Today in History: December 5, Great Smog of London descends

"Today is Friday, Dec. 5, the 339th day of 2025. There are 26 days left in the year. Today in history: On Dec. 5, 1952, the Great Smog of London descended on the British capital; the unusually thick fog, which contained toxic pollutants, lasted five days and was blamed for causing thousands of deaths. Also on this date: In 1848, in an address to Congress, President James K. Polk sparked the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California."

"In 1933, Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment. In 1955, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO under its first president, George Meany. In 1994, Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades."

"In 2008, O.J. Simpson was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison after being convicted of 12 criminal charges in connection with a 2007 confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel. (Simpson was released on parole after serving nine years; he died in 2024). In 2009, a jury in Perugia, Italy, convicted American student Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, of murdering Knox's British roommate, Meredith Kercher, and sentenced them to long prison terms. (After a series of back-and-forth rulings, Knox and Sollecito were definitively acquitted in 2015 by Italy's highest court.) In 2013, Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa's first Black president, died at age 95. In 2017, Democratic Congressman John Conyers of Michigan resigned from Congress after a nearly 53-year career, becoming the first Capitol Hill politician to lose his job amid sexual misconduct allegations sweeping the nation's workplaces; Conyers denied wrongdoing."

Dec. 5 has hosted numerous significant historical events across different years. The Great Smog of London in 1952 produced a toxic fog that lasted five days and was blamed for thousands of deaths. In 1848 President James K. Polk confirmed gold in California, precipitating the Gold Rush of 1849. Utah’s 1933 ratification of the 21st Amendment ended Prohibition. The AFL and CIO merged in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO under George Meany. Republicans selected Newt Gingrich as House Speaker in 1994. High-profile legal cases and political milestones on this date include O.J. Simpson’s 2008 sentencing, Amanda Knox’s 2009 conviction and later acquittal, Nelson Mandela’s 2013 death, John Conyers’s 2017 resignation, and a 2023 humanitarian release order for former President Alberto Fujimori.

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