January 5 is:
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . twelve drummers drumming.
Eleven pipers piping.
Ten lords a-leaping.
Nine ladies dancing.
Eight maids a-milking.
Seven swans a-swimming.
Six geese a-laying.
Five Golden Rings
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtledoves.
And a partridge in a pear tree.
For the significance of each day of Christmas, see: Goodhousekeeping.com The 12 Drummers Drumming are the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed. The Creed most likely originatee in 5th-century Gaul, as a development of the Old Roman Symbol, the old Latin creed of the 4th century. It has been in liturgical use…since the 8th century, and by extension in the various modern branches of Western Christianity, including the modern liturgy and catechisms of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, the Moravian Church, Methodism, and Congregational churches.
- I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
- And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
- Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary
- He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried
- He descended into hell.The third day he arose again from the dead
- He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty
- He will come again to judge the living and the dead
- I believe in the Holy Spirit
- the holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints
- the forgiveness of sins
- the resurrection of the body
- And in life everlasting.
National Bird Day, anniversary of the incorporation of the National Associations of Audubon Societies.
In 1757 – Louis XV of France survived an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
Anniversary of the death of Elizabeth I of Russia on January 5, 1762. It was said that when she died 15,000 dresses were found in her closets. She changed her dress two or three times every evening.
Birthday of Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779), American general who commanded an early exploring expedition into the West. Pike’s Peak is named after him.
In 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, was burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
Publication of Federalist Paper #35: Concerning the General Power of Taxation written by Alexander Hamilton in 1788. In this article Hamilton responds to the argument that the federal government should be given the authority to tax only certain objects rather than a broad spectrum. He argues that if only imports are taxed, the taxes would be increased to the point of injuring trade, decreasing consumption, and promoting smuggling. Further, who pays these duties? If the merchant pays, increases may put them out of business; if the customer pays, the importing states would carry a heavier burden than manufacturing states.
Secondly Hamilton answers the charge that the House of Representatives is not large enough for all citizens.
Since it was assumed that all members of Congress would be merchants, professionals, or land owners, all types of citizens would be represented.
In 1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island. In November 1894, Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer, was convicted of treason. Sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly having communicated French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris, Dreyfus was sent to the penal colony at Devil’s Island in French Guiana,, where he spent almost five years. Eventually all the accusations against Alfred Dreyfus were demonstrated to be baseless. In 1906 Dreyfus was exonerated.
On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, introduced a minimum wage scale of $5 per day.
In 1933 Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, died in Northampton, Mass., at age 60 from coronary thrombosis. Coolidge became president upon the death of Warren Harding.
1945 – Pepe LePew debuts in Warner Brothers cartoon “Odor-able Kitty“.
1959 – “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” backed by “Raining in My Heart” was released by Coral Records. It was the last release of Buddy Holly before his death.
1998 – Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident. He was 62. He came to fame in partnership with his wife Cher, as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. He was also mayor of Palm Springs, California, from 1988 to 1992, and congressman for California’s 44th district from 1995 until his death in 1998.
Christmas Music:
Several years ago I worked on a project to celebrate the music in my life. Nothing says Christmas like the carols and songs heard only at this time of year. Here’s today’s sample which represents the end of this Christmas music season – until December 2021! Hope you’ve enjoyed it.
(by clicking the Windows Media Player icon button, a midi file will play [if it’s installed on your computer]. No music has been embedded.
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.)
2007 – The 110th United States Congress convened electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
Birthday of Grace Coolidge (January 3, 1879), wife of President Calvin Coolidge; first lady 1923-1929. At the time of their marriage, Grace Anna Goodhue was a teacher at a school for the deaf.
Anthony Wayne (1745), American Revolutionary War officer known as “Mad Anthony”, 
Betsy Ross (1752), and 
J. Edgar Hoover (1895).
On December 31, 1687 the first organized group of Huguenots set sail from the Netherlands to the Dutch East India Company post at the Cape of Good Hope. The largest portion of the Huguenots to settle in the Cape arrived between 1688 and 1689 in seven ships as part of the organized migration, but quite a few arrived as late as 1700; thereafter, the numbers declined and only small groups arrived at a time. Many of these settlers were settled in an area that was later called Franschhoek (Dutch for French Corner), in the present-day Western Cape province of South Africa. A large monument to commemorate the arrival of the Huguenots in South Africa was inaugurated on 7 April 1948 at Franschhoek, where the Huguenot Memorial Museum was erected in 1957.
Thomas Edison demonstrated incandescent lighting to the public for the first time in 1879. (2012 – Incandescent bulbs are essentially outlawed.)
The farthing coin ceased to be legal tender in the United Kingdom in 1960. The farthing represented 1/4 of a penny (or a “fourthing”).
2006 – Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging.
Birthday of 
Galilei in 1612 became the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly cataloged it as a fixed star.
John C. Calhoun became the first Vice President of the United States to resign, stepping down in 1832 over differences with President Andrew Jackson.
Birthday of 
Former First Lady Edith Wilson, wife of 
Birthday of Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571), German astronomer who formulated three major laws of planetary motion.
1845 – Journalist John L. O’Sullivan, writing in his newspaper the New York Morning News, argues that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country “by the right of our manifest destiny“. Presidential candidate James K. Polk used this popular outcry to his advantage, and the Democrats called for the annexation of “All Oregon” in the 1844 U.S. Presidential election. 
Carrie Nation staged her first raid on a saloon at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. She broke each and every one of the liquor bottles that could be seen. Suspicious that President William McKinley was a secret drinker, Nation applauded his 1901 assassination because “drinkers got what they deserved”.
“Show Boat”, considered to be the first true American musical play, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater on Broadway on December 27, 1927. Music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on a book by Edna Ferber. The musical contributed such classic songs as “Ol’ Man River”, “Make Believe”, and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”. “Show Boat” was made into a movie three times: 1929 with Laura La Plante; 1936 with Irene Dunn; 1951 with Kathryn Grayson.