October 5

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

October 5, 1056

Birth of the Holy Roman Emperor, Heinrich III.

October 5, 1609

Paul Fleming is born in Hartenstein, Germnay. Fleming becomes one of the outstanding poets of the German Baroque period of literature. A poet of outstanding natural talent, Fleming had befriended the intellectual, Martin Opitz, while a student at the University of Leipzig and was guided by him in his early writing.

October 5, 1864

Birth of Arthur Zimmermann in Marggrabowa, Germany (now Poland). As foreign minister during World War I he attempted to persuade Mexico to join in an alliance against the United States.

October 5, 1930

Birth of Reinhard Selten in Breslau, Germany (now in Poland). Selten, a mathematician, won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994 for his participation in the development of game theory. He was a professor at the Free University of Berlin, the University of Bielefeld and the University of Bonn.

October 5, 1980

Parliamentary elections are held in West Germany. The CDU/CSU gets 44.5% of the votes, the SPD 42.9% and the FDP 10.6%. The SPD/FDP coalition continues. Helmut Schmidt (SPD) continues as chancellor. The vice chancellor and foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher continues in office.

October 5, 2001

Emilie Schindler, the widow of Oskar Schindler (Schindler's List) dies in Berlin.