Today in History - August 5: War's bloodiest prison break erupts in sleepy Australian town
The biggest and deadliest prison escape of World War II took place in the NSW town of Cowra on August 5, 1944.
Just after midnight more than 1000 Japanese prisoners of war charged the barbed wire fences of the camp they were being held in.
On August 5, 2010, a group of miners became trapped 700 metres underground when Chile's San Jose mine collapsed.
Following the cave-in, it was feared all 33 men were dead.
But a video probe established all were alive and uninjured.
Legendary Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe on August 5, 1962, was found dead at the age of 36 in her Los Angeles apartment.
The star of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire became one of the most people of the 1950s and early 1960s.
But her life was also beset with drug and alcohol abuse.
US President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 air traffic controllers on August 5, 1981, after they began illegal strike action.
The US government kept the nation's airports running by deploying non-union staff and military controllers.
Prison guards in Brazil foiled an elaborate escape attempt by convict Clauvino da Silva on August 5, 2019.
The convicted drug dealer disguised himself as his 19-year-old daughter using a silicone mask with long black hair and a teenage themed t-shirt.
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