punishment used for regicides).

Battle of Colmar: The French army defeats forces from Austria and Brandenburg.

Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.