Today is Thursday, Dec. 5, the 340th day of 2024. There are 26 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Dec. 5, 2013, Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa’s first Black president, died at age 95.
Also on this date:
In 1848, in an address to Congress, President James K. Polk sparked the Gold Rush of ’49 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.