Birthdays
Phineas Taylor Barnum
Turns 49 on this date
David Glasgow Farragut
Turns 58 on this date
John Henry Lease
Turns 27 on this date
Lemuel Gregory Olmsted
Turns 51 on this date
Jesse Bowman Young
Turns 15 on this date
Events
| Legal/Political | A convention assembles in Wyandotte, Kansas to create a Kansas State Constitution | 07/05/1859 |
| Science/Technology | American merchant captain discovers the Midway Islands | 07/05/1859 |
Documents
| Newspaper | Cleveland (OH) Herald, “Terrible Tornado in Virginia,” July 5, 1859 | 07/05/1859 |