| 137431 | December 5 | Event | 1958 – Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh. |
| 137432 | December 5 | Event | 1958 – The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.) |
| 137433 | December 5 | Event | 1964 – Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war. |
| 137434 | December 5 | Event | 1964 – Lloyd J. Old discovered the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response. |
| 137435 | December 5 | Event | 1969 – The four node ARPANET network is established. |
| 137436 | December 5 | Event | 1977 – Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt. |
| 137437 | December 5 | Event | 1978 – The Soviet Union signs a "friendship treaty" with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. |
| 137438 | December 5 | Event | 1983 – Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina. |
| 137439 | December 5 | Event | 1993 – The mayor of Vienna, Helmut Zilk, is injured by a letter bomb. |
| 137440 | December 5 | Event | 1995 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lankan government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna. |
| 137441 | December 5 | Event | 2004 – The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there. |
| 137442 | December 5 | Event | 2005 – The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. |
| 137443 | December 5 | Event | 2006 – Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji. |
| 137444 | December 5 | Event | 2007 – Westroads Mall shooting: A gunman opens fire with a semi-automatic rifle at an Omaha, Nebraska, mall, killing eight people before taking his own life. |
| 137445 | December 5 | Event | 2012 – At least 8 people are killed and 12 others injured after a 5.6 earthquake strikes Iran's South Khorasan Province. |
| 137446 | December 5 | Event | 2013 – Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others. |
| 137447 | December 5 | Event | 2014 – The first flight test of NASA's Orion spacecraft launches successfully. |
| 137448 | December 5 | Birth | 852 – Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor (d. 912) |
| 137449 | December 5 | Birth | 1377 – Jianwen Emperor of China (d. 1402) |
| 137450 | December 5 | Birth | 1443 – Pope Julius II (d. 1513) |
| 137451 | December 5 | Birth | 1495 – Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish philologist and lexicographer (d. 1542) |
| 137452 | December 5 | Birth | 1537 – Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shogun (d. 1597) |
| 137453 | December 5 | Birth | 1539 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and author (d. 1604) |
| 137454 | December 5 | Birth | 1547 – Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625) |
| 137455 | December 5 | Birth | 1595 – Henry Lawes, English composer (d. 1662) |
| 137456 | December 5 | Birth | 1661 – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1724) |
| 137457 | December 5 | Birth | 1666 – Francesco Scarlatti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741) |
| 137458 | December 5 | Birth | 1687 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762) |
| 137459 | December 5 | Birth | 1697 – Giuseppe de Majo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1771) |
| 137460 | December 5 | Birth | 1782 – Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862) |